4 10 310 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/115ed8e73d25d45b6ddbc509a7deb384.pdf 4086fe868f9479dc972cbec233bf8316 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Miscellaneous Subject The topic of the resource Miscellaneous issues Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1976-1980 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Architectural Profession Subject The topic of the resource A Short History of the Architectural Profession. A5 Booklet inc. 23 pp. Description An account of the resource bia. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ARCHITECTURAL PROFESSION SYSZ IFCRIME DOESaNT PAY... LUHEREGE |ARCHITELTS AL THEIA Mo NEY? Preface The purpose of this thesis is to show the development of the architectural profession from its origins to the present day. With its development it has become obvious that to do the subject justice, it would need to be a book in its own right. Therefore, it is much regretted that too many issues are dealt with far too briefly, but I do believe that it is of sufficient credibility to be worthy of note, and a valuable introduction to the subject for people becoming interested in the profession for the first time. There is a short reading list at the end for those interested in understanding my source of material. I hope that within a few years it might be possible to create the book this subject demands. My thanks to Brian Anson, George Mills and the year I spent as a member of the Architects Revolutionary Council, which enabled a concentrated study of the architectural profession. I hope that this study reflects a socialist perspective and I thank the Communist Party of Great Britain for improving my Marxist analysis, at which Iam no expert. I dedicate this work to the principle of the New Architecture Movement: "For all, a better environment", Front illustration by kind permission of L, Hellman. Other illustrations courtesy of ARC. ma ~-=_Go.e NEW ARCHTTECTMRE WOVEYENT CONTAVT ADDRESS c/O J. Broming, 36 Elm Grove London N.8-. over Europe separated it from the cultural tradition of these other European states. 1 In England, this had the effect that anyone claiming to be an architect could not just develop from his home culture, but had to deliberately study the architecture of Italy, and later Greece. This was the first impetus to separate master builder from architect. Inigo Jones was the person responsible for introducing classical architecture to England. He is also significant because his position as Court Architect revealed the need of the Crown to create its own impressive buildings. It also helped to make the style fashionable and created the demand for more architects capable of designing in this style. Right from the start we can see how an idea or fashion is introduced by the elite of society, the Crown, taken up by the nobles and lords, made popular, plagiarized and finally, scrapped when it has become common, by the introduction of a new style. The timescale of this cycle is dependent upon the amount of building being done at any one time, i.e. fashions come and go much quicker when there is a lot of work about. Architects found that the application of styles was both helpful and unhelpful in the struggle to maintain their position in society. Styles helped architects because they were the people who chose the new fashion and, therefore, were the leaders. Styles hindered them because the styles were quickly copied and circulated amongst builders, which meant that the architects’ leadership was constantly being undermined. Architects began to feel that being dedicated followers of fashion was not likely to be a lasting solution to the maintenance of their status in society and other means should be found for spreading the influence of architects to strengthen their position. The great fire of London in 1666 provided the first opportunity for architects to spread their authority in a more general way. Wren's plans for London, whilst not being wholly implemented, clearly show that the architectural role had developed aspirations for the total control of the built environment. Another aspect revealed was the difficulty of construction supervision and the number of jobs an architect could handle. Wren found it necessary to concentrate on the construction of St. Paul's to such an extent that he moved into a house with a clear view of the Cathedral. This meant that he had to rely on juniors toa large extent to detail and supervise the construction of the many parish churches that bear his name as architect. After Wren, it is possible to trace the history of the architect “through a number of architects at any one time, Hawksmoor and Vanborough, the Adam Brothers, etc. This plurality of architects developed an awareness in the higher classes of society of architecture and architects. Though some builder craftsmen became acceptable architects, it was quite common for the gentry to dabble in architecture themselves. Indeed, any man pretending to be educated in the eighteenth century was expected to know the classical orders of architecture and to be capable of creating a classical composition himself. 2 The purpose of this thesis is to show the development of the architectural profession from its origins to the present day. It is not a history of architects or styles, though they are significant factors, but it relates more specifically to the role of the architect in society, and how he has organised himself to fulfil that role. The term "architect" at a basic level means a designer of buildings. The word itself comes from the ancient Greek and Latin via Vetruvius etc., but it is probable that the role of the architect started long before the Greeks. The origins of architecture lie in vernacular buildings, which simply stated means vernacular build- ings are not designed, but grow from the skills and traditions of a particular culture. Ina culture where men are not equal and where kings and lords wish to show their power, or that of their religion, large and impressive buildings are an ideal medium for their needs. It follows that vernacular buildings are inadequate for the purpose due to their common character, but no one knows how to build anything else. To build something extraordinary needs planned instructions as to how to proceed with the construction, and in order that this may be done, plans or pictures or models of the finished product have to be made. Generally, any culture that begins monument building takes its vernacular building as a starting point and then proceeds to scale it up. Some people have said the Pathenon was a scaled-up Greek house. In Europe, this meant that until the advent of the renaissance the architect's role was played by a master craftsman who applied his art and skill ina scale greater than his vernacular origins. As these buildings grew from vernacular scale buildings they took with them the relationships of that society as expressed in built form, and while they created some vast cathedrals, castles, etc., it was still possible for them to relate to the people they were built for. Self- conscious man, or modern man, is often thought to have come about with the renaissance. the vernacular traditions still continue for the majority of buildings, special buildings that needed to be uncommon were designed as a conscious choice of styles and systems, not necessarily related to the culture of the society for which they were intended. houses of Venice, Milanetc. In architectural terms, this means that while Italy was the founder of the modern renaissance man, in part due to the development of capitalist enterprise, hence the great trading The rise to power of traders, such as the Medici, had to be demonstrated publicly through the patronage of the arts andan impressive building programme. reflected the need of the nouveau riche to associate themselves with the wealth and authority of previous ages. That is why, not unnaturally for Italians, they turned to the glorious past of the Roman Empire for inspiration. Thus, whilst the renaissance very clearly had historical and traditional values for Italy, its subsequent stylistic application all The buildings 3 an architect often measured his own building works. Coupled with this was the extent to which "contractors" or master builders could mis-manage the accounts of projects. This led the public in the form of clients, or the higher classes of society, to complain that the whole building industry was immoral and criminal - they made no distinction between architect, measurer or builder. The growth of the industry had led to the establishment of many people claiming to be architects, and many new building firms or contractors. This caused such confusion and disarray that the more thinking architects began to try to find solutions to the problem. Though the solution to the problem was probably never seen clearly by anyone or any section of the building industry, it is true that architects were the first section to crystalise their views and form a pressure group to achieve their aims. Evidence shows that there were five groups whose separate positions were beginning to clarify from the confusion caused by the sudden growth of the whole building industry. By looking at each section and how they came to terms with their problems, we may obtain some idea of the complexity of the problem. Firstly, at the top of the tree was the client, either personal or corporate. His problem was that he did not know whether he was being cheated or not. This could only be solved if there were ways of ensuring that the people employed were honest, and if not there was some way of checking on what they had done. In essence, the separa- tion of jobs did this because each section could then be checked and played off one against the other. The problems were more complex for the architect: - he had to convince the clients that he was honest. - his social status was being eroded by the number of people claiming to be architects. - his role was threatened by confusion with, and takeover by, contractors. - he was restrained if involved in one building firm, by the geographical locality and workload capabilities of the firm. In about 1820 a number of architectural societies were formed to discuss and learn about architecture. These appeared in London, Liverpool, Manchester, etc. and reflected the growing popularity amongst the bourgeois for "learned societies". The formation of the Institute of British Architects in 1833 was an attempt by the profession to use the disguise of "learned society" to create a trade association for the profession. Consequently, the Institute could not become just a London-based "learned society" like the Royal Academy, but had to become the federated control of all the architectural clubs inthe country. Because it allowed membership of measurers (the forerunners of quantity surveyors) it was not felt satisfactory by a small but professionally-orientated number of architects. They believed that to overcome the problem of dishonesty in the profession, it was necessary that architects should not measure their own, or other architects', work. This would then clear architects of the charge of measuring dishonestly so as to increase their own fees. + This initial popularising of architecture in high society enabled it to be talked about and discussed as an entity in itself without which it is unlikely to have weathered its first crisis in the 1820s and 1830s. The growth of architectural awareness was considerable during the eighteenth century buts its examples were naturally restricted by the amount of buildings undertaken. It was not to be until the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the boom of the Industrial Revolution that architecture was to take its next step. Before going on to the effects of the Industrial Revolution, it would be wise to have a look at the building industry and its organ- isation. As we have mentioned, the architectural profession was a very elite service industry and because of this, it was possible to enter it from above, or by sweat and graft from below. that those who attained the acceptable title of architect found it in their interests to preserve, as far as possible, their elitist position. This meant that though many master craftsmen aspired to being architects, very few actuallymade it. of buildings was basically carried out intwo ways. the owner or his agent, whether he be an architect or master builder, would contract a mason to do the masonry, a carpenter to do the carpentry, etc., all ona separate agent-contrator basis. way, which developed increasingly towards the 1800's, was that the owner would sign one contract with one man, who then either carried out the work from his own firm, or sub-contracted for the separate tasks. This gave rise to the "contractor", whose traditional unpopularity grew from two main points evident