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Two giants of activism have acquired a new target in their ongoing fight for online privacy rights in the digital age. Forensic Architecture is pairing with Edward Snowden to take on an Israeli spyware company called NSO Group that has been behind hacks of journalists, lawyers, and human... View full entry
This year’s Pulitzer Prize committee has named an architect a winner in its International Reporting category, marking the first time someone in the field has won the prestigious journalism award in an area outside of criticism. Alison Killing has been awarded the prestigious prize for an ongoing... View full entry
In a recent Vox report, writer Roxanna Asagarian delves into the troubling phenomenon of incarcerated individuals struggling to stay warm in their cells as temperatures drop throughout the winter season. Reaction from the public over the issue seems to be split with regards to... View full entry
The Architecture Lobby, a national group that organizes and advocates on issues related to the profession, published a call for design professionals to sign a public pledge condemning “all policies that use the built environment as an instrument of torture and oppression” and refusing to work on any project—be it an ICE office, a detention facility, or a wall—related to the Trump administration’s policies on immigration. — Fast Company
After the devastating and inhumane conditions detained individuals at the border have experienced in recent few years, groups of architects and organizers are increasingly speaking up against design projects relating to border control. As Fast Company's Kelsey... View full entry
Norman Foster has temporarily stepped back from his role on the board overseeing the planning of a $500 billion mega-city in Saudi Arabia as questions mount over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
The international community is demanding answers over what happened to the Washington Post writer following his recent disappearance inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.
— Architects' Journal
Norman Foster is one of several 'global experts' who were announced as members on the global advisory board for the planned $500-billion NEOM mega-city project in the Saudi Arabian desert earlier this month but have distanced themselves from the appointment since the reported death of WaPo... View full entry
If an owner fails to make a claim within the 30-day period or the claim fails, the property reverts to the province, town, or city of the redevelopment zone and the owner is not compensated. There is no right to appeal. — Human Rights Watch
"The Syrian government is poised to confiscate and redevelop residents’ property without due process or compensation under a new property law, Law No. 10 of 2018. The law, which the government is promoting as an urban planning measure, will create a major obstacle to returning home for... View full entry
In March, the Bank of Canada unveiled a new $10 bank note [...] The laurel leaf signifies justice, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights building, designed by New Mexico architect Antoine Predock, is featured prominently. To contrast its striking modernism, the Library of Parliament’s vaulted ceiling is reproduced with a metallic sheen, as is the Arms of Canada insignia. — azuremagazine.com
Canada's new $10 note depicting Antoine Predock's Canadian Museum for Human Rights building on the back of the bill, along with an eagle feather and the laurel leaf. Canadian Museum for Human designed by Antoine Predock, located in Winnipeg, CA. RightsImage: Bob Linsdell/Wiki Commons. The front... View full entry
Migrant workers constructing stadiums for the Qatar 2022 World Cup continue to be trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and exploitation, according to new research by Amnesty International.
Fifa is already under pressure from its own advisory board to act over the kafala system, used to monitor migrant labourers, which has been described as modern slavery. Now, a survey by Amnesty has found two-thirds of migrant workers have paid excessive or illegal recruitment fees.
— The Guardian
Despite promises from Qatari and FIFA officials about improved labor conditions, the situation for Nepali migrant workers building the stadiums for the 2022 World Cup remain dire. In its 2015 report Qatar: Profit and Loss. Counting the cost of modern day slavery in Qatar: What price freedom?, the... View full entry
The French architect Jean Nouvel has defended his Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, a massive domed complex that opens in November, from accusations it was built by exploited and abused migrant workers. [...]
In an interview as the finishing touches are put to the colossal construction, the architect dismissed accusations over exploited workers as an “old question” and insisted conditions for those building the museum were better than for some employed in Europe.
— The Guardian
"A 2015 a Human Rights Watch report," The Guardian explains, "suggested migrants working on the Louvre museum and neighbouring Guggenheim, part of a £18bn 'cultural hub' on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, were subjected to conditions amounting to forced labour including summary arrest and... View full entry
Migrants building a state-of-the-art stadium for the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar are abused and exploited – while FIFA makes huge profits. — Amnesty International
As previously covered in Archinect news, many migrant workers in Qatar face abuse and exploitation, forced labor or even death.A recent report from Amnesty International reveals new numbers — over 90% of Qatar's workforce, an estimated 1.7 million people, are migrant workers coming from... View full entry
Housing must now be recognised as a human right, no different than the right to vote or express yourself freely. This means understanding that housing cannot be viewed first and foremost as an economic driver or a commodity to add to an investment portfolio; that forced eviction is not development; that land has more than monetary value; and that the private market must be regulated. — the Guardian
It also means housing homeless people rather than making them criminals for trying to stay alive, and it means recognising that everyone has the right to live in the city regardless of socio-economic status.Many of the world's major cities are gripped with housing crises. For more on this... View full entry
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has announced the launch of a body to oversee the treatment of workers on Qatar’s World Cup stadiums.
Fifa has been under pressure from Amnesty International, among others, over the alleged human rights abuses suffered by construction operatives at World Cup venues.
— globalconstructionreview.com
Previously in the Archinect news:"7,000 construction workers will die in Qatar before a ball is kicked in the 2022 World Cup," new ITUC report findsBBC journalists arrested for reporting on Qatar's World Cup laborersRevealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves' to Build InfrastructureDire safety conditions... View full entry
The fort community houses 59 families, and is well-known for its wooden houses in the early Rattanakosin-style. Faced with strong resistance from the community, and academics and activists, City Hall the plan but dusted it off early last month amid a public outcry. — Bangkok Post
The Pom Mahakan community on the edge of Rattanakosin Island in Bangkok has been there for more than 150 years. Many of the old teak houses remain behind the last piece of the original wall of the city. The people of this community have faced many eviction threats in the past 20 years as the... View full entry
A report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has estimated that 7,000 workers will die before the first ball is kicked in the 2022 World Cup. [...]
“Qatar’s labour laws are ruinous for workers. All the government has done is to codify slavery. Employers can now even lend out workers to another employer without the worker’s consent for up to a year”
— globalconstructionreview.com
In its 2015 report Qatar: Profit and Loss. Counting the cost of modern day slavery in Qatar: What price freedom?, the ITUC demands that FIFA would make workers' right a central concern of the 2022 World Cup preparations. The organization has also called on Qatari authorities to take these... View full entry
On 22 October, [United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing Leilani] Farha challenged the General Assembly to promote urban development through the lens of human rights.
“Human rights can be transformational,” she said. “A human rights framework can provide the coherence and consistency sorely needed to achieve sustainable, inclusive cities for all.” [...]
“Human rights have been largely absent from discussions of urban development,” Farha cautioned.
— citiscope.org
A "special rapporteur" is "an independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme." In a recent report to the U.N.'s Human Rights Council, which you can read in its entirety here, rapporteur Leilani Farha... View full entry
