Archinect - News

Bernheimer Architecture union member notes the need for industry-wide change

2024-08-12T18:17:00-04:00

While the numbers are relatively small, these victories represent a massive shift in how designers see themselves: We went from being a privileged set of artisans to workers seeking solidarity with other workers in all industries. Learning from the workers and organizers who have put in the hard work before us, designers need to continue to take advantage of the current climate and organize more workplaces.

Chris Beck is an architect and member of the newly formed BA Union at New York-based Bernheimer Architecture, which recently ratified a collective bargaining agreement as the industry’s first union at a private-sector U.S. architecture firm.

Writing for The Progressive Magazine, he says their mission would be considered a failure if not moved successfully from their office and into others across the industry. As other attempts have failed controversially, Beck claims architects’ influence within the building industry has eroded and that "technology is completely dominant, strangling out the artistic skills fostered in the studio environment." Those criticisms echo many brought up in our coverage of Architectural Workers United and other labor groups.

The terms of the BA Union’s ratified contract have yet to be publicized, though they will undoubtedly serve as a primer for the ten or more union efforts thought to be underway currently as architectural workers take note. Less than 1...

The Architects' Journal highlights 14 architectural assistants working at the UK's biggest practices

2021-09-21T16:29:00-04:00

It takes a team of experienced and dedicated architects, designers, and project leads to keep a firm running. However, each firm's success also comes down to the unsung contributions of emerging talent whose efforts are often overlooked. This transitional role from a recent graduate to design professional continues to teeter between a slippery slope of "exposure" and "working experience" with unfair work practices. AJ's latest initiative, AJ100 New Talent, however, aims to "champion those who may not always be given the credit they deserve."

Celebrating this year's design cohort is a step towards re-writing the narrative for architectural assistants who were once thought of as voiceless and underrepresented. The AJ adds that this celebration of talent "chimes with [their] focus on the struggles facing those entering the profession and the need for change. Practices have a big responsibility to nurture these rising stars, who are the future of the profession."

(Top Row L-R) Ellie Sa...

UK Architects report exploitive work practices amid lockdown

2020-10-15T13:00:00-04:00

The Guardian's Oliver Wainwright sheds light on the incredible exploitive workplace abuses happening in the UK in a recent piece titled Furlough fraud, snooping and firings: architects speak out over lockdown exploitation. From never-ending work days, to secret webcam recordings, and even bizarre firings, people have been experiencing troubling behavior from employers, leading many to report instances to RIBA and the United Voices of the World - Section of Architectural Workers (UVW-SAW).

In one instance, Wainwright reports on a woman who discovered her boss had been monitoring her webcam and secretly recording her client meetings. "I only realized I was being monitored when something I said was later quoted back to me in a team meeting," she says as reported by Wainwright. "And another recording of me was used in a presentation. It was completely insane. It felt like being back at school, with added hyper-surveillance."

Other case studies include employers who have signed up for th...

Can the 4-Day Workweek Become a Thing?

2019-08-05T20:24:00-04:00

In organizations in which a shorter workweek has been implemented, nearly two-thirds (64%) of leaders reported increases in staff productivity and work quality due to a reduction of sick days and overall increased well-being. Another benefit to well-being, respondents noted, was the reduction of commutes. One less day at work helps make the weekly commute more bearable.

Alternative work schedules have been a topic of discussion for quite some time now, especially in European countries. Could this model work well in the architecture industry? Looking to other industries may provide some insights.

"In organizations in which a shorter workweek has been implemented, nearly two-thirds (64%) of leaders reported increases in staff productivity and work quality due to a reduction of sick days and overall increased well-being. Another benefit to well-being...was the reduction of commutes," write Ben Laker and Thomas Roulet, both organizational business leaders.

While the benefits are broad, the setbacks are also. Leaders have brought up concerns with this new approach with aspects like, "regulations regarding work contracts, and the associated bureaucracy to implement the four-day week, as well as challenges around staffing." This coupled with the fact that some workers expressed concern "regarding the way they will be seen by their peers and superiors" fo...

RIBA launches gender pay guidance for practices

2019-04-04T17:13:00-04:00

Tuesday marked Equal Pay Day, the point in the year when the average woman's salary catches up to what white men made in 2018. For women of color, for whom the gap is far greater, it won't be until November that each of their earnings match men's salaries from 2018.

These statistics are a stark reminder that the historic pay gap continues to persist. Hoping to change that, last year, the UK government began requiring companies with 250 or more employees to publish an annual gender pay gap report that would include figures such as the median gender pay gap and what proportion of men versus women receive bonus payments.

For architecture firms in the UK, 2019 reporting showed little signs of progress. In fact, a number of the practices required to reveal their figures not only failed to improve gender pay gaps, but saw an increase.

"There is no place for discrimination in our profession. Yet, almost 50 years after equal pay legislation came into force in the UK, significant instances...