initially. the skilled tradesmen thought he was poaching on their right to make direct contracts with the owners and, secondly, architects feared that he might try and take over their role as co-ordinators and designers of the project. During the eighteenth century construction The first was that However, the craftsmen were the most obviously upset for the traditional craft guilds dating from mediaeval days were not disposed for either one craft or another to dominate the industry. felt even more snubbed bya non-trade "contractor", they were 80 unprepared to co-operate between trades guilds that they were powerless to prevent the development of contractors. Indeed, their frustrations were so acute and so lacking in ideas as to how to surmount the problems that there was considerable violence on sites in and around London during 1824. This led to discussions in the House of Commons on the subject, but from lack of evidence to the contrary, it appears the skilled tradesmen were sadly forced to accept the position and loss of responsibility. Their weakened state has since led them into narrower and narrower specialisation and reduction of their skills, 80 as to enable the eventual mechanisation of their tasks. From the end of the Napoleonic Wars trade and industry in England began to develop under the influence of the Industrial Revolution. There was a noticeable increase in building with the re-investment of war bond money. This first property boom brought to the fore all the ongoing trends and antagonisms. Apart from the building site riots, there were problems at the other end of the profession too. The pricing of building construction was often done by architect measurers ~ This ensured The second Firstly, Whilst they g The effect of the Arts and Crafts Movement on the architectural profession was minimal. Stylistically it offered a great wealth of ideas as expressed by people like Ruskin and Morris, and built by Nash, MacIntosh, Voysey, etc. However, in terms of the trend of the ages it was seen as old fashioned, romantic and impractical. Whilst it had cause to complain about the reduction of craft skills due to technology, it failed to realise that the main alienation caused by machinery was for the workers an economic problem. It was no good working in a nice jug if it cost twice as much as a manufactured jug, and consequently was never sold. People were not in a position to complain about their intellectual exploitation if they could not afford to provide themselves with food, clothing and shelter. The Arts and Crafts Movement was basically an upper or middle class concern, they could not really come to grips with any solution to the problem as expressed by socialism. William Morris had a great influence on the Arts & Crafts Movement, and socialism had a great influence on Morris, but the confusion of the Movement came about as a result of its romantic approach to the past. This lack of perspective created a mixture of inadequate solutions to the problem that could never be put strongly in public due to their own weaknesses. If the public arena for debate was not fertile ground for the Movement, it could only retreat into itself, turning its back on the world and living out a romantic dream in the hills of the Cotswolds or in Wales. It isa pity, but understandable, that the Arts and Crafts Movement was not of major importance for it was developing in architecture the qualities found in English vernacular buildings and it would have greatly added to our present cultural condition. As such, the only influence it had was to slow down the technical professional development of architects by its insistance that design and art are not measurable standards and, as such there could be no measure of the competence of an architect. Over the period 1890 to 1920, the profession felt that it had proved itself and its place in society but still suffered from the actual disposability of its services. There was no legal definition of what an architect was, and there was no necessity by law to employ one. These insecurities were well founded for during the 1914-18 war, the Government made no special use of architects, and the depression of the 1920s clearly revealed the vulnerability of the profession. The depression, therefore, brought to the front all pressures for registration of architects and for legislating for the use of architects. In this way, it was intended that all design work for buildings would have to be designed, by law, by architects, and that all architects should be registered with the government in a similar fashion to doctors. This would have provided the architect with an unquestionably secure position in socicty, it was after all their vulnerability to unemployment and replacement by engineers, builders, etc. that worried them most. The RIBA's report of 1943 revealed that architecture necessitated extensive planning and that in the theme of the report, outside central London itself, there were very few buildings of architectural merit, i.e. what Hitler was not going to blitz the RIBA would. There was much discussion on planning and groups like the Mars group drew up plans for the near total rebuilding of London. The expansion of the professional arena and examples of planning proposed by Corbusier, etc., led to the development of the Town and Country Planning Act, passed shortly after the end of the war. Town Planning became a profession in its own right which furthered the cause of expanding the profession while maintaining an increase in status. The other aspect the war created was the substantial growth of government influence and work in the building industry. The future for the architectural profession seemed set fair to prosper after the war but it is important to realise the contradictions now apparent to us were in existence then. profession after the war became synonymous with talking about the RIBA. The RIBA asa private club is governed by a democratically elected Council. The Council is responsible for the actions of the Institute. However, it must be remembered that the RIBA was founded to further the existence of private practice architects, and had been very successful inthis task. therefore, fell to those who had helped, or were helping, in this task. The Council clearly aligned itself to the interests of private practice. The method of election to the RIBA Council was by national elections and this meant that you had to be reasonably well known to become elected. This process naturally favoured the big names of private practices. Since the war an increasing number of architects have been employed by the state and while they have not directly contributed to the existence of the private practice sector, their existence has been ured to demonstrate the size and usefulness of the whole profession. During the 19408 and 1950s there was an architects’ and building technicians’ union (ABT) which was the only organised voice of architects to express the salaried-architects' viewpoint. This union was for a long time communist controlled and due to an increasing divergence between its executive and members, it faded into obscurity by the 1960s. Members of the union were responsible for the "peoples detailing" era of the London County Council, but their influence ind; recent years appears non-existent. However, the existence of this group with alternative viewpoints to the RIBA did show the diverging directions of the architectural profession, The modern movement in architecture only got off the ground in this country with the Festival of Britain in 1951. In this it was aided by the new Town and Country Planning Acts and by @ mixed inspiration of Scandinavian furniture and plastics, the Mediteranean derived architecture of Corbusier, plus the usage of technical terme "functional and "mechanical aesthetics". The architectural The control of the Council, te This small group of eight has slowly been whittled down by over-work, absorption, promotion and even rejection, toa total of four, three of whom are now such high-ranking public architects that their ties to the Salaried Architects Group is more history than fact. After four years of considerable effort, they have achieved the improvement of the Code of Conduct relating to salaried architects and their responsibilities. However, the code is useless without any backing or testing of its validity. The influence of the salaried architects group was reflected in the RIBA Council's choice for President for 1973-75, Fred Pooley. Fred Pooley was the first public architect to become president of the RIBA and although he started out fairly succes sfully, the financial difficulties of the Institute did not allow the development of Alex Gordon's Action Paper, regarded as a very progressive pro- gramme for the RIBA. Added to this, the collapse of the building industry in 1974 created a strong dernand from private practice for the RIBA to appeal to the Government for more work. At this task Pooley was ineffective and not cut out to do the tasks the times demanded of him. On finishing his term of office, Fred Pooley became the head of the GLC's Transport Planning Department, 2 nice cosy job. During his last year as President, he was nea rly completely ignored in favour of the president-elect, Eric Lyons. Due to the circumstances of architectural depression and RIBA stringency, the salaried architect group should have mounted a big campaign to protect the interests of their group. However, their absorption in altering codes of conduct and involvement with the RIBA Council isolated them from the mass of public architects. That they are less effective than the Association of Official Architects reflects their isolation and lack of organisation. The challenge created by the emergence of the SAG did lead to the formation of an Association of Consultant Architects. This group is for private practice principals only and having a formal and well- financed organisation, is beginning to have effect. They produce policies and express opinions in the architectural journals which are consistently unsocial. Eric Lyons had been chairman of ACA in the past, but to enhance his attempts to become president he left the organisation. He had all the grooming for presidency necessary, 4 good profitable practice that did work considered to be progressive, SPAN housing etc., and from the moment he was made president-elect he ran the RIBA ina manner to which the ACA was accustomed. The building boom also gave rise to another radical architects’ group. The fight to save Covent Garden and other town centre battles gave rise to people like Brian Anson and the wave of trouble in architectural schools in 1972-73: Hull, Kingston upon Thames, Northern Poly and Cheltenham. In 1973 Brian Anson and others founded the Architects Revolutionary Council, and through an article in the summer of 1973 in Building Design and through public meetings, gave the group a public face. There had been Architects Registration Bills before Parliament since 1890 but because the RIBA had never sponsored these Bills, due to the action of the Arts & Crafts Movement, nothing had come of them. However, with the pressures of the depression, they joined in and finally championed the fight for the Architects Registration Acts. This also healed the split in the architectural profession between the RIBA and the Society of Architects, which would have challenged the supremacy of the RIBA if the RIBA had failed to champion the cause for registration. In the course of the fight the two institutes merged in favour of the RIBA. The Architects Registration Bill put to the government sought the registration of architects and their statutory usage on buildings over a certain size. Due to the number of exceptions to this rule, which would have been necessary, the opposition of other interest groups, the views of the Arts and Crafts Movement, felt that while it was necessary to ensure the quality of architects, it was not necessary to enforce their usage on the public. Fortun- ately, the compromise that the Acts of 1931, 1934 and 1938 evolved was to protect the. public from incompetent architects by government registration and no statutory usage of architects, which ruled out an architect monopoly, The architectural profession had obviously hoped for the complete statutory provision but accepted that its own lack of prestige ruled this out for the time being. Clearly, the profession had to use the provision of the Act to strengthen its own position and so gaina better point of advantage to grasp the final part later. The Act of 1938 registering architects and setting up a body to administer the Act was designed to give the profession as a whole a major say in how it should be run. The theory was that architects knew best about architecture. The Act set up a Council of members of the profession and there was also representation of other interest groups in the