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.

Claudia Mainardi
Tuesday 30 April 17:00-18:30

Together with her collective Fosbury Architecture, is curator of the Italian Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
In the previous years, Claudia worked for numerous offices including OMA/AMO, MVRDV, Stefano Boeri Architetti / MultiplicityLab, and Studio Folder with whom she won a special mention at the 14th Venice Biennale. In 2019 CM was head curator of the exhibition and graphic design of UABB Shenzhen Biennale and in 2017 she was assistant curator of BIO 25, the 25th Biennial of Design in Ljubljana. CM has been teaching assistant at Politecnico di Milano, researcher at The Why Factory –the think-thank led by Winy Maas within TUDelft– and collaborator at the Nieuwe Instituut. @claudia_mainardi