Architecture Against Architecture: A Manifesto

Architecture is out of touch with the issues of the day—climate change, economic inequality, and political instability—and must reinvent itself as a “force for good,” according to this fiery if incomplete treatise. Dutch architect de Graaf (Architect, Verb) contends that architectural firms exploit their workers, that their founders stay too long (Brazilian architect Oscar Neiemeyer was still designing buildings at 104), that their principals take credit for what is collaborative work, that architectural education ignores practice for theory, and that more attention is unjustly paid to client desires than user needs. To address these ills de Graaf offers numerous recommendations, including for architects to unionize, retire at age 67, make architectural education more hands-on and affordable, utilize AI for “frivolous” design choices while allowing architects to focus on more important ones, and adapt existing buildings rather than demolishing them and designing new ones. Many of de Graaf’s accusations are logical and indisputable, though he’s less clear about how his proposed reforms might be implemented or how the political activism he advocates might be made compatible with the goals of architecture. De Graaf raises salient points about architecture’s place in the world, but readers may be left with more questions than answers. (Mar.)