building industry and government agencies. The representation of architects on the Council was proportional to the number of architects registered with the Council and it was also divided into the number of clubs and societies that represented architects. It had to represent all registered architects and there is even a section on the Council for those not attached to any organisation, although the fact that they were uninterested in organisations indicated their lack of concern in the Architects’ Registration Council of the United Kingdom, and so these seats are nearly always vacant. Due to the growth of the representation of architects and the static and out of date representation of other interests, architects’ control of the Council has increased over the years. The RIBA, after its amalgamation with the Society of Architects, was the largest body representing architects on the ARCUK Council and as some of the other bodies, such as the Architectural Assoc- ation, were also RIBA members, it turned out that right from the guises the RIBA had a majority membership of the ARCUK Council. etc., it was (S$ It was widely believed by architects that the introduction of industrialised buildings and/or components would lessen the cost. This is not the case. The introduction of industrial components lessened the amount of labour involved, which meant a greater potential for profit for the producer, once the item had been produced, transported, erected and paid for its capital investment of factory production, it was no cheaper to use than normal methods. These factors created the modern style that gradually caught on. That its later stylistic title should be Brutalism and Neo Brutalism accurately reflects its human commitment. The other aspect to emerge after the war was the building consortiums, CLASP, SEAC etc., where it was hoped to produce the "standardized system", but while these may have reduced costs in steel purchase initially, they are no longer economincally competitive. The existence of these buildings in Britain has always been disliked by the populace at large for whom they have no connection with their culture. Financed by financiers and construction magnates for their potential profit by reduction in labour hours and skills, the architect could do nothing about the situation. Most were happy that a modern movement had at last arrived, those that disliked it were unable to counter it because their ideas were more expensive, which led them to being regaled as fuddyduddies and in search of large fees. The modern style became equally popular in the public sector, where many of its worst attributes were developed, CLASP, tower blocks of flats, etc. The modern movement was acceptable to architects as being the first style created by modern technology controlled by modern bureaucracy: two elements of today's ruling class which architects wished to be part of. During the 1960s the avant-garde was the focus of architectual attention and such groups as Archigram and Super Studio dominated the media. The purpose of Archigram and the avant-garde generally is to pose alternatives that look like the way ahead without fundament- ally altering anything. This diversion of focus from the true restraints on architecture by the avant-garde is often confused with being the revolutionary side of architecture, it quite clearly is not. The acceptance of technology and land ownership patterns show that Archigram postulates a fashion and nothing else. As with the formation of the RIBA in the 1830s it is discernible that the dedic- ation to fashion is a shallow ambition. In the late 1960s the ''Eco-freak" broke on the architectural profession, Street Farmer, Blue Print for Survival, etc. There is much of importance in the rational use of technology and points in two directions, one a more rational local use of energy and resources and secondly a national and international policy on energy and resources. It is interesting to see the effect of Street Farmer and green ie beautiful on the revamped Archigram, "butter wouldn't melt in my mouth". The growth of the architectural profession has been most spectacular in the public sector where 50% of architects are now employed. Addedtothis,ofthe50%intheprivatesectoronlyabout th : ARC had a slow beginning in 1973-74 but a strategy aimed at ending the RIBA and the creation of an architectural role serving the public was formulated. 1973 also saw the formation of the Schools of Architecture Council. This body was to replace the defunct Heads of Schools Committee of the RIBA. It was intended to give more of the role of a forum to this and they felt it necessary to have not only heads, but other staff members too. It was then also decided to have students as well (God knows how!). The result was a Council of 38 British Schools of Architecture, with 38 heads of schools, 38 staff and 38 students, The SAC has had three annual conferences since 1973. These conferences have given the students a focus of action and since Easter 1974 at Bath, every SAC AGM has been preceeded by a two-day student conference. Suggestions at these gatherings on forming another national architectural student organisation have always come to nothing. During 1973-74 the two RIBA student councillors visited over half the schools of architecture and produced an irregular news sheet. This work was carried on the next year by Cliff Collins and Dave Taylor, and.some progress has been made with keeping students informed. The main alternative organisation during 1975 has been ARC, which in the summer of 1975 set out to attack the RIBA and expose ite failures. This campaign met with some success and thanks to some advantageous publicity about their work in Ealing, the group gained considerable notoriety. a new movement in architecture and this was formed at a congress organised by ARC at Harrogate. The New Architecture Movement is now a body in its own right with a growing number of similar movements in other professions, including planning. The possi- bilities for the N. A.M. are discussed in the last section. ARC's next step was to instigate This brief review of architectural organisations active since the war has highlighted the non-RIBA organisations, but it must be remembered that during all this time the RIBA has grown in numbers and strength. The RIBA's most recent moves show its direction for the future. Firstly, the attempt to reintroduce the fellowship status reflects the disatisfaction of the higher echelons with the general status of being a plain ARIBA member. They believe that now the profession is so large and specialised into so many separate areas that it would not harm the profession to reintroduce the master- craftsman classification, legislation for the use of architects ina statutory fashion, and they believe that now there are enough architects to make this practicable. They want the average architect as office fodder, with only Fellows as bosses. Thus, they have to put up with the temporary loss of Thcy hope that eventually they can gain elitism of the profession just so that they can eventually get their pan on all the work by law, and then reinstate the elitist fellowship class, 13 Ib The effect of the present economic depression has also accelerated a change in.the structure of practices. The depression has closed many small offices either totally or by mergers into larger practices. Only those offices with sufficient funds have been able to crawl to the OPEC countries for work. The combination of reducing the number of practices and earning foreign money is a typical capitalist development, the only surprise is that it has not happened so strongly before. There is also at present the first call from the RIBA for architectural practices to be able to "certificate" designs for building regulations. This is unlikely to help architects as if it were ever implemented it would probably be ona practice basis and, therefore, only help established practices. It would also make it far more difficult for new practices to start up and so further accelerate the reduction in the number ofoffices. However, the main reason for rejecting this idea is that it would not guarantee the public from unsafe buildings. At the moment, building inspectors are appointed and supervised by the government which ensures the principle of public accountability. The architect- ural profession is controlled by its own private club and the public would have no way to gain accountability from architect building inspectors in private practice. Needless to say, any office that had the power to certificate its own designs would be very open to the possibility of bending the rules and creating buildings which were not sound. Any attempt on behalf of the private practice to gain legislation which puts its usage into the statutory monopoly direction must be stopped. The suggestion arises out of the frustration architects face with local government bureaucracy, ways must be found to increase the effectiveness of these government agencies without losing public accountability. The RIBA in its role as guardian of private practice, has tried to appease the criticism levelled at architecture by the public. The criticism is of all the boring, inhuman creations of architects, both public and private - tower blocks of offices and flats being the main enemy. The RIBA has, however, not countered this criticism by complaining about the inadequate resources made available for buildings, but in two different ways. Firstly, European Architectural Heritage Year (1975) was used as a promotion exercise to gain rehabilitation work and, as usual, failed to point out the real problems facing architecture. This involved their public face and was regarded by them as a good public relations exercise. The second method was not public and related to the architectural clients specifically who are now almost completely composed of commercial giants and government departments. These bodies and their juniors are interested solely in the economics and technicalities of projects. The modern client is addicted to technical bureaucratic competence and to appease them the RIBA bas embarked on a major drive to improve the "competence" of architects. 20% of architects can claim to be principals or partners in : practices. This change in the profession from a near complete membership in private practice principals to where now 70% - 80% of architects are employed and salaried, has not yet altered the character of the profession. During the 1950s and 1960s architecture had a more or less constant growth both in quantity of work and number of architects, and as is usual with architects, when there is plenty of work they are found at the drawing board, not creating new philosophies of work. However, over this period certain small groups appeared on > the scene. The chief architects of local authorities, both county and borough, formed their own separate association, which have only recently merged to form the Association of Official Architects. The AOA as a body composed of principals in public offices has never spoken as the voice of public architects, and indeed many of its members are akin to the aims of private practice. This lack of support from what should have been its grass roots job architects has made it virtually ineffective. Whilst it could have been useful in putting forward different views to the profession, it appears that it is absorbed and in agreement with the role of the RIBA as the guardian of the profession. There was for a number of years a British Architectual Students Association which grew out of the difficulties and worries of students during the 1960s over the way the RIBA was hustling and closing schools. This reached a peak in 1968 when BASA sent a delegation to the International Union of Architects in Vienna. 1968 being the year of student revolt, the world around, it was not surprising that there was a scene at the conference which led to the walk out of a number of student sections, Spain and Italy inparticular. Out of this walk-out group came the Vienna Manifesto which was published as the first copy of ARSE, Architects, Radical Students and Educators. This group published about eight magazine issues, the quality and content getting heavier with each issue, until in about 1971-72 the group dried up with many of its members violently disagreeing. Some felt architecture was worth fighting for, others felt that you had to change the rest of society before anything could be ¥ done about architecture. BASA ran out of steam a little earlier, after it had been given the kiss of death by receiving money from the ? RIBA. The radical stirrings of ARSE and society in general from 1986- 1970 did lead to a movement of large numbers of salaried architects in the profession. This focused on the RIBA in the AGM of 1969 when Kate MacIntosh and a few others complained that salaried architects were unable to get elected to the RIBA Council because of its national election methods. This led to the formation of an ad hoc informal Salaried Architects Group who persuaded the RIBA to have regional as well as national elections for Council, and over 1971-72 eight salaried architects were elected to the RIBA Council. 