Architecture, it’s time to be better.
Enough is enough.
People who have worked with me know that I have long tried to be a voice for those not given a seat at the table, particularly within the architecture and design industries. Sadly, my voice has often been singular, dismissed and pushed aside when it was inconvenient to take into consideration. But honestly, I’m tired of pleading with my colleagues to give a damn. Why should you have a choice in whether you get to care? The people and places you choose to ignore have no say. They have no choice. They have no voice.
If I’m tired, imagine how tired they are. We exist in an industry that is all but completely devoid of minority voices and leadership — and again, not by choice. Every day, we make choices that impact their communities, from materials to labor to policy to design and beyond. Who are we to decide that our design desires are bigger than the impacts they have on those who are differently abled? Or that our material wants are more worthy than the costs to the communities impacted by their manufacture?
The answer is that we are selfish and entitled at best when we make those decisions. At worst, we perpetuate systemic inequalities and injustices against minorities, often harming our planet in the process, and for what? Artistic license? Freedom of design expression?
You all are better than that. We are better than that. Design is about taking parameters, turning them on their head, and creating something from seemingly nothing. It’s about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, but not just for those that look and sound like us. When did we forget how to take on real, meaningful challenges? When did we decide that our work is better without being pushed to be better for all?
So again, I ask you all to be the voice I and the muted minority can’t be at the tables you sit at. And as soon as you can, bring those voices to the table. It’s our responsibility to speak up for those who cannot, yes, but it is also our responsibility to expand the table and allow them to speak for themselves. Anything less than their true and honest self-representation is a continuation of the complete failure of moral, professional, and ethical leadership on our part.
It’s time for us to stand up when needed, but also sit down and listen when the moment dictates. It’s clear that in general, our current leadership, and the clients we serve, have been content to put themselves and their visions before others. It has been enough for them to time and time again value signal through hollow platitudes, flaccid social media campaigns, and empty promises. I’m tired of that being enough. It never should have been enough.
It’s time for the rest of us to let the world know it’s not enough. It never was, it never is, and it never will be.
Be a leader.
Do better.
