Archinect - News

Where the RIBA presidential candidates stand on key issues

2022-07-19T12:13:00-04:00

On July 26th, voting closes for the election of the next RIBA president. When the winner commences their two-year term as president on September 1st, 2023, they will be confronted with a list of burning issues across the UK’s architectural profession; and will be expected to publicly lead a response.

Some issues are specific to the UK context: a turbulent national political landscape, the soaring cost of indemnity insurance, and the implementation of new or upcoming UK laws on planning, construction, and emissions, to name a few. Other issues are specific to RIBA itself: an institution which has seemingly lurched from crisis to crisis in recent times, be it on accusations of inadequate diversity, election rule changes, or just this week, questions over a “buried” internal report on bullying.

These UK-specific issues aside, many of the challenges facing the UK professi...

2019 Serpentine Pavilion architect Junya Ishigami draws criticism for unpaid internships in Japan

2019-03-22T16:01:00-04:00

A few weeks after being commissioned to design the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion, Junya Ishigami + Associates and the Serpentine Galleries are now under fire after it emerged that the big-name firm uses unpaid interns in Japan, the Architects' Journal reported today.

An email sent by Junya Ishigami + Associates in response to a student seeking an internship opportunity lists a set of “conditions”, which include unpaid interns having to provide their own software and computer equipment, and working Monday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight for a period of at least 8-12 weeks. Artist/designer Adam Nathaniel Furman tweeted a screenshot of the email last week...

Though controversial in the UK, unpaid internships are still common practice in Japan. Before opening his own practice, Ishigami worked for SANAA — who has also been criticized in the past for not paying their interns — until 2004.

According to the Architects' Journal, the Serpentine Gallery said “it was not aware the practice used ...

Sydney architecture intern underpaid almost $7000

2015-03-18T15:49:00-04:00

A student was underpaid almost $7000 during an internship with a Sydney firm of architects, a Fair Work Ombudsman investigation has found. The student was completing a masters degree in architecture when he was paid $12 per hour for six months of full-time work. His duties included architectural drawing, consulting with clients and and conducting site visits...the student, aged in his 20s,... was short-changed $6830.

According to Australian labor laws, the student was performing work that was not part of his architectural education and should have received minimum wage payment. Australia's minimum wage is $16.88 (in comparison, the US minimum wage is currently $7.25/hr) and after the student's graduation his payment should have risen to $21.19 an hour.

This news is the latest in a gathering storm surrounding the abuse of intern labor in architecture and other fields. For example, former interns at the publisher Condé Nast recently won a lawsuit against the firm, collecting a total of $5.8 million for unpaid labor (divided among 7,500 people).

The issue is part of a larger, systematic problem that inhibits young people at the nascence of their careers. In conjunction with the massive loans need to get educated, un- and underpaid internships are an impossible burden to shoulder for many aspiring architects, yet are often presented as a normal and necessary aspect of getting into the profession. For...

Is unpaid work ever legal? Brian Newman, Archinect Sessions' Legal Correspondent, answers the question.

2015-01-13T18:47:00-05:00

Need legal advice? Sure you do, all architects could use some. Archinect Sessions is proud to have Brian Newman of Dykema Gossett PLLC as our official legal correspondent, offering insight into the legal quagmire of architectural practice. Brian is a regular guest on the podcast, dishing out info on internships, how to negotiate a contract, and when to take things to court. We've extracted his segments to better focus directly on his wisdom.

Brian made his podcasting debut on Episode #10, Powers of 10 with Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic at the LA Times. In that episode, Paul spoke with Brian about when unpaid work is legal (and when it certainly isn't). Listen to their conversation below:

Click here to listen on SoundCloud if the track above isn't playable.

Want to ask Brian something specifically, or suggest a future topic for him to cover on the podcast? Send your legal questions to us via email at connect@archinect.com, through Twitter #archinectsessions, or leave a mess...

Pei Partnership sues National Slavery Museum for... get this... not getting paid for their services

2013-01-25T14:12:00-05:00