14 20 to attempt to change architecture, we need to know not only the history of our profession, but also the character of our architects. As previously stated, if architecture is to be of use to society, it must be of service to the majority of the population, and as we know this is impossible until the public has gained real power. We must clearly understand this and work towards its solution, both in society at large and particularly in architecture. The character of architects can be looked at from various points of view: family background, aspirations, education and personality. The majority of architects come from middle-class families, a high proportion from creative familities one way or another. There are obviously a minority from upper and working classes. The pre-college education of architects has now become standardised to the realisation of two 'A' level passes necessary to enter a course in architecture. This requirement introduced by the RIBA from its 1958 Oxford Conference on education was seen ae one step to raising the status of architecture. It had, of course, a desired side effect of severely limiting those gaining architectural qualifications by working up from tea boy to technician to architect. It also resulted in giving an advantage to middle classes and above, because as we all know the working class child has far less chance of getting a good enough education to get to college. There follows several points where Ibelieve policies and actions must be-formulated. They are not comprehensive in range or quality but Ihope will be useful. Of the people who do arrive ata school of architecture, a surprising number aspire to use their creative skills for the benefit of others. so they have been restricted in improving the quality of their environ- ment. The Self Help attitude can only help a few people, while an architectural service could help those without the time or resources of their own. The National Health Service was not created by doctors and patients on their own, the government had to doit. Similarly, neither the architect nor the people can create a national architectural service without the government's help. Action must be taken with Very few are openly in it for the money: slightly arty career and the hoped-for status in society. However, many socially minded aspirants are to be found tied down with a mortgage, car and two kids by the time they are thirty, and naturally enough their prime concern is earning a living for the family. The creativity side of the skill provides the growth of the desire for non-conformity and competitive individualism, this always contradicts with their social aspirations for society, for it makes them loath to work with other people. Whilst an architect is aware of the complexity of society, he is, because of his cult of the individual, very wary of co-operating with others to fight for the individual. This gives rise to the common problem for architects, they see combining 2. Many of the frustrations of architects are due to the distance between designer and user, and these are reflected in the quality of their work. Red tape that hinders the process must be fought against, is there any reason why publice offices could not have architects or groups responsible to geographical areas, and workthere ? Take advantage of the RIBA's new code of conduct which stimulates the responsibility of the individual architect. If our aims are genuinely in the public's interest, we will all benefit from designing with government building agencies as well as the users. This policy is being encouraged in the private sector, where of course, it is doubtful if the public will benefit at all. 3. So that people can have a direct control over their environment. At the moment, people have insufficient power of control over changes in their environment, in terms of planning and the use of resources. The Green Paper of Neighbourhood Councils now passing through Parliament gives only token participation to the people and by not giving any real democratic power, restricts these councils toa purely advisory role. This advisory role will not give people any greater control, it is just a confidence trick. Action must be taken with the government to give real power to the Neighbourhood Councils. 4. The public's safeguard against bad architecture is now totally inadequate and ARCUK's role is more of a hindrance to progress to solve a problem as a negation of the individual and, on the other hand, clearly desire to create more individuality, but are loath to co-operate to achieve it. Architects in this state will participate in debates on how to improve architecture, but will not commit themselves to any action to achieve it. They will only participate so long as their total individuality is permitted. It is probable that the majority of architects join the RIBA not to further architecture but to gain the initials RIBA, which they wrongly believe essential to practice as anarchitect. This is why the RIBA is run by a disproportionately small minority. What must be done to achieve co-operation and action from architects is to make perfectly clear that the course of action taken up is to further the individual it still has the feeling of a 4, To make architectural services available to all sectors of society. At present, the architectural profession works for just two small sectors, firstly the nich minority and the powers of industry, commerce and finance, and secondly, for local or national government bureau- cracies, insensitive to the public they pretend to serve. The majority of the population has never had access to architectural services and the government to set up an architectural service available to all of society. thana help. The architectural profession and education should be development of all people - not, as many fear, to reduce us all to the lowest common denominator. controlled by a body equally representative of the public and the profession, Books which may be of interest to you: February, 1976, BB oo daily ADAM read the PURSER Those people who see the need for national collective action must not move 80 fast as to isolate themselves from what politically ies not a very advanced mass of architects. However, it is already necessary to have some services provided for the movement as a whole, newsletter, liaison, conference organisation. Here it is essential to see these needs as services to the whole movement, there must be no domination by an executive body. As such, I would see any person acting in this capacity strictly as a servant of the movement. ARC mectine This course of action must be the basis of the movement for some time, indeed it would be negation of my principles to suppose any other ideal, other than full individual participation in the movement. We must all be aware that this degree of total decentralisation aleo has its dangers. Firstly, it may lack a competent approach to key issues that could be provided by collective resources. it may produce different views on the same subject and so confuse an attack on some issues. What is essential is that the differing views lead to the best attack on a common enemy. The tool of organisation is a double-sided weapon, lack ofit advances confusion, heavy handed use of organisation reduces the participation of the membership at large and so decreases the strength of the organisation. In the future, the New Architecture Movement will have to develop a democratic process that promotes personal participation and collective action, At present, the membership is informal and we rely on voluntary work to respond to as many of the issues a6 possible. movement grows, it will necessitate more action in a more concerted way onissues. Eventually, it will be taking on 60 many issues that it will only be effective if it is capable of day to day decisions, though this is some way away. My commitment is to changing society and architecture. not set a dealine for this to be achieved, but I will do all I can to develop it in the best and most viable way possible. As the Secondly, I have "For All, a Better Environment" and the Cornish motto, "One forAll and All for One". The Development of the Architectural Profession, Barrington Kay. Architect and Patron, Jenkins. Town and Revolution, Anatol Kopp RIBA Journal, June 1975, Article on the Architectural Profession. Adam Purser, Morning Star The Paper of the Left Eile es arenas in, LO Artominnr” Qe! Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Adam Purser Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Allan/John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Feb-76 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/9cf65a33fb8c57e28519d8b1b2436a7a.pdf d2b3902d111a32e048d9561783441755 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/522dca0d3e2ff802ede065797e480825.pdf 31d4de7f01aa6c241a5d74eb212260e3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Trade Unions and Architecture Description An account of the resource Themes included action on asbestos and Health &amp; Safety, and involvement with Direct Labour Organisations and Building Unions. Following comparative research of possible options, NAM encouraged unionisation of building design staffs within the private sector, negotiating the establishment of a dedicated section within TASS. Though recruitment was modest the campaign identified many of the issues around terms of employment and industrial relations that underpin the processes of architectural production. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Architectural Workers & Trade Unionism Subject The topic of the resource Draft Report on organisation of architectural and allied workers (32pp.) Description An account of the resource eS In an gee eagle to learn from the mistakes of more conventional practices, a few "enlightened" architects have tried to create small, fairly "respon- sive practices, more or less "democratically" run as cooperatives or mod- ified partnerships. As "one-off" cases they have been obliged to compete in isoletion for patronage, manpower, financing, etc.-in a completely -capitalist system whose business and professional structure has been designed for their more bureaucratic, hierarchical and profit-oriebted ‘copetitorsYe.tbecauseoftheirinternaladvantagesaswealsltheun- usual amount of talent, effort and committment which those involved have -brought to them, some of these practices have achieved limited success and have even been seized upon by the profession and media as signs of progress. Signs of hope they are, but it would be foolish to believe that in the present context such a course is realistically open to any more than a token number of practices. Others ina related vein sought to rectify the obvious lack of direct accountability to the community which has characterised both private 'and public practice and set up would-be “community architecture offices" in the wake of the "advocacy plarning" movement. These have been involved, with varying degrees of success, in fighting the planning and architec- ture establishment in the name of threatened local, generally: working- class, communities and providing them with architectural services to which they would not otherwise have access. It appears that while token, “scattered local successes may be tolerated, if not encouraged, in order to give the profession a slightly more progressive and dynamic public image and to keep busy and content some of the more committed young architectural workers while at the same time isolating them from the ‘"mainstream" of architectural workers in the offices "downtown," there is also reason to believe that this direction is hardly accessible as a "general solution" on any scale without major structural changes in the pbtofecsion. In the meantime, lacking a consolidated power base and with tenuous sources of funding and support, such offices may even run the tisk of competition from the professional establishment itself, seeking to move in on the new "market" they have opened up, #ESOUp some respect- ability” and ensure that."things don't go too far." “One. step. parther is. zane. by advocates of ‘Ngelf- build". ‘abe: LeeGhpt to | "drop-out". of the building industry and all its frustrations, :though (they. sometimes do reserve a continuing role for the architect. 