Working Conditions: The Latest Architecture and News

During a ceremony held at the World Urban Forum (WUF) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 20, 2026, the International Union of Architects (UIA) and UN-Habitat announced the winners of the third cycle of the UIA 2030 Award. The biennial award recognizes built projects that make meaningful contributions to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Architects were invited to submit architecture, landscape, and urban design projects addressing pressing environmental, social, and economic challenges across six categories: sustainable water management, the promotion of safe working environments, adequate and affordable housing, efficient and inclusive planning, access to green and public space, and climate resilience.

The third cycle launched in July 2025, and regional finalists from the UIA's five global regions were announced in January. In the final stage, the jury selected winning, highly commended, and commended projects in each category, recognizing works in China, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Spain, Kenya, Morocco, and the United States.

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Boat docks and harbors are liminal spaces where the shore marks the meeting of land and water, and serve as a space for the convergence of culture, industry, and community. For those who work at sea, from commercial fishers to marine freight operators, the dock is a threshold between labor and rest, between oceanic uncertainty and terrestrial stability. For others, the dock serves as a gateway to recreation, sport, and adventure, accommodating everything from rowing clubs to family sailing trips. And for many who never board a vessel, the dock offers a powerful connection to the marine environment where one can pause, observe, and engage with the rhythmic tides.

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The National Pavilion of the Czech Republic presents the exhibition “The Office for a Non-Precarious Future” at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition investigates current pressing issues faced by the architectural profession and especially by young practitioners by asking the initial question: ”How can architects design a better world if they themselves work in a toxic working system?.” The pavilion is commissioned by Helena Huber-Doudová and will present the works of exhibitors Eliška Havla Pomyjová, David Neuhäusl, and Jan Netušil. As the Czech ad Slovak Pavilion at the Giardini della Biennale is under reconstruction, the Czech Republic will exceptionally use the Arsenale in the Artiglierie section as its exhibition space. The Czech and Slovak Pavilion in Giardini will serve only as a digital hub to complement the main presentation.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Unions are a trend among college-educated young people, the New York Times reports. They seek solidarity—collective leverage—to bring about desired changes that are being resisted. While Amazon and Starbucks get the headlines, younger architects are also organizing. Doing so is urged on by The Architecture Lobby, a group that leans Democratic Socialist. The Manhattan-based firm SHoP was a recent, ultimately unsuccessful target of a group of its employees and a sponsoring trade union.

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Business planning is similar to creating design iterations and drafting drawings before starting construction, in the sense that it is the blueprint for a firm's future success. Having a strategic plan provides a basis to evaluate what is happening in real-time against what was expected, make adjustments as necessary, and have a guide to help make better business decisions. Without a plan, how can you coordinate all of the elements and timing required to achieve the desired result? How can you navigate an unpredictable business environment?

Let's review how the business plan with a whole-systems approach can guide us to successful results, as developed by Charrette Venture Group (CVG).

If you attended architecture or design school, there’s probably something you noticed about your fellow classmates- a majority of them were female. And if you have been working in the world of design for a few years, there’s probably something else you’ve noticed as well- that there are fewer women in leadership positions than men. There’s a crisis that architecture has been facing ever since the profession has existed, and it’s that women in leave architecture in high numbers. But what is causing this, and what steps are being taken to ensure that some of design’s best champions positioned to become future industry leaders?

This article was originally published on Common Edge as "When It Comes to Climate Change, Traditional Practice Is Broken."

Sustainable design in the United States is for many a sort of Rorschach test. The construction industry is either making steady progress toward the ultimate goal of a carbon-free building sector, or it’s moving entirely too slowly, missing key targets as the ecological clock keeps ticking. The perplexing truth to all of this is: both are ostensibly true. In recent decades the industry has become significantly more energy efficient. We’ve added building stock but flattened the energy curve. The cost of renewables continues to drop. But way more is required, much more quickly. At the same time, huge hurdles remain. Without a renewable grid and stringent energy codes, it’s hard to see how we can fully decarbonize the building sector in even 20 years, let alone at the timeline suggested by increasingly worried climate scientists. It’s the classic good news/bad news scenario (or vice-versa, depending on your mood).

Currently, specialized technical skills in the use of BIM methodology are in high demand, especially in the field of architecture. Even during the pandemic, job offers in this area have remained relatively stable, especially due to the flexibility of this methodology and the possibility of working collaboratively from remote locations. However, when looking for a new job, those interested in BIM should consider several questions: What am I specialized in? What areas are in highest demand? What type of professional BIM role is the most common?

