70 | Demanding More from Design Education

Architecture Lobby was founded in 2013 by architect and educator, Peggy Deamer. It is run as a national, chapter-based network composed of students, teachers, researchers, journalists, and anyone else interested in challenging the limits of the architectural profession and broadening the definition of design. These chapters, rooted across the United States as well as Canada, examine issues that arise when architects fail to recognize themselves as workers. The ultimate aim is to to improve conditions in professional environments. At the core of the Lobby’s work is the belief that as long as architecture tolerates abusive practices in the office and the construction site, it cannot insist on its role in and for the public good. 

One major aspect of the organization is the recognition of firms that treat their employees above the standard accepted by the Lobby’s manifesto. The Lobby’s manifesto, which was written in 2014 and has since been enacted five times in public spaces, states a list of ten demands that work towards implementing a new vision of the architectural profession. The list is a call to action, making demands for the future of organized labor. It speaks for precarious workers–the laborers and workers driving the economy– and addresses the owners, developers, and managers who do not provide their employees with adequate working conditions.

Recently, The Academia Working Group of The Architecture Lobby has announced a Summer 2022 workshop as part of its annual Architecture Beyond Capitalism (ABC) School. The ABC 2022 workshop will build on last year’s session, which focused on Capitalism, Labor, and Collectives, by concentrating on studio educational practices. 

Join hosts Eric Cesal and Karen Kubey as we speak with Yale University Professor Emirata of Architecture, Peggy Deamer and former student, David Langdon about how to assert architecture’s relevance in healthy and productive ways.

And don’t forget to check out our guests’ recommendations!

•       An Educator of Influence: John Hejduk of the Cooper Union
•       A book you should be reading: Capital and Ideology by Thomas Pikkety
•       Educators you Should Follow today: Kadambari Baxi of Barnard College, Jeremy Till, of St. Martins University, and Jane Rendell and Peg Rawes, both of the Bartlett School of Architecture.