6. Others have chosen to try to minimise their confections with the mar- ket system itself by setting up rural "communes." This again, though presenting a challenging model, is not an option open to large numbers of people in the present context. Some thoughtful architects, seeing no socially or creatively positive . Tole possible within practice as it now is, have retreated into archi- tectural education and theory. While there is no doubt that important contributions can be made in this field, even at times in isolation ‘from practice,©there can also be little doubt that there is a tendency among some of these people to erect a protective shelter of mystification around their somewhat vulnerable and isolated professional josition. 8. Seeing the need for basic changes in the professional structure itself, groups like the "New Architecture Movement" have begun to call for its reorganisation into a national design service of small, locally-based, democratically-run non-profit practices directly accountableto the community. But without developing the industrial and political power to begin to move in this direction. let alone to fully realise the. propo- .Sals,,how will they even’ be able to realistich&ly develop the concepts themselves? 9. In the late Sixties, some salaried architects began the latest attempt to gain influence within the employers! prganisation. The Salaried Arch- 2.5 erat -itects Group in the :RIBA was formed and the RIBA's electoral system mod- . ified in the hope of giving the salaried majority of RIBA members some control of the organisation. The group has subsequently spent four years “of Gonsiderable effort” achieving token recognition of the: salaried arch-. ~.itect.in.a by now. contradictory "Code of. Conduct" whose "enforcement" is still entrusted to the emplgyers. Meanwhile, involvment at Portland ' P¥ace has tended to isolate these articulate and committed architectural ‘.workers; from.their "constituency" while their token presence has perhaps , eheouraged the illusion that the RIBA might someday be made accountable to its salaried majority. How seriously would the RIBA's "democratic *- framework" be taken if it were placed in the architectural office itself rather than at Portland Place, given the absence of strong''shop floor" organisation of architectural] workers. We doubt whether the charade could continue.. By. removing the scene of confrontation from the work- place, where the conflicts are, to a so-called "professional institute," the illusion of democracy is sustained. Tactically, °by trying to deal “<with the employers. within: the RIBA framework, tather than at the place of work, the S.A.G, allowed themselves. to be separated from many of their fellow architectural workers who are not even eligible for RIBA membership, while allying themselves instead with some ‘salaried architac- _tural. management. it BS If,this,isbeginningtoreadlikea"ninleiv,esof.architectural:reformism," it's no coincidence. All the above-mentioned "tendencies". try. to. solve the problems facing architecture by a solution within the scope of action by the isolated individual. They’ demonstrate ‘an increasingly” frenzied attempt toavoidtheinevitableth:eneedforcollectiveactonitohenpartofarch- itectiral workers-‘to begin to transform the productive. relations within ar- chikentabsAbesne. It‘is our a that only when ee eemealies gin to ‘Wake!.e boeitive’ and significant contribution to architectural and social progress. The extent to which this. happens will. depend not only on whether architec- tural workers organise, but how they do..so. We thimk we. have shown that any sort of unionisation will be better than none. The real question..now is ‘what kind of trade union organisation is appropriate for architectural workers toda? Although we shall deal with this in more detail in Part Four, it-is°useful ‘to-outline a-general isc here. pc aaman Sees lle believe that the problem is to choose an approach to trade. unionism (from among the many) which will not only Facilitate arganisation. but will at the same time have the best chance of maximising, the eventual. benefits of organisation to architectural workers,» the . industry and the popmuni ty. _The. direction we would recommend wawk has: already been implied in.our anal- ysis of the situation in architecture could accomplish. It might be termed trade unionism. today and .our sketch of what a union the "yorkers' control" conception of 2.6 ‘The workers! control: ‘cofiception new a, long. history hich received laddad momentum from the ferment. ‘of 1968 ‘and 1969. ‘Unlike, some of ‘the more flam- " boyant manifestations of that period which have, withered “away* or been. bru- tally’ suppressed, it. has continued to develop. and. make. 4, stronger impact on 'the British trade union: movement, as.witnessed in the growing recagnition of they kay ‘rele? ‘oF “shop: stewards" in the union structure, in ‘the indus- trial occupations. and: setting “up! of self-managed cooperatives, in the Bx pected legislation for a beginning ‘of some formalised "industrial ‘domoc- racy" and in the far-sighted and aggressive. attitude toward, the scope of union activity typified by” the “Green Bans" pioneered by the Australian 4 Building Labourers! Union, -and. ‘the proposals for conversion to socially-use- ‘ful production which’ have been made by -the Lucas Aerospace shop stewards “combine committee. Even in the USA, where the traditionn of a stong but . Marrow. and essentially "defensive" ‘thread-and- butter" trade unionism is particularly well- entrenched, large unions like the oil, _Chemical and _Atomic Workers have recently pioneered the giant United ‘Auto Workers (which health -and safety agreements ‘and covers. much. heavy machinery and the aircraft industry as well) have begun to devote considerable attention to ‘environmental ‘questions. _Creasingly- unfruitful. 2.7 ‘This conception stresses the need for workere to ‘gain ‘full, “democratic: “‘eontral over all ‘aspects ‘of their: working lives, not. just wages, hours, job security and pensions. It does this not merely out of a fundamental “faith in, Memocracy , and egelitard amism, and their ability to mobilise’ , people's8 productive and creative capacities, nor merely: out of a recog- nition that low wages and insecurity are hot the only harmful and oppressive aspects. of capitalist control which need to be met head-on. It believes ‘that unless wprkers take the initiative and’ militantly fight and destroy that system of capitalist control where they work, replacing "management prerogative" with democratic self-management, the fight for even decent wages “and. job — will remain a Rear Guard, defen tie action, in- The workers! control approach sees strong, militant and. democratic "shop floor" trade union, organisation as not merely an essential means, ain: the struggle for. workers’ control ‘but’ the embryo as well for. the. end which is being sought. while at emphasizes the primacy of the ‘work. place as the scene of the ont eed wae between two mutually-antagonistic conceptions of social organisation, it stresses as well the complementary need. for militant political mobilisation on a broader plane to replace the market system and the institutions which perpetuate it. We believe that this type of trade unionism is the most likely to be rele- vant to the concerns of architectural workers about the nature of the prod- uct they produce and the use to which it is put, about the way the work of architecture is organised, and about the s&tisfaction they receive from doing their job. Its explicit call for self-management is pabtticularly relevant in architectural practice, where many of the"obstacles" to it which exist in industry are more easily overcome. Moreover, because of its broader appeal and its emphasis on strong "shop floor" organisation, it may also be most likely to achieve significant and lasting progress on “bread-and-butter" questions as well. We believe that architectural workers need a positive trade unionism whose aim is to combat both the material privations of the market system and the lack of accountability and requires a unionism based in the daily accountable to their wishes. Trade the "shop floor" will enable members they know best. In this way, to the oppressive and de-humanising humanity which it engenders. This experience of its members and union organisation firmly based on to formulate policies in the context too, the everyday opposition foroes of the market remains of workers undiluted 2.8 by remote hierarchies acting on their behalf. Whatever the advantages that the trade union organisation, per se, of architectural workers may have for themselves, the industry and the com- munity, and the significant additional advantages of a workers! control approach to organisation, the reality we are faced with is that architec- tural workers are, in general, not now either organised or in the process of organising. The next question, then, is whether architectural workers are really capable of organising. Part Three Sew MCHITECTURAL WoRXFeEe ORGANISE? Ie thers raaily any tsason ta believe that architectural workers actually 2 ert, ork orgenisad, metwithstanding the need to do se? The idea of a trade union fer architectural workers is not, in fact, entirely a new one. We _belinuwe it is inatrictive briefly to examine the history of organising in archita ture and te consider ita implications. “Tha Mare ritectst and Survayora’ salstante Professional UniowTM® (Acar) wes “gunded in 1919 amidet the Latense industrial unvest and unior activity- gee S2te-vim734“1918warstn1924,alrdady60%of;theprofedsicn- mal selarisd. ‘The “don grew in strength to 2ouc by the mid<Twentias,’ ‘at: Soe ope cae _ vers, only about 12s 069 "architegts. tn. 49249 the onane- WAS On anec oO PATESI ee at “schitects ,Surveyors: and Technical Ageis~ ho oe Oy tartel Cans °“By the mide Thirties, in tho, de-tha of: the Depression,» bhuugh 70% oF the profess.Lon wae by then. galoried,unemploymentw’as 30% and bog mambarehig wae ‘again pane, After. ths Sacand Workd War, the name waa changad again to the “ANesociation of Budlding Technicians.” Menhonehtn wot 3500, ,where At bee rereined, though tdday faw meibers are architecte aa 7Svebeene Candey Several huildine “a craft unigns ue wait the “inion of Construet Loy iLiad Traden and Tech- nicolenat (ucattek in the late.Sixties and this yeer was abacrbed into the — Larger, Neawly-forne 7d."Supervisory» Tachnical,- Administ rative, Managerial =F my gn tS foramp) section of UYCATTY “incorporating sll ‘saleried, Casb gorkere mtovss. ote irothe: vaphousrocsht sectionsof “UCATT. oa e ee. “ sepeicy 3 a' eleing ite heyday in the Twenties and Thirties, the union. consisted mainly” ofcrchitecteanddraughtsmanandeee itaenergyontryinetoget a m imum salary ecale. for the profession, to ge representation for ‘ealer- ied rehitects cn the RIBA Council and to limit she number of wartenne _ tariny arohitecture dy eettbing more stringent’ anc time-consuming duct ional etand ade. Its main. efforta.on these issiee were nede if “negotiations with” ‘ TRA. rather than. dingetto otth: theoamitayer: os thal’‘architectural ghhice, where it was never able. to reach a position 6f be ahg reciynibed: ‘aa the rep- resente:sive of its mambers in collective bargain~3:.