The Economy of Architecture in Theory and Practice The Economy of Architecture Asymmetric Labors: The scenes are familiar ones: the scribe of the gallery plaque, the bespeck- y led figure hurrying from the archive to the classroom, the designer s m reluctantly forced to write to make her tenure case, the turtlenecked A m The critic summoned to embellish the panel at a biennale. As in many profes- sions, the architectural historian or theorist comes in many forms. Unlike e most professions, though, the figure must be made to explain herself. Not s at all wed to art historical methodologies, nor interested in drawing con- t Economy nections between his intellectual project and built offerings, all the while r refusing to identify as either a scientist or humanist. Who is this person? r What is their work? o i b c a L Architectureof in T T T h h h e e n e The Architecture Lobby n o a d o d a d o n r y r a y e r y P e c P P r e c Asymmetric Labors: i r i The Economy of Architecture a c r t i a c a c t in Theory and Practice The Architecture Lobby c t Asymmetric Labors: The Economy of Architecture in Theory and Practice Edited by Aaron Cayer, Peggy Deamer, Sben Korsh, Eric Peterson, and Manuel Shvartzberg Introduction...................................................9 Intellectual Labor Aaron Cayer, Peggy Deamer, Sben Korsh, Eric Peterson, and Manuel Shvartzberg 53 LMAO Eva Hagberg Fisher 61 At the Intersection of Policy Disciplinary Negligence and Design Susanne Schindler 17 Capital A Tahl Kaminer 65 Why Write Gary Fox 23 Letter from London to São Paulo Nick Beech 71 Matters of Life and Death Anne Kockelkorn 29 Not an Essay about Architectural Autonomy 79 The Politics of Publication Eric Peterson James Graham 33 Architecture 83 The Value of Immaterial Labor History/Criticism/Theory Jack Self Peggy Deamer 87 A Wo_Man’s Work is Never Done 37 Who Builds Your Architecture? Andreas Rumpfhuber Laura Diamond Dixit, Kadambari Baxi, Jordan Carver, and Mabel O. Wilson The Neoliberal Academy 43 Images Want to Be Free! Joan Ockman 93 The Dust of Adorno Meredith TenHoor 103 Work Time Mark Jarzombek The Neoliberal Academy (cont.) Bridges to Practice 109 “Profesor Taxi” 157 History, Architecture, and Labour: Fabrizio Gallanti A Program for Research Pier Vittorio Aureli 113 Humane and Inhumane Ratios Peg Rawes 163 Centering Organization Aaron Cayer 121 Architecture, Environment, and Critical Labor 167 DON’T ACT. JUST THINK. Daniel A. Barber Anna Goodman 125 Self & Funding 171 Performing Theory: Sben Korsh From Commercial Catharsis to Social Critique 131 “Back to School” Joe Crowdy, Kirti Durelle, Christopher Barker Hanan Kataw, Christos Kritkos, Joanne Preston 137 Commodifying Architectural Education 177 Meeting in the Field Felipe Aravena, Joaquin Díez Curt Gambetta Canedo, Alessandro Toti 183 No Is More 141 The Service Industry Jacob Moore Tijana Vujosevic 187 Deprofessionalizing 145 Dispatches from MIT: Architecture(al Theory): Becoming Political The Case for Anti-Work Politics Dariel Cobb Eric Wycoff Rogers 149 The Academy and 195 Back to Work! Theory Production Gevork Hartoonian Nadir Lahiji Instrumentalizing Research Values of History and Theory 203 Design Research or Research 229 How to Redefine Architectural Design? The Value of History Value and Theory in Architecture Manuel Shvartzberg Brent Sturlaugson 235 Time After Time 207 An Uncertain Limit Between Norihiko Tsuneishi History and Theory Stefano Tornieri 241 Nationalism as Price Tag? The Chronic History 211 Coffee Table Artefacts of Chinese Architecture Tobias Danielmeier Yang Yang 215 Ambiguous Lands, 247 Histories of Architecture Profitable Margins for Whom or What? Daniel Fernández Pascual Andrew Herscher 221 The Pleasure’s All Ours: Productive Trades Between Practice and Research Adam Sharr, James Longfield, Yasser Megahed, and Kieran Connolly Contributor Biographies...................................252 Imprint......................................................256 The scenes are familiar ones: the scribe of the gallery plaque, Introduction the bespeckled figure hurrying from the archive to the classroom, the designer reluctantly forced to write to make her tenure case, the turtlenecked critic summoned to embellish the panel at a Aaron Cayer, Peggy Deamer, biennale. As in many professions, the architectural historian or theorist comes in many forms. Unlike most professions, though, Sben Korsh, Eric Peterson, the figure must be made to explain herself. Not at all wed to art historical methodologies, nor interested in drawing connections Manuel Shvartzberg between his intellectual project and built offerings, all the while refusing to identify as either as a scientist or humanist. Who is this person? What is their work? In between teaching, writing, and