Most of the practicing architecture is drudgery, and this is rather unfair. As students, architects are given thoughtful prompts about the built environment and its big questions, as well as sole creative reign to answer those questions. That is the only time in the architect’s life when this is the case, and in many ways, this does not adequately prepare the architecture student for the world of architecture, which is a world of drudgery. In reality, architects are not heroes.

The Construction Industry Coronavirus Forum (CICV) has launched posters to urge people to stop their abuse against key workers carrying out essential construction tasks, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The protective signage reading “Key Worker: Carrying out Essential Work”, has been distributed to be posted on construction sites and vans.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

The relationship between the business of architecture and the nature of architectural work is fraught. Many celebrated firms have been built on the backs of young and often unpaid labor. To call this practice an open secret would be inaccurate. It isn’t a secret at all; for some firms, it’s standard operating practice.
The Architecture Lobby, founded in 2013 by Peggy Deamer, has begun the long and laborious process of addressing these issues. Today, the group has 16 chapters and 450 dues-paying members. (Yearly dues amount to 0.2% of total income, or about $100 for a $50,000 salary.) Recently, I spoke with the Lobby’s national organizer, Dexter Walcott, about the group’s recent efforts, its campaign to unionize the field, the Green New Deal, and the future of work.

Labor gives rise to design. As the aggregate of physical and mental effort used in the creation of goods and services, labor is tied to both what we create and our process. In a field shaped by production, architecture and design depend on labor from a broad range of professionals. But as workers increasingly put in longer hours and traditional measures of security change, questions of labor practices have arisen amid broader conditions of contemporary work culture. 

This article was originally published in ArchDaily en Español last October 30, twelve days after the social crisis in Chile escalated. Some ideas of the analysis may feel outdated since some structural reforms were recently announced, but the author decided to keep the original spirit of the piece.

A 4 cent fair increase for the Metro in Santiago sparked mass fare-dodging protests in Chile starting on October 6. Alongside spontaneous street demonstrations, the protests spilled into widespread violence across Santiago during the following days until October 18. That day, the Metro network collapsed, the riots multiplied across the city, and looting and fires were out of control. That night, President Sebastian Piñera declared a state of emergency.

In late October, the Guardian’s architecture critic Oliver Wainwright reported that the United Kingdom’s first architecture union had been formed. The Section of Architecture Workers (UVW-SAW) is a section of the United Voices of the World, a new model of grassroots trade union that supports the expansion of union ideals to professions and sectors which traditionally did not have such representation. The launch of the union, and the reasons behind it, serve as the latest episode in long-running concern over the working conditions faced by architects in the UK and across the world.

Following a controversy surrounding unpaid internships at the office of Serpentine Pavilion architects Junya Ishigami + Associates, the Serpentine Gallery has ordered the firm to pay all staff who will work on the design of the 2019 pavilion. Criticism of the working conditions of interns at the firm followed an email reportedly seen by The Architects’ Journal, with a prospective intern highlighting a lack of pay, six-day work weeks, and long office hours.

It's no secret that many architectural visualizers find themselves completely at a loss when trying to find clients and complete assignments on a recurring basis. No doubt you've lived this situation: after a brief negotiation, you finally give in and reluctantly get to work. You know your work is worth more than what you're charging for it, but you don't know how to avoid low rates. 

If you've never been sure about how much to charge for a render or a 3D model, we've designed a "short method" for determining your fees. With this, you will learn three strategies to price a 3D rendering or whichever other services you provide. To start, the root of the problem isn't your price, it's the lack of strategy in generating potential clients. Once you fix this issue, you will be able to charge standard prices that are in sync with the market and will allow you to work with dignity. 

Studio Gang founder Jeanne Gang has long been an advocate for change within the architecture field. Her studio's designs push boundaries all over the world, but Gang has recently used her firm to transform architectural practice in a different way—attacking the gender wage gap.

In a recent article from Fast Company, Gang writes about "discrimination and prejudice" throughout the US, but more specifically in the field of architecture.

Read on for more about how she closed the gender wage gap at her firm and is calling on other architecture firms to do the same.

This article was originally published by The Architect's Guide.

So I won't make you wait for the answer. The best time to look for an architecture job is...