The “Dear architects…” project that addresses architects has something to say again. For the third time, curator Karolína Plášková calls for reflection on the position of architects in society and their working conditions. The Faculty of Architecture BUT, as part of the project Space for Engaged Architecture, is opening the exhibition Architecture as Labour at the Brno Gallery of Architecture on 6 December 2022 at 19:00. The exhibition and accompanying programme will portray and map the situation on the labour market, the position of the professional associations and schools of architecture.
The third exhibition of the project “Dear architects…” deals with the labour conditions in the field of architecture, with a focus on the precarious working and living conditions of the (mainly, but not exclusively) young generation of architecture graduates. The goal is to raise awareness and hopefully contribute to the discussion on the organization of work in architecture, non-paid labour and internships, the structure of architectural offices (hierarchical vs non-hierarchical), and work-life balance (with caring for family members etc.).
Architects often present architecture’s agenda as “finding solutions to contemporary problems”. If architects are expected to work ethically, we must discuss the labour conditions and toxic culture in the architecture profession. Due to the competition in the market, architects are “forced” to work below cost, and the burden is often transferred onto young architects with no security. But not only precarious labour conditions make architectural workers leave the profession. It is also the toxic culture in the workplace, e.g. overtime, nightshifts, discrimination, or humiliation. If architects organise and fight for fairer conditions, they can achieve more freedom to work on projects beneficial to society and, at the same time, not harmful to the planet (or to their health).
Thus, the intention of the project and the accompanying programme is not to emancipate graduates through courses on business management or pricing but to help them develop their own professional identity, different from those "who can hire and fire". Despite the ingrained disinclination towards using collective power, the effort is to show that through grassroots organising and solidarity, tangible achievements can be made.
The exhibition Architecture as Labour does not only aim to describe the current (critical) situation (e.g. based on ongoing surveys and polls, often initiated by the workers themselves), it primarily seeks to present and discuss initiatives or (their) successes in the field of improving working conditions. The project should serve as a laboratory for collective thinking and know-how sharing. Therefore it will also be accompanied by lectures, discussions, workshops etc., to provide architectural workers space to meet and discuss.
By “architectural workers”, we consider all workers participating in the production of architecture in different positions and spheres – besides practising architects in private studios, those working for the public sector, in academia or in cultural institutions. It is also crucial to look at how education shapes and is shaped by the practice. Thus, guest speakers will include Marisa Cortright (10 Dec 2022), author of 'Can this be? Surely this cannot be?" Architectural Workers Organizing in Europe (VI PER, 2021) or Angelika Hinterbrandner, architect and editor of the digital architecture magazine Kontextur, who deals with, among other things, working conditions and the transformation and future of the architectural profession. Panel discussions will be held with architects who have chosen a different path than "classical" practice (working, for example, in the non-profit, public or academic spheres), members of the Female Architects [Architektky] on the obstacles faced not only by women in the architectural profession, and Klára Brůhová on the pressure at universities and measures against toxic culture. Klára headed the Commission for Equal Opportunities at the Faculty of Architecture in Prague, tasked with preparing the ombudsperson position.
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curator: Karolína Plášková
exhibition architecture: Karolína Munková, Eva Truncová
graphic design: Bára Růžičková
project support: Adéla Šoborová, Lucie Zádrapová
supervision: Jan Kristek
The project “Dear architects… — Architecture as Labour” is realized in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture BUT and financially supported by the City of Brno, the Ministry of Culture and the Czech Architecture Foundation.