researching, this booklet emerged while working outside of work: it Perhaps the best way to get at the peculiarities of this situation is to ask: what is the labor of an architectural historian/theorist? is the product of nearly six months of dialogue and Or, first to ask: why is architecture history/theory separate from debate, over 500 essay-length e-mails exchanged, other dimensions of architectural practice? What is its role within a half-dozen group calls, and coordination across the everyday office? Why is this distinction necessary, and what ends and logics does it reflect? Taking theses questions to imply three different time zones. As members of the an inherent asymmetricality of work—one form imagined to US-based Architecture Lobby, we editors initiated be the domain of the office and another of the academy—there the booklet first as architectural workers advocating are many ways to address this question within an economy of intersecting labors: whether it is the commodification of “knowl- for the value of architectural work in the general edge” itself within architecture firms using research program as public and in the discipline. Interested in how the marketing tools; how it is used to uphold or deconstruct class Lobby’s stance on architectural practice might apply distinctions between construction, engineering, and architecture; to questions of history and theory both in the US the different political valences attached to the role of ‘theory’ in architecture; how it associates/dissociates from actually existing and globally, we drafted and circulated a call for social movements; the professionalization (and depoliticization) submissions. We sent follow-up requests—some of thought in the academy by way of tenured professorships; etc. never replied, others were too busy—and insisted that the essays be personal and polemical. The end Beyond the academy itself, how can we understand the instrumen- talizations of history/theory in practice (ie., ‘research’), and the result, Asymmetric Labors: The Economy of Architecture various outlets that configure ‘architectural discourse’ at large, such in Theory and Practice, is a booklet with nearly fifty as publications, exhibitions, and biennials? texts by workers who discuss the social, economic, and political value of their labor. They are archi- We are interested in the particular kinds of labor these modes of production require and reproduce. As critical scholars and tectural historians, writers, researchers, professors, cultural producers, how does our labor inflect the economy of students, and practitioners. The various calls that architecture, and how is it inflected by it? How should we be were sent out roughly read: teaching laboring architects—rather than elitist ‘gentlemen’, ‘art- ists’, or ‘experts’—in the 21st century? How might history/theory in the academy or in practice address fundamental questions of 9 social relations in the construction and development industries? professional degree, but not always; she may be a And how does all this relate to the increasing precarization of university teachers the world over? “former architect” or still practice professionally; she may write for magazines and peer reviewed jour- Indeed, as we ourselves ask for yet another unpaid contribution nals or curate exhibitions; she may present work in our field, part of the impetus of this initiative is to gather at art festivals and museums; or she may work for enough attention and critical mass to create the conditions for being able to pay contributors for such kind of work in the design, planning, or preservation firms. Indeed, one future. We are painfully aware of this contradiction—so often of the more distinct features of the field seems to in display at biennials, as much as in the unpaid or underpaid be the proliferation of engagements by a role that work performed in architecture offices worldwide. Thus, one of the booklet’s chief goals is to call attention to the need for better was once just a “historian.” We speculated that funding of labor rights discourse in architecture and academia examining these forms of labor—as educator, cura- at large. But how should we get there exactly? tor, researcher, critic, director, and writer—could get at the asymmetricality of labor between the Questions architectural academy and the profession. Though tenure-track lines are closing and the academic job This booklet is meant to begin a conversation that market is tight, the proliferation of programs sug- is not yet focused, not yet resolved, and not yet clear gest that history and theory may be one of the fastest about its terms, but that is necessary to build momen- growing subfields within the architecture academy. tum against uneven values and unjust labor practices Despite