The Labor of Architecture - by C G Beck

Book Synopsis

The Labor of Architecture examines the social and historical narratives that led to the illusory division between the "working class" and the "creative class." In popular imagination, as author C.G. Beck observes, the architect is a singular genius, obsessively working alone in the studio. Surrounded by beautiful drawings and intricate models, the architect wrestles only with themselves and the purity of their design. This is certainly no longer the case--and perhaps never was.

Today, a new generation of designers encounters a different reality: exploitative work places, a financial crisis that ravaged the housing sector, sexist and racist hiring practices, and a quickly worsening climate catastrophe in which designers have played no small. Providing insight through his direct experiences organizing and negotiating from within the world of architecture, Beck explains how a design-based union movement can create a new reality for the labor of architects and designers, arguing that they have more in common with other unionized industries than generally assumed. Ultimately, The Labor of Architecture is a call for designers to prioritize collective action over their own individualistic pursuits--not just for the betterment of their profession, but for the sake of the society they help to build each day.

Review Quotes

"Beck sheds a bright light onto a part of architecture rarely represented in letters: the work. This is an important read for people interested in labor and architecture alike and how they intersect and materialize in the real world."--Kate Wagner, architecture critic for 'The Nation, ' and creator of the viral blog 'McMansion Hell'

"This cathartic read guides design professionals from the romance of late nights in the studio to the material realities of their labor. Chris Beck systematically outlines how credentialization and mechanization have degraded the work of designing the built environment entreating designers to push back by organizing their labor.

Those of us who have passed through architecture school are all too familiar with the ethics of individuated, unending, iterative design that had us hunched over basswood models till dawn. The Labor of Architecture embarks on the ambitious project of recalibrating design ethics to reflect that architects are, in fact, workers subject to the instabilities and exploitations of a capitalist economy. Beck goes beyond the growing call for unionization in creative industries to consider how architects and design professionals can regain control of the built environment for workers. His book provides a necessary reminder that architects are not removed from the degradation of their working conditions by the creativity that shrouds this job."

--Poorna Patange, M.Arch PhD Student, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia

"A personal in depth glimpse of the exploitative world of architectural practice, urgently contextualized by rigorous academic research and Beck's own experience organizing within the labor movement. This is a call to action for all architectural workers -- bright eyed or burnt out by the profession -- who want to see material change in their lives."--Je Siqueira, Bernheimer Architecture Union and AWU organizer

"Drawing on his knowledge of labor history and experiences of union organizing and negotiation, Beck gives us hope architectural workers can make better workplaces for themselves and collaborate on better built environments for all."--Mary N. Woods, Professor Emerita, Cornell University

"This is an important book about the work of architecture, particularly as designers are increasingly organising in unions. It reminds us that the struggle over architecture is one part of our wider fight to redesign the world around us."--Dr Jamie Woodcock, Senior Lecturer in Digital Economy, King's College London

"With radical precision, The Labor of Architecture brings Beck's dual standpoint as architect and union organizer to bear on the labor politics of design. He critically unpacks architects' historically shaped but outdated professional self-conceptions, showing how their expiry opens paths to heightened class consciousness for a solidarity-grounded architecture better equipped to confront the crises of our times. A clear-eyed contribution to activist research on cultural labor, this book shows that worker identity remains a vital foundation for struggles toward economic, social, and ecological justice."--Greig de Peuter, Wilfrid Laurier University, co-author of 'New Media Unions ' and member of research collective Cultural Workers Organize

"A clear-sighted and cogent take on labor in architecture, drawing directly from the experience of the struggle for its organization and recognition. Both pragmatic and provocative, Beck's calls for unity and class consciousness should be read by every architecture student and worker."--Douglas Spencer, Architecture professor at Iowa State and author of 'The Architecture of Neoliberalism'

About the Author

C. G. Beck is an architect and organizer based in Brooklyn, NY. He served on the organizing and bargaining committees for BAU, the first private-sector architecture union in the U.S. He continues to organize workers with AWU, a campaign out of the IAM, and also teaches at The New School.