Protest: 2014 Venice Biennale

T-H-E
A-R-C-H-I-T-E-C-T-U-R-E
L-O-B-B-Y

“We are precarious workers. These are our demands:

Enforce labor laws that prohibit unpaid internships, unpaid overtime; refuse unpaid competitions.
Reject fees based on percentage of construction or hourly fees and instead calculate value based on the money we save our clients, or gain them.
Stop peddling a product — buildings — and focus on the unique value architects help realize through spatial services.
Enforce wage transparency across the discipline.
Establish a union for architects, designers, academics and interns in architecture and design.
Demystify the architect as solo creative genius; no honors for architects who don’t acknowledge their staff.
Licensure upon completion of degree.
Change professional architecture organizations to advocate for the living conditions of architects.
Support research about professional labor rights in architecture.
Implement democratic alternatives to the free market system of development.

UPDATE 6/16/2014: Check out the video of our protest below.

7 June 2014

Campaign • Reading

Angela Davis – Are Prisons Obsolete? Discussion

Open to all! We will be discussing Angela Davis’ book, Are Prisons Obsolete? as part of prep and self-education toward anti-carceral architecture work. Though reading ahead of time is highly encouraged, it is not mandatory. Bring a friend! For a longer list of related resources: Online3PM ETSaturday 22 November
Campaign

Intro to Anti-Carceral Architecture

3PM ET // OCTOBER 18, 2025 // ON ZOOM (SEE DISCORD FOR DETAILS) Join us for an introduction to anti-carceral architecture. We will be dividing the hour into two parts: We invite participants to join in discussion as we use this meeting as a lead-in to our next event in the series: a strategic campaign […]
Campaign

Visit ‘Organizing the Lobby’ at the 2025 Venice Biennale

Visit The Architecture Lobby’s “Organizing in the Lobby” at the Arsenale Corderie—an interactive installation featuring 26 interviews with activist architecture organizations from around the globe. Discover how architectural workers worldwide are building collective power, fighting for climate justice, and challenging profit-driven development. The exhibit features 16+ hours of video documentation and displays a growing movement […]

Our Manifesto

Build worker power and collective agency through unions and cooperatives.
A living wage, benefits, job security, and wage transparency across the discipline.
No more free labor; no unpaid internships, unpaid overtime, or unpaid competitions.
Center the importance of labor in our understanding of architecture. Architecture is work!
Stop peddling buildings as products. Demand compensation based on the value and impact our work creates.
End oppression based on gender within and enabled by the discipline.
Confront the complicity of architecture in racism. Confront racism in our workplaces.
Design for the full spectrum of human life. Universal design is not an afterthought.
Challenge the concept of licensure. Expand the right to practice.
Celebrate the collective process of producing architecture. Demystify architecture as the work of a solo creative genius.
Climate justice as the basis of all architectural work. There can be no sustainable future without sustainable labor practices.
Fight for democratic alternatives to the capitalist system of development.

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