The plight of sexual harassment claims and news of misconduct within the profession continues to surface as more practicing architects stress the importance of equity in the workplace, representation, and accountability. The global rise of the #MeToo movement has impacted several industries, the architecture profession included. More women and men have voiced their opinions and stressed the importance of fostering better professional standards as well as reassessing professional character in practice and during award recognition.
On June 5th, the AIA announced it's efforts towards improving review standards on how architects will be selected for awards. "Although the rules and processes governing AIA's awards programs are currently effective at identifying design excellence, the AIA's leadership believes they can be improved to better address issues of professional character, especially related to harassment of any kind, and to send a clear message that inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated in the profession... The recipients that AIA member juries elevate through the association's Honors & Awards programs are, and should be, the very best in the architecture profession. Going forward, the AIA will also acknowledge the highest professional standards."
The AIA's strategy is to address these issues and focus on setting better guidelines for equitable practice, issuing statements that affirm its values, as well as updating its code of ethics. The AIA will be working with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. to help lead the advisory group towards a comprehensive review of the Honors and Awards programs.
Many may wonder about former award recipients and whether the AIA will strip past awards away from individuals accused of harassment. "We are focused on the future. Past awards' juries did their due diligence and made their decisions in good faith with the information and the context that they had at the time. The Association's work with Covington and Burling, LLP, is not retroactive or retrospective."
I like the AIA's generic left-center politics but their actions usually seem swampy to me. Less hanging out with cool politicos and more big plans for re-establishing the value of architecture in society for the next generation please.
Architects need a competent organization to communicate the role architecture will plan in the future -- like the Green New Deal -- but even statements like these imply that architecture is just now concerned with social/climate issues as opposed to being a progressive force on these issues for a long time--the politicians, media and bureaucrats always try to belittle the humanists, so much that we gaslight ourselves.
Worse, the implication is that architecture is dictated from on-high DC elites rather than being a grassroots, local, progressive force for good--a simple narrative I'm sure the NYTimes loves.
It's an important move and I hope it leads to much broader introspection. Architecture is a cloistered profession and has become just a group of the same people reinforcing and congratulating one another (while overlooking their collective ethical underperformance). I think a great first step would be having AIA Awards juries contain 2/3s non-architects...
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"The AIA will be working with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. to help lead the advisory group towards a comprehensive review of the Honors and Awards programs."
Eric Holder is the only cabinet officer in the entire history of the United States to be held in contempt of Congress.The AIA does another face plant. From one virtue signaling debacle to another - that's the AIA.
Stap. At least tell the WHOLE fucking truth.
"He would be joining a long list of well-known officials from prior administrations who lost committee — or even full House or Senate — contempt votes, including two former attorneys general, according to a list compiled by the Congressional Research Service last month."
Feelings about Eric Holder personally aside, this is a HUGE and welcome step by the AIA. They - we - are straight up acknowledging that architecture is a social endeavor and therefore the formal beauty of a building isn't enough if it springs from the mind of a sociopath.
Bullshit. Pollack was a shitty dude, but great artist. The immaturity to not be able to separate those 2 dimensions is troubling and endemic of the personality obsessed culture we live in. History is full of countless examples. Condemnation of an artwork, in its entirety, because of the behavior of the maker, undermines the greatest quality of art and architecture...the ability of a work to transcend its maker. The ability of beauty to outshine corruption and human flaws. This is true for the Aztec temples, Roman ruins, colonial towns, and just about every human creation. The light outlives the darkness. That is the story of art.
The AIA won't get rid of Nazis in their membership.
There are Nazis in the AIA?
Statistically there are probably one or two.
This is more AIA BS. If the AIA had any courage, or ethics, they would have stood up to cretins William de Blasio and Jamie Damon before they started destroying Natalie de Blois' iconic JP Morgan Chase building in Manhattan. The AIA is all for women - except when and where it counts.
Really fucking sick of all the complaining that this isn’t enough of a move by the AIA. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good! The AIA is an enormous, member-run organization, and for them to take this step took countless meetings, organization, strategies, and agreement amongst a huge constituency. Things just don’t change with the snap of a finger. FFS!
It's an important move and I hope it leads to much broader introspection. Architecture is a cloistered profession and has become just a group of the same people reinforcing and congratulating one another (while overlooking their collective ethical underperformance). I think a great first step would be having AIA Awards juries contain 2/3s non-architects...
For what the AIA is paying Eric Holder in fees for this exercise would probably be more that enough to send several talented minority women completely through architecture school. This happy BS will be totally forgotten by the time Holder's check clears. And could any member post the amount of money you are being ripped off?
I'm a member, Vol, and I get out of AIA more than every penny I put into it *when I make the decision to take responsibility and act on my membership*. All the people who write a check and then aren't active may feel like they're being ripped off but they have no one to blame for that feeling but themselves.
Also, I serve on a non-profit board (not AIA) and we are currently looking to hire a consultant to work through a decision-making process with us. We will pay this consultant because THEY have expertise in the area in which we need assistance. AIA is already accused (with some credibility) of being too insular; maybe it's a *good* idea to tap another expert for this initiative?
What I get out of it is that the AIA is going to withhold awards from any man who is accused in the least of having impure thoughts about the women in the office. And I guess they will hire Loretta Lynch to advise them how to deny awards to women who have lusty thoughts about the men in the office. No awards for you Jezebel! Worth a few $100 thou, easy.
Why is that concerning to you? Are you at risk of harrassing a woman in your office?
Well, "volunteer", maybe your turn will come and they can hire Dotard 45 to just grab each person submitting for an award by their junk, just to see if they're woman enough.
The AIA is still an architecture organization right?
No never has been. It's a professional membership organization.
It's an organization of Architects. Subtle but important difference.
So then give awards for professional practice, not end result....or treat each separately.
Michael Jackson- bad person, good musician. Why so hard....
The contradictions are funny. On one hand we are trying to dispel the hero architect trope...on the other, we are elevating the importance of the makers persona in weighing the value of an inert creation- architecture. Not to mmention, allowing the bad behavior of the star to put shade on the entire staff and consultants that make the projects actually happen.
I don't see a contradiction.
Punishment of the whole office for the behavior of the boss...unfair and reinforces the idea that the project is theirs alone to be awarded or not awarded.
I really don’t see a reason we can’t separate good/bad work product from good/bad work culture. Maybe different awards for different things. The AIA is conflating the 2....
I dunno - an award is a de facto endorsement and many other organizations have decided that ethics should at least be among the criteria that is evaluated when someone is considered for an award. Can the AIA really give out an award for Design Excellence Without Regard for Ethics
Volunteer, in all seriousness: awhile back the AIA announced that they were changing awards submission requirements to include a statement confirming the firm has not used unpaid labor in their office - I think going back ten years or so? Do you agree with this initiative, or do you think using unpaid labor is fine and the AIA should stay out of it?
I think the AIA's position there is a wonderful idea. I have a close friend from high school days who was able to get a civil engineering degree only by working for pay in a co-op program every other semester.
I like the AIA's generic left-center politics but their actions usually seem swampy to me. Less hanging out with cool politicos and more big plans for re-establishing the value of architecture in society for the next generation please.
Architects need a competent organization to communicate the role architecture will plan in the future -- like the Green New Deal -- but even statements like these imply that architecture is just now concerned with social/climate issues as opposed to being a progressive force on these issues for a long time--the politicians, media and bureaucrats always try to belittle the humanists, so much that we gaslight ourselves.
Worse, the implication is that architecture is dictated from on-high DC elites rather than being a grassroots, local, progressive force for good--a simple narrative I'm sure the NYTimes loves.
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