Young architectural workers’ condition in Italian practices

The last fifteen years have witnessed the emergence of a new political and trade-unionist interest in the working conditions of architects, in several European countries and in North America. Such interest has concerned mainly, albeit not exclusively, the condition of young professionals working in design studios and companies with apparently permanent positions. In Spain, the Sindicato de Arquitectos has been active since 2008, immediately after the burst of the Iberian ‘property bubble’). Other groups include Sintarq (Union of Workers in Architecture) active in Portugal since 2020, the Future Architects Front and the ‘Section of Architectural Workers’ of the Union ‘United Voices of the World’ in the UK, the NAA! (Nederlands Angry Architects) group in the Netherlands. In the US, the Architectural Workers United in the US has been fighting for a fair profession and The Architecture Lobby has made theoretical contributions to the debate.
The recurring aspects in the analyses of activists and trade unionists are mainly related to the low remuneration for starters, the high level of stress and excessive working hours. The recurring keywords are: exploitation, precariousness, low wages, abuse of power and lack of protection.
For the first time in history, we are witnessing an attempt to identify a collective of exploited workers in architecture and related trades, as opposed to the group of exploiters. “We are design assistants, BIM technicians, administrative workers, interior designers, modellers, landscape architects, technical architects, urban planners, renderers, graphic designers, students, educators, cleaners, researchers, artists, studio support staff and architects. We are NOT the bosses, the architectural establishment or those with the power to hire and fire” (Section of Architectural Workers – United Voices of the World).
According to Marisa Cortright, the dominant production and cultural system makes the self-recognition of architects as workers problematic: in fact, their artistic vocation is used as a lever for exploitation: “Architectural firms must nurture a sense of vocation among their architects in order to keep them at work even when they cannot or do not want to raise their salaries and benefits. […] Reframing architects’ expectations of the nature of their work would push them as workers to demand their rights and just compensation for unpaid internships and overtime”.[1]
In Italy, the public recognition of a collective of exploited design workers is made even more difficult by some relevant factors: young graduates are induced to register for VAT, formulate their offer during job interviews and pass a state exam to become members of the local Chamber of Architects. This, however, does not mean that they will start signing projects, which may take years to happen. There are no National Agreements regulating architectural work, and the practice of the ‘fake VAT’ is rampant in most firms and design companies. Furthermore, while larger firms are mostly based in metropolitan contexts, the country is full of small- and medium-sized firms. Within small and medium firms it is even more difficult to clearly identify relationships of exploitation that are often disguised by the apparent closeness – be it financial and/or of age – and fluidity of roles between owners and subordinates, or by the position of technical subcontractors that these firms hold vis-à-vis the larger and more organized ones. A further disadvantage for young architects stems from a widespread sense of devaluation of apprenticeship, considered as a condition to be punished or at most as a gift from the studio holder to the worker, considered incapable of making any valid contribution.
This discussion table aims to address the condition of young professionals in architecture not only from the point of view of economics and protection, but also by looking at it through different lenses: what keys can sociological and psychological studies provide to investigate the effects of such a condition on individuals and on social relations? How can labour history illuminate the crucial junctures in the emancipation and fragmentation of the working collectivity? Can the law and trade union experience help us imagine ways to overcome the existing situation, through the enforcement and modification of laws and by finally building solidarity?
Architects, sociologists, labour lawyers, labour historians, psychoanalysts and anyone else wishing to contribute to the discussion are invited to join. Access to the discussion table is public while seats last. A remote connection will be available for speakers who can’t attend in person.
[1] “Can this be? Surely this cannot be?” Architectural Workers Organizing in Europe, Marisa Cortright, ​​VI PER Gallery, Prague, 2021