One small voice.
Sudden death is never a happy affair. The shock is arguably even greater when perhaps the most famous and controversial architect of our time passes during what would have otherwise been routine treatment for bronchitis. The great outpouring of grief has however, allowed all those aligned both within and outside the field of design to reflect on her life and her work.
Read MoreWhilst listening recently to Patrik Schumacher’s fiery declaration for the Architectural Review’s series on Architecture and Freedom, he made an impassioned declaration once more on the separation of politics, political correctness and architecture. Although perhaps more defensive than I would have liked, and perhaps less eloquently catchy when compared to Taylor Swift’s response to ‘haters’, the Review’s series has raised extremely provocative questions on the role of architects and the relationship to morality and ethics.
Read MoreI have noticed that almost all of my posts so far concerning the issue of sustainability have had a focus on green architecture and urbanism. Today therefore, I want to take a step in a new direction and examine the statement of arguably one of the greatest figures of architecture today, Dame Zaha Hadid. In a recent interview where she was asked about the over 800 migrant worker deaths that have occurred in constructing her 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar Stadium, she boldly declared that it was the duty of governments to protect workers and that “It’s not my duty as an architect to look at it” (Dezeen Magazine, 2014). This statement was in a way furthered a month later by her company’s director, Michael Schumacher, who took to Facebook to declare that we must “STOP political correctness in architecture.” (Schumacher, 2014). While I am of course unable to go into depth about these issues, I do want to point out that this of course raises the interesting question of who should be in charge of managing the morality of our social fabric.
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