Long hours and low pay are standard, all-nighters are a badge of honour, and leaving on time is derided as lacking the necessary commitment and 'working by the clock’. Why is architecture as a profession so notoriously tough on staff: Is it passion for the craft that piles on the pressure? An old-school macho mentality? Or does it all stem from the competitive unit/crit-system in education?

In turn architects are themselves part of a broader property investment and construction industry that can be combative and confrontational in its pursuit of control and profit such that it can often feel like a thoroughly unpleasant environment to work within.

Abuse comes in many guises with bullying, intimidation, discrimination, harassment, humiliation, misconduct and defamation. It operates in areas from the financial, to the emotional and the psychological. With abuses of power, rank, process and statistics, is it not the overall system in which architects find themselves the most significant thing being abused?

What needs to be done? Who is being marginalised in practice? Who is creating a work environment that's open to and safe for all? Who are the real bullies?

Speakers:

India Block, Dezeen (Chair)

Fiona Scott, Gort Scott Architects

Sarah Castle, IF-DO

Tyen Masten, Phase 3

United Voices of the World's Section of Architectural Workers