12+ h. a day, 6/7 days a week
- edit on 21.03.2015 -
we have been asked to remove the screenshot of the outrageous email sent by a prominent Japanese firm because it “punishes the messenger rather than the office who made these rules.”
Although we don’t agree, we complied with the request.
Our attention is not on the project architect who sent the email, he probably used a template and had to apply rules decided by the office management. Our goal, instead, is to trigger a critical debate and raise awareness on the work dynamics of the creative industry. Famous architects can be considered public figures, and more so if they have been awarded the prestigious Pritzker Price. Some even act as transversal intellectuals and cover institutional positions; Because of their public profile, they have great responsibility for what they do — both within and outside the office walls.
We wonder how could anybody perform a creative work under constant physical and psychological pressure? How can we design for the people, if we never meet any? By instilling the idea that work in Architecture should be a 24/7 affair, the very source of the profession is undermined. Adopting this come-work-for-free policy, offices not only abuse the basic civil rights of students and young graduates, but they also take an unfair advantage over their competitors. They influence the market and raise generations of frustrated practitioners.
And this is exactly why the email caused so much emotion. We jump off our socks when reading it, but we also accept that Architecture should be made with unconditional sacrifice. It is time to debate the rules of this market, the ethics and goals of our profession.
It is also important to mention that we, the young, ambitious and underpaid, should be the first to realize the value of our work and the value of our time. The pyramidal structure of the architecture office is outdated, you don’t learn from this masters more than you can learn from your network.
Here you can find the complete On Work
@Colt Sievers
I will be the first to agree with you on all counts. I would love to read that article. If you ever want to publish it on my blogg please do not hesitate to contact me.
@Conrad
having worked in one of those offices that you mention, I have found your post as much provocative as naïve and simplistic. I should make an entire post to explain why… will leave that for later.
Thanks, anyway, to keep the discussion alive
@slartibartfast
I think you are missing my specific sense of humor as agata pointed out. :)
right… irony or sarcasm in non-audible communication… a class of its own.
Besides my terrible diction or lack thereof this raises another issue.
Should we really feel outrage or sympathy for these interns?
After all the ones who can afford to take these kind of jobs are the sons and daughters of the wealthy.
What this letter is, is infact symbolic capital and social significance for sale.
The rich kid can buy this piece of significance for among other reasons to go to a party and say to his less affluent counterpart, “hey I work for SANAA, or DS+R or whoever. Where do you work again?”
Its a status symbol, just like a porsche, or a private jet. Affordable to a selected few that can afford it.
I hope the applicant replied, thanks for nothing I can starve at home , and I doubt I would learn that much there except how to take advantage of others for my personal gain. I hope to provide my architecture as art to make the world a better place, not make my self rich on the backs of others
Hi
This is Conrad Newel.
The question should be why would this project manager think that anyone would want to take a job under such horrendous conditions?
There are in fact lots of compelling reasons!
The economy of the starchitecture profession is such that value is not just simply a matter of money in exchange for labor.
There is symbolic value in working for a firm like SAANA. They know it, the hundreds of students that bombard them with CV’s asking for internsips know it, the whole architecture profession knows it. So this should not be as draw dropping as everyone seem to be making it out to be.
There is a whole culture and system of symbolic values that made such a situation and such an email possible. And everyone is culpable here, from the people who award the prestigious prizes, the schools that invite and celebrate starchitects, the magazines that publish them, and the centers of architectures around the world that put their works on a pedestal.
I wrote more about it here in this post.
http://famousarchitect.blogspot.com/2015/02/103-unpopular-proposal-argument-for-why.html
I am playing devil’s advocate here with tongue firmly in cheek.
But it outlines some of the more compelling reasons why this is a fanatically attractive offer for any student who wants to assimilate the world of high architecture.
And until this culture changes, this event will be a temporary glip of outrage until another starchitect firm gets careless and makes another fuck up of an email.
@Conrad is this article you wrote on unpaid interns for real or do you just have very specific sense of humour? Same with your sexist article on female architects. Hopefully you are joking :)
@Conrad Newel
You are drawing quite a career minded scenario there in your posting, in an imaginative world of glamour and stardom. If this image is, what keeps your engine driving… fine.
Others might have different motivations working in this profession, than bragging at a party about ones ‘cool’ employer.
Isn’t architecture about social issues in the first place, rather than building skyscrapers in Dubai?
If interns are contributing to an offices workforce and thereby to its success, they should be compensated accordingly, at least to cover bare existential needs, such as rent and food.
Simple thing.