A decade ago, it was all but unheard of for a major practice to stake out a position on climate change. Now practices are increasingly finding that younger staff demand expressions of solidarity and meaningful action.
Architects have always had to tread a fine line between trying to uphold their principles while working within commercial constraints. So what can today’s activists realistically hope to achieve by challenging the social and economic assumptions that shape the built environment?
Some want to return to the time when working for the benefit of society was the ethical goal. Others say that supporting a worthy cause is simply the profession’s attempt to revive its standing with the public.
Whatever your position in the debate, the collision of business and politics has rarely seemed more relevant.
This event is organised in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts and is part of the London Festival of Architecture
Drinks reception supported by SOM and Buro Happold, supporters of the Activism Award