-Itcollaborated with the RIBA in supporting the passage of the Architects Registration Actes, ~arently in "return for expected AIGA aqreamert to a minimum salary scale. atranges, . "veh, the RISA never did agres to ona. AASTA then adopted a some- what more militane ... and membership took an upturn. It didn't affiliate to the TUC, however, until Vues why, despite ite pioneering efforts and seme aignificant achievements, did tha ABT “fade acto obscurity" as a trade union for architectural workere? ee teresene is duo . “Am. t more detailed history of ASAPU-AASTA-ABT-STAMP. ite g We have identified four related factors which we believe are ralevant: 4. First of all, the union never achievad any real bargaining strength whera it counts, on tha “shop floar." Thi 8 may have been the rasult of several factora As historical context, lass of the profession was sal- atied in those days and small offices were mors nmumearcus, making effeotive organising more difficult. The legish ative and judicial situation then also made union recognition more diffi cult than it is now. Much of the union leadership at one time apparer aubsocribed to the then current ‘soolaliam in one country" line emanat ing from Moscow and was perhans not oriented towarde industrial mibit oy in 8ritain. Inste ad, several th rage to managerial pasitions in leeal authority Cand even private) prac- tice and te prominence in tne BISA, whether in pursuit of the party Line or oP persomal inclination it is diffi cult to judge. In addition, ea a Yeraft" union, it had too little inter est in organising all employees, including clerital ataff, in the offic 6. Selidarity at the place of work too oftan tooktke a Rack saat to dis cussions 3 - Yoraft"! issuas at Portland Place. In short, oc was never able te YVdaliver tha goods.' The attitude of trying to gat invited to dine with the amployers (in- stead of organising their kitchen atafFf} had anothar serious effect Fhe union was badly, if not mortally, compromised by its callaberation with tha RIBA. If fought for saate on the RiBA Council, halpead set up Ped the RIBA Board e5 Education, supported the Architects Registration Acts and devoted much of ites anergy in the Thar ies to joint appeals, with the RIGA and building contractors, to the gavarnmnent to get help for the industry. Same of its Leadersshin aven took an activa role in RIBA affairs. Yat it had never been in a position te deal with the employars® organisa~ tion from a nositian of strength. Lacking a strong organisational base FY the office, tne union structure came to revalve sround the or nehes andoumational axecutive rather than around "shop stawarde" directly repres anting tha organised worker. This may be O.K. for a "friendly society," but we believe it deas not make for a strong union, mey facilitate daminat lon by a bureaucratic minority, and resuits in the leadership gatting out af teuch with the rank amd file. 4, Finally, the credibility af the union aa the representative of the archi- tectural worker may hava been called inio question by the prominence in the union of salaried architectural maNagement, Gna can speculate as well on their effect upon union policy ane strategy, especially as some ware active at the sama time in the employa rs* institutions. More about this later, th thsABThasbeentheonlyattemptaLnAritainataaperificallyarchi- While tacturai trade union, architectural worke rs in the pigod} co aector, who now i 342 ~ fh comprise at least 40% of the profession, have in addition had the option af joining. the relevant public seatar inden. By now, throughout the pub- lie sector, trade unisns are pracognised as the amployees? representatives far collective bargaining. While there are extreme variations from office to office, we believe that between 50 and 75% of the architectural workers in the public sector are union membegs, though we have been unable ta sub- atantiate this. In any case, with the sontinued apread of the clasad shap this number will inavitably grow. At the moment, though, architectural mem berehip in the public sector is probebly lowar than among other public sec- tor workers. None af the unions concerned actually knaw how many architec- turel workers wete members or what per cant of their “architectural can- atituenoy" they had organised, Small wonder then that apparently few architectural workera take an active interest in their public sector union. Architectural workers have rarely Found thease unions relevant tn their day-to-day prafesslanal concerns, proh- ably because they are tiny minorities in unions otherwise having nothing to de with building and because the career structure in architecture may run notooniy through more than one union*s territory in the public sector but obviously through the unerqanised private sactor as well. Benause of i that it ig fairly unlikely that an architectural worker will basome active in and make a committment to such a union The public sector unions themselves have generally dene Little to encourage gank and file amtivity or grase roots internal damocracy, appearing some- times to be burasucracies aping the bureaucracy. They have tended to lack both industrial arid political militancy, too easily falling in etap behind their amployers® relatively benevclant paternalism. Hardly a good advertise- meant for trade unionism! Mopecver, because of the total lack of organisation’ in the private seoter, the employers there, thraugh their institutions, have been able unilaterally to dictata the shape of the profession, public seo- tor included. Thers is thua reason to balieve that organiaation in the pri- vate senator may be a prerequisite ta injecting some life blood into trada unionism among public sector archilestural workers. Public seactar unionism amang architectural workers may also suffer from another problem, one which we believe also contributed te the decline of the ABT. In tha public seotor, management is salaried. The public sactor unions, like the ABT, have slways allowed membership mot only to the archi- 4i. NALGO (National Association of Local Government Officers) in local authorities, regional haspital|boards, water authorities, ete. GLC Staff Aésociation in tne GLO/ILER. IPCS (Inetitute of Professional. ae Servants in the ONE, PSA and other organs of central government. Jad ‘SSA (Transport Salaried Staffs Association) in British Rail and ne Transport. faw yeara confirms this. 3.4 roles of the various dasign professions. cectural workar but also to the man who is the "boss" for the practical Purpeses of everyday working life. These architectural managers have at timas been able to influence ar sven dominate unicen activity (or inactivity) in their departments, Usually thay share the outlasck and concerns of arch- tectutal employers in private practice and aften take an active tole in the employers’ institutione. Given the career structure in architecture, it is not unknown to fallow a term as chief architect in public practice by a partnership in the private sector, nourished by connections (te aay the least) cultivated "in the public service." It is ebvious how such e situa- tion can not only hamper tha effective functioning of the union, but by calling inta question the union's credibility as the bona fide defender of the interests of the architectural worker it can prevent effective organ- ing itself. we believe that if the brief history of architectural union- isation teaches one lesson it is that the short cut to failure lies along the path of collaboration with management and its institutions. That is not the only difficulty to be encountered in organising architec- tural workers. One of the classic arquments againet the feasibil ity of organisation is that the incentives to join a trade union are lacking: architects are wallepsid; their employers are libaral; their work is neither back-hreaking, impersonal nor Wazardous and provides a high level of job satisfaction; and as "professionals" they anjoy a high level of control aver the organisation of their work. Without beginning a discussion af whether thie was aver an accurate picture, and for whom, we think we have altsady made clear that it is by now obvious that this no longer ape plies to the overwhelming majority of architectural workers, whose worries in the present crisis only thinly conceal a dseper uncertainty about the future of the building industry and the economy, not to mantion the future The other classic argument is based upon another aspect of the "professiona myth." The salaried architect, it goes, will eventually become a partner and not only sees his security in a partnership rather than fhrough the solidar~ ity of trade union action but already shares the employar's mantality. He has no long-term interest in building the union; quite ta the contrary, he already takes an active interest in the employers? inatitutions. Myths do die hard, but with 80% of even registered architects already salaried and the figure steadily maunting, the ‘oroletarianisation" of the profession is beginning te be understood. Reality can only so long be denied. The rapid growth of white collar and professional trade unionism in the past Others argue convincingly that trades uriionism can only be built upon solidarity and that architects will naver overcome the individualism and competitiveness which stems from their middle-class backgrounds and education, (And because of the employerst control of tha Architects Reg- istration Council and thus architectural education, the title, "architect," is by now virtually reetricbed to people with that background and educa- tion.) Fortunately, the education system is Less than 100% efficient and aven a middle-class background cen be overcome (with effort). A corollary to this argumant ie that the architect is anxious to maintain a social status which places him "above" trade unionism. If wefre to believe the results of recent sociological surveye, ther's apparantly not too mush | left of the architect's vaunted “status.” The currant form of this argument is perhaps that trade unionism isn*t trendy" enough for the architect, Un- fortunately, ons can’t pay the rent with “etatus," and “trandiness" is no substitute for a full stomach, fulfilling work, and self-respect. Thies is baginning to dawn on those who have’ hitharte been too easily satisfied for their own good. Likewise, we nave shown how architectural reformism is run- ning out of rope. We believe this is also becoming increasingly apparent, despite the frenzied efforts of the media to market the latest panaceae. Tha most sarious arguments against the feasibility of organising among architectural workers ara of another sert, however. They all hinge upon the extreme fragmentation of the profession, This Pregmentatian takes threa forms: 1. Tha employers? classic form of fragmentation divides architectural workers into several categarias, each of which is supposed to hava its own epe- cial interests which override common ones, This is done first of all by statutory divisian (aimed at reinforcing existing differences in class background) of architectural workers into those who are “architects” (and may on Occasion be invited to dine with the lord of the manor) and those who ara “architectural tachnicians," otherwise known as draughtemen. This type of division is carried further by the creation among salaried archi- tects in private practice of "associate" atatus (a sort of standing invi- tation to dinner with the potential of an eventual partnership). The tech- nician, of course, is one step above the clerical staff. This fragmentation has 4@ second form, which workers "horizontally" (though with a poorly concealed vertical component) into dietinct "crafts." (The distinctions &@ scramble for work.) Thus we have the intricate and cultivated division of building design into tasks for architacts or surveyors, town planners or urban designers, structural and services is"division of architectural tend to blurr easily when there's engineers, quantity surveyors, building control officers, etc. The division we are told is the result of maximising efficiency. No commant. tactural ‘minority? of their members. We believe that, given the situation in arehitecture today, exscerbated by the current employment crisis, a carefully designed organising campaign would gsueceed im convincing the 50,000 wnorganised workers in the building profesaiona that their common interests call for cammon organisation and that their fragmentation works only in their employers? interests. It has become apparent ta us, howsver, after meetings with high-level officers in aegeral "prospective" unions, that no trade union is at this point seriously interested in leunching in the building professians tha kind of organising drive that would have a realistic chanos of suecess, congidering the diffi- cubties wa have just outlined. We must nave no illusions abaut this. te should consider the possibility, however, that should an effactive argani- ging campaign gat started, hitherto luke-warm unions may show a sudden en- thusiasm for organising, encouraged by an equally sudden interest by amploy- ere in 4good induetrial relations." we have come to the conclusion that the organisation of architectural wore kers is feasible. In fact, we believe that despite all the abstacles, some form of trade union organisation is inevitable. To achieve really effective an inevitable historical process of spacislieation for the purpose of . The employment pattern in architecture, particularly in the private sec~ tor, is’ characterised by a great makes difficult not only organising what organisation hae been achieved, especially when combined with high staff turnover, another characteriatic of the profession, particularly whan times are good and in London, where probably half of the architectu- pal workers in Sritain are employed. 