WORK — Architecture and Labour / RIOT

How does the economic system underlying space production impact architectural practice? Conversely, how does the practice of architecture impact the construction industry and housing crises? This lecture series, WORK—Architecture and Labor, seeks to illuminate obscured and too often ignored economic questions to address work conditions and the division of labor and class in the profession. How can the current architecture practice be reformed to operate on non-extractive principles? For instance, will bridging the gap between intellectual design workers in the office and the manual and executive labor force on-site offer a way out? What is the causality between land and material value and the organization of the office? Why is the profession so remote from labor struggles and poorly organized, with so few unions, badly negotiated labor contracts, and barely any self-management models? Asking candidly ‘who can afford to be radical,’ this lecture series seeks answers from thinkers, researchers, and practitioners to address power structures and labor in architecture.

Pedro Fiori Arantes, Tuesday 16 April, 17:00- 18:30 CET

Pedro Fiori Arantes is a professor at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP). He gained a PhD from the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of Sao Paulo University (2010) for his research work on the transformations in form and the productive processes in contemporary architecture. He has authored numerous articles and papers on architecture, public policies, technology and cities, as well as the books: Arquitetura Nova (Ed. 34, 2002), Arquitetura na era digital-financeira (Ed. 34, 2012) and The Rent of Form: architecture and labor in the digital age (Minnesota Press, 2019). From 1999 to 2012 he has been a member of Usina, a non-profit dedicated to provide technical consulting services in the fields of housing design, land reform and urban regeneration to citizen movements. @fioriarantes