3. The "typical" career atructure in British architecture, when combined with the present form of the British trade union mayvement, adds a further obstacle to organisation. it's number of small offices. This always in the first place but maintaining not at all unusual for an architectural worker to move from local autharity to private practice, to teaching or _ research, to central qovernmant tractor's office or private industry, working lifetime, Ha may mot only pags through the territories of threa or four different trade unions ganised ta unorganised territory. an incentive to the architectural her trade union and make the kind ganisation depands. The corollary understandably discouraged by this ganising architectural workers or- quite or- archi-~ or a nationalised industry, inte and perhaps back again, all in one but may also pass back and forth Thie atate of affairs hardly provides worker to take an active part in his or of long-term committment upon which is that the trade unions are also fragmentation from either actively or paying mush attantion te a small a con- from or- fa UNTONISATION WORKING GROUP The New Architecture Movement, Central London Group November 4976 ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS AND TRADE UNIONISM Draft report on the organisation of architectural and allied workers PREFACE This draft rapart on the organisation of architeetural and allied workere has been prepared by the Unionisation Working Group of Central London "NAM for the New Architecture Movement conferante being held in Hlackpool, Ne~ vember 26-28, 1976, It is based on six monthe of discussion among ourselves, with officials of some of the relavant trade unions and with interested in- dividuals both ineide and outside of PYNAM," ae well as upon reading of + of the relevant Literature. Ita purpose is to bring inte Pocus and atimu- late discussion upon a subject which the Unionisation working Group believe requires urgent action by the New Architecture Movement and all workers in~ volved in the dasign of the built environment. CONTENTS pres Part One: INTROGUCTION: why is trede esa on the architectural agenda now? ... 6. ees Part Twot SHOULO ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? 2eleos Part Three: CAN ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? Setoe: Part Fours HOW SHOULD ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? 6.de (includes "recommandat ions") Part Five: WHAT ARE THE FIRST STEPS? Be Short Bibligraphy - ADDENDA 6.1 oe BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY fn trade unionism: Gn the situation in architecture: 3.7 organisation, and to achieve it when it is really needed, however, those obstacles must be overcome. Wa belisve that this can be done by a care~ Fully considered stratégy and committment, hard wark and a willingness to take personal risks. Gniy architectural workers themselves can provide this, I? they do, we balieve that the trade union movement will contribute the essential support that only it is in a positien to provide. But the process will alec taka time. "Seize tha day! Seize tha hour!" Kan Costes and Tony Topham, The New Unionism: The Case for Workers! Control, Penguin Books paperback, 1974, FSSERTIAL READING. Tany Topham, The Droanised Worker, Arrow Booke paperback, 1975, Kan Coates and Tony Topham, Industrial Semocracy in Great Britain, Panther Books paperback, T9706. A Short History af the Architectural Profassion, by Adam Purser, 1976. Available from The New Architecture Movement, 143 Whitfield St., London Wt. Malcolm Mac fwen, The Crisis in Architecture, RIBA Publications Ltd., 1974. Edited extracts publiehed in RIBA Journal, April 1974. (See slec his long article, ‘what Can fe Dene about Competence?" in The Architects Journal, 19 November 1975, po 7083-1084,} Lauie Hellman, "Demacracy in Architerture," RIBA Journal, August 1973, pp 395-403, and "Professional Yeapresentation," Architectural Seaian, Merch 1976, op 156~4159, Paget Four HOW SHOULD ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? From aur disevesioan of why architesturel workere cugnt to organise, it would appear thet the maximum hanafite of organisation will be reaned were all ware Kare involved in the deeign of the built environment to come tagathar in are coherent union within a larger union covering the entire building industry, which, indeed, cught to form mart ef a eatill larger union of all working pea- pla. Energy which would otherwise go inte censtant defensive eetion aosinst the unified institutions of the employere (including finance, madis, and the atate), net to mention the diversions of defending onate "patch" againat en~ eroscmmant by workere in another "eraft," industry or sector, could be dirac- tad to making real progress in the office, orefeesian, and cammunity. 1? there were ane union for ail architecture] workers it would have the human rasources and committimant not only to sneak for tham articulataly, coherantiy: and forcefully, but also to carry through to completion the task of organi-+ sing. Only such ea union would heve the meana and will’ te undertake the research and diecuseion, develon molicy and take action on vital iesues facing erchi- acture and the built anvirenment, in the office, orafessional structure, buiiding industry, and community. It ia neh only acchitectural woerkars but #iso the bullding industry and the camaunity that need such a union. Until architectural workers are cohearantly orgqaniasd, the big employers, though ea tiny fraction of the orofassion, will sontinus to claim, through theie inati- tutlene, that they ensak for the orofeseion...an we ehali all, workers end community, continue ta pay the price far thet voles, howaver garbled Lb may Sea. It is further ieportant that all workers involved in building design, not juet architectural workers strictly apaskine, Sut salen quantity surveyore, struc- turesl and services engineers, bullding surveyors, landscene architecte, etc., be organised inte ene unian and thet uniscn encemnasa both public and orivate sectors. As contributors te the same oroduch, mutual esunport in industrial disputes is essential. And sines one groun is eftean cepable of doing the fame work ag another fa.9., architects and surveyors, local authority archi-~ tecte or consultants, etc.}, common organisation is assential to prevent not anily explieit or de-facte "scabbing” on ane another but alse deetructive com- patition Por work at the other's expanse and Jealous guarding af possibly gubdated dalineations of sxclusive professionel spheres which prevent tha industry from develoning for the sammon good as datermineabdy ite workers as a whole and by the communities who use ite preducte. And it ig necessary that such a union in the building professions be nart af a union of all building industry workers, and indeed of all workers in 1. sae footnote 1, page 3.3 4.2 all industries, for similar reasone applied to the wider scale, to combat the power and flexibility which capitsl hes at ite command through its Such arguments ae thees have been out forward many times before in the hie-~ tory of the trade union movement and have hed and sontinue to have an impor-~ tant influence upon ite development. iis must face the Fact, howaver, that the historical development of trade unionism in @ritsin has not resulted in the formation of one bia union. Indead, in the building intuetry alone, af- ter numerous amalgamations, the most recent in the late 1960's, there are at least three unions of major significance: UCATT, TGWU (Transport and General Workers Unian} and the electricians and plumbere union. fe for are chitectural workers, because of the split inte privata and public sector am- ployment and the existence of s variety of unions in the nuhlic sacter mir- roaring ite manhagemant atructure, | and considering all the unions already with "a finger in the pieTM (that is, with architectural members, in the conatruction industry or engagad, Like APEX or ASTMS, in organising orofes- sionale from various industries), there are a good dozen unions which ari campanias, conglomerates, finence, state and media. architectural worker might find himeel? joining. If this diffuse situation ie allowed te continue, end uflase srechitectural workers take the initiative, it will, the result will be tnat the inevitable erganisation of architectural workere and workere in the allied profeseions will proceed slowly, sporadically and nesitantiv: will be unnecessarily oro- tracted; will remain incomplete, and will never be able to contribute to the workers, profession, industry and community what an effective, coherent union sould. Wheat then are the prospects of achieving one union for all architectural workers? We are immediately faced with certain orcblema. The unions who have at present the largest memberships of architectural workers are public sector unions like NALGO and the GLO Staff Association who have no interest in arganising workers outsida thair narrow and precisely-defined “constitu- encies." And while the CEI may be only too hanpy to recommend that prafag~ Sional engineers employed in the public sactar Join theese untens, wa avenect that they are among the least likely of the dozen or se *“srospactive" unions to satisfy our criteria for a suitable union far architectural workers, To propose that some other union could organise not anly all the unorganised architectural workers but also those now aither members of or tanresented by a "rival" union 4s alas unrealistic as = short-tarm proposition, thaeuogh such a development over the long term is perhaps more plausible. "RaidingTM of another union's membership would be counter-nroductive and in conflict with the TUCts "ridlington Princinles" qoverning relations between affili- ted unione. Nor is one union likely to be keen on actively arcaniaing on another's "patch," eapecially when that lies in the public sector. The formation, by architectural workere themselves, of @ naw, independent union hae obvious attractions. including the option af amalgamating in the future with e larger, more general union on terme orasarving sufficient autonomy, as the Medical Practitianere Unien did with ASTES. Unfartunately, considering the difficulties which an organising drive in this field will encounter, the likelihood of getting such a union off the ground witheut the back-un which anly an already powerful union could supnly is pretty slim. Organising requires funds for parsonnel, litersture, legal fees and overheads and to cover for inevitable atrikes, lock-suts, and victimisation.- in addition, the expertise which comes from coneiderable trade union exper- ience and the aceess ta trade union allies in case of disnutes area unlikely to be sasily svailable today to «= naw union, however gosnuine it may appear. The immediate mroenents for achievinn one bia union, even juet for atehi- « tectural workera, ate therefore not very encouraging. The only realistic alternative at this point would seam te be that architectural workers join one or more of the dozen or eo “proepectiveTM unienea. But ia that « aufficient recipe aither for launching a successful organising drive or for eventually eraviding an effective trade union orgabisation fer architesturel warkers that will reap the full benafite that cauld come from unionieation? The former may depend on the perceived Likeliheed of the latter. It is sassential at thia point te begin to axamins mare closely the situation regarding “eroanective® unions. Qver the yeare several different types of unions have develonad in Aritein. Thay can be distinguished by different conceptions of their "constituencies" as well as by differences in atructute and orientation. The early unionea de« veloped along "craft" lines {a.g., bricklayers, olumbers, etc.) raminiscent of the medieval guilds. More recently, “white collar" work has been organ- ised acroas industrial lines almoat ae a sort of “elite” craft, by unions like APEX, ASTMS and NALGO as well as by sections of large general unions like TASS (Technical and Supervisory Steff} in the AUEW amd ACTS (Admini~ strative, Clerical, Technics! and Supervisory) in the TCU. in order to match the power and flaxihility of capitel and te srganias hitherto unorganised workers ignored by the oraft unions, induetrial unions developed, grouping ell workers in an industry into one union, The Netional Union af Mineworkers is perheana the closest approach to thie in Britain, though amalgamations have made some headway. Im the linited States, the great erganising drive of the 1830's reeulted in the ecraation of the powerful in- dustrial unions of the ef0, like the Automeblie Yorkers and the Steelworkers, aed In industciss where the public sector haa « virtual monopely, like postal service, rail tranenort, madicine and education, the public sector unions could become industrial unions threugh appropriate amalgamations within aach industry. Gtherwiese, tha public sector unions area more analagous to the staff ageociation of e particular enterprise. Finally, cutting acreas all craft, industrial and sector linea are the generel unions, like the TGWU and the National Union of Senarel and Municipal Workers, on the model of “ane bia union" for sll workers. These "ideal types" herdly exist as such in practice, dua to amalgamations and ether histories] end practicsl circumstances, Lares general unione like the TGWU include craft unions like the plasterers, who amalgamated with it when the sarpenters, bricklayers and painters were joining toe make UCATT almost an industriel union. white collar unions may function as industrial ufiiane whera an industry ie simost exclusively white collar, like banking and ineurance. Perhaps the differances bewtesn unions in-terma of structure and orientation re more significant. Some tand to be like friendly seciaties while others set more forcefully in the inductrisl and political arenas. Soma unions are maneerned almost exclusively with “braad-and-butter® iesues of wages, hours aiid penagions, chile others Sake a broader view of their memberea’ intereste nthe workplecs and in the community. Some defend narrowly theit own inter- este with Little recari for thoee of other workara, while other unions eas their owt oregress «= insenerabla from that of the labour movement in ite broedaat cange and act accordingly beth on the ehap Plaor and in the commune ity. Some have a decile obtitude tewerde management while othere sara mili- tant and incosruptitie recreasentabives af their membere!t intersats. Soma ufiona era tun frow the ten down in a hierarchy mirroring that of capital, while othare function hy a democracy built up from the "orassa roots" and dependont ween an active rank and file, Seme unione Punection mainly by full- tine, permanent "nrofeseionel” trade union ‘adminisetrators,"® while others ars aasentially "amateur" operations, with the bulk of the task left te the "Lay" memberahip rather then ta the “sxperte,;" and officials, generally elected, returning to their old fobs after relatively short terme in union offica.e In the histery of trada unianiam all thase sontrasting positions — have existed, but teday in Britein the differences between end within unions, while significant, ara usually of dagree rather than of kind, can change in a Few years and ara not always easy to diecarn from without, 2H ‘ * WhewadTRANweekteenoantecogjain?Therearesixunionswhichere’ in a position to organises in the eseentially unorganised private sector, and they ate all inucived to some axtent in the public sectdr aa well. These six inslude thres large general unione, the TGWL, GMWU and AUEW: tuo white-collar~ only unions, ASTMS and APEX; and STAMP of UCATT, which ie active only in the building industry. for the purposes of thie dianueeion, wa ahall leok at one union from each of the abeve threa categories; that ie, TGWU, ASTMS and UCATT. why thagse three? It is our impression that, while similar in concantian, ASTMS mey be more effective, dynamic and politically-ceammitted than APEX. nea Fe oc es mas amellan thon RSTMS, although it ts etranger in the con- struction industry. The TGtt! is much larger than the GAWwL! and, in addition, is quite strong already in the building induetry. We have, therefers, nat aeriously considered the GMWU. The AUEW ia another very large union with a reputation for damocracy and militancy and has a atrong base in e¢ivil engin- 4.4 ree ft tee tel aering construction, where TASS Aas apparently elready orosnised same laroe firma of consulting elvil engineere. We ara not csonaiderinn them st this time only because we have not vet had e chance to mest with their officials and to study their literature, ‘fe shall mreesant here only the hriefeet des eristion, inevitably subjective, of thease thres unions. The TSU, ag a oe union, may ef first olanne lack the attraction of UCATT or ASTMS which may lie mainiv in their well-cultiveted imagas: UCATT as the building induetry union and ASTTMS as the union for orofeesionals. 4 The TGWu, though, is the laresst trade union in Oritain with nearly tuo million mambers, one in avery five trade umieniete,and still growing ranid-~ ly. Im addition to its obvious atrenath in road transport, the docks and the motor induatry, it has nearly 300,000 members in the Bit¥ aie industry. Half of thease sre in the production and transport of building materiale and the remaining 159,000 or so work in building construction proper, About a quartear.af those sre skilled trades and the ramaining, “sami-skilled."TM In additian to ite Canstructinn Section, the Téf's white collar section, ATs : hag about 400, 000 membare throughout industry. while there are at oresent few or na architects at all in the TAO, us undatatand thet architectural workers could probably form their own branches where numbers, orpotential numbers, seemad to juatify it. (Fifty is usually considered the minimum for ahranchintheT&S.)Theseoe wouldpresumablyfallintotheACTS meetion, though it might be possible to come under thea building eaction. We underatand that it would alse probably be possible to have senarate bran- shes fer architectural Wedeaee’dand fnr salariad architectursl management. The union emphasizes ite flexibility and raleative spenness te organisational innovation. In addition to the “trade orount structure, there is a parallel geagraphical structure, with tan regione in Britain end dietrict committees {and officials) natusen them and the branches. The rer tan dayote coneid- arable resources to organising, reasearch, publicity and esducation hut em- phasizes ite reliance om an active lay memhershin ena shop stewards. ASTMS (Agaoriation of Seientific, Tachnice!l and Managerial Staffa} was formad im 1668 oy the amalqamation of twa existing white-collar unions and hag grown quickly from under 100,000 members to some 350,006, by further amalgamations and oraanisinga in the fartile fielde of Llarosly private eector white-collar workers, The union prides itself om rapresanting professionals im many fields. Much of ite "nitech" is based on its claim to Help higner~ sclaried ataffe recoup differentials araded in the recent past by manual workere® gains: it hae thus bean acainst flat-rate wage increases im the current crisis. It amnbasizes alsa ite axnert and axtensive services te members: = prafessional union fer professional people, rather than estres- sing a unicn self-managed hy the “sorkers" themeslives. we have not yet been able to make & reasonably sccurate evaluation of its industrial militancy ar its internal damocracy, but it does anonear aften to take mronressive positions on brasdar political issues,nerhane surprisingly for a white- eollaer union. ASTMS would be unlikely to allow architectural werkera to have their own branches until more than i150 in an area had joined. We are concerned not anly about the possibility thet within ASTMS eslaried archi- tectural management might gore easily be able te influence the srchitectu- ral workers! organisation, but slsao ebout the oroblem of architertural workers getting "lost" amano workers from commlstaly unralated industries The Medical Practitioners Unien, whan it amalgamated with ASTMS, was wie to maintain = suitable deoree of autonomy, including “compiste autonomy in racard to all professional matters affecting Medical Practitioners in- cluding the conduct of disputes." In our view, it ig unlikely thet hitherto unorganised architectural workera entering ASTMS would aver be able te achieve such autonomy. Following publication of the CET rapart, &S7TMS has SAERCRA AOENREhnPRNNBet 1. see pagee 3.3 and 3.4 ey heen making an effort to recruit profeesional engineers; we hava no idea as yet what progress, if ary, they have made. We have alrsady discuesed STASP, the non-manual section of CATT, in rela~ tion to the history of the ABT. UCATT as a whole now includes nearly 309,000 conetruction workers, mostly skilled trades, though conetruction aa an in- dustry is still comparatively undar-organised. STAM! now numbera some 15,000 to 20,000 mambere, of which &,500 were former ABT mambers. Be got thea im~ oresasion that there are at present an almost ineionificant naumher of archi- hectural workere in STAMP. Tt anpeare that STAMP is sancentrating mainly on organising eite foremen; it has no plans for en orgenising drive among architectural workers. In sur view, it orabably doses not have the capability of indepandently oroaanising architecture] workers, either. Yet it fa unlikely that architectural workers could have their swn saction in UCATT sutside of STAMP. Surprisingly, the present architectural membershin of STAMP seeme to be dominated by = faw older, ATBA-orianted, mananement-lavel architents in the public sector, which may also explein how (or why} few architects or architectural technicians are actually in STAMP. Aa far es we know, the only architectural office with which STAMP has a collective bargaining agreement is (in canjunction with NALGOG) the Seottish Special Housing Association, a aublie seactar office which funetions in Scotland somewhat as the GLO does for housing in Geater London. cash of thease three orespactive unions has something to offer architectural wokets. Ye have emphasized, howaver, the necessity of having ona atrang un- isn far as many architectural workers es possible. It ja eesential, there- Fore, that architectural workers committed to organisation collectively de- cide as soon es pessible on-one union for the task. The alternative is hav- ing architectural workers straggling into all, of these unions, not to men- tion other prospective unions, baged on "personal orefarance.” Parhaps this is the first test af whether architacts can averceme the “bourgeaie individ. ualiemTM which has sondemnad to failure or inegtonificance ao many of their previous "reform effarte. Tha choice amona TGWU, ASTMS, UCATT ane TASS CAUEW) Le not an eaay one. Tha criteria we think ought to ba apolied ly apparent by now Prom what we have already discussed. We think it is im- portant, nevertheless, to make explicit the mere important ones concerning the union's etructure, its attitudes, and ite sotential rale in a drive to organise architectural workers. 4 b SRL Poa ere *StLuiniaaeioa 4.1 To what extent do tha rank and file run the union, or fia the union actually controlled from the ten down? 4.2 Is there a union “priesthoedTM or do the workers themselves sdminieter the union, returning to the "sehen floor® after brief terms in union offices? 1.3 How powerful are slacted “shon stewarde't in the union structure? Oo thay get full support fram unton officials? 1.4 To what extent does shop floor initiative and action gat smothered usdan the wedeht af union buresucracy and hierarchy? in making that choice sre probab- 4.6 fre union officials salected or easily subtest ta racall? Ys opposition within tha union te its present ia aha nci of Picisi olicies allowed frealy to sesociate and to aire tlatform for its views? ATTITUG Es Moss the union take a clear and urcomproami interests af workers when in conflict with institutions? £ee& will the union militantiy fight mot only for better wane control by workers af all sanects of their workine lives, by &e tant “shoo floor" oroanisation and breader nolitical act what attitude will the union take towards axiating oay and atetus -diffar- antials among architectural workera and what orierity dees it al raising the Lavals of the lowest paid, both in architecture and in the hroader economy? te the union sympathetic toe a broademindad aporoach te imoraving amploy~ meant orosnects in the buiidina srofeaseiongs and to enuviranmental issues as they concern the community (e.90., "Creen Bens," Lucas Aerospace shon steawards-typa proposals, davelopment af inetitutisne far community can- trol, etc.)? Doasa the union identify emnloymea: : Be ity with the oreser- vation of narrowly-defined “nositiaons” rather than with look on the division of lehour and cantinuinog educatio To what extent ia the union willing and able to Sevelon organisational solidarity amone all workers in the building industry? 2.6 To what extant does the union actively combat racism and male chauvinien among iis membere as well aa in diserimination by amployars and tha state’ When the union invests (or evan builds), dowa if taka an anviranmeantally, socially ened politically raspansicla ettitucde? ORGANISING ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS Ys the union willine and able tine ta organise kars in the building nrofsasis they work in nor whateeactor the: ‘office fells. san Will they organise all work re in such offices clarical and arminis ivea 3.3 What is the union's attitude toward organising salsried management in architecture? Wheat safaquards can it provide which ‘oti nravant their qeining eontrol of an organieation of architacturel workers? What degree of autonomy and how clear and coherent identity cauld workera in the huilding nrefeseions enjoy in the union? Would the unian suppert the eatablishment of a rank-and-file Level orneni-+ sation for "inetituteTM} bringing toasther architectural workears from all the relevant trade unions? 3.6 Wihatresourcescantheunionmakeavailablefaranarcanisingdrive? {a.g., financial, personnal, legal, research, publicity, etc.) Unfortunately we are not yet in a position te Fully evaluate the “orospective"TM unians acecarding te the ehoye criteria, though some tenmbtetive conclusions may be amarging. None of the unions, for axamnie, give a clear imnression of ace five and militant grass tonte democracy, unfettered by hierarchy and bureau} cracy. In any casa, it should be borne in mind that beyond the immadiate onrob- Wate a & hy mo it wm ine mo ont c ra ae = £4 o Py oe on at Ny wr} oe 3 ng | ve fe tat tae TM *** iS oe f> m we lem of launching an orgenising drive ie a lang-term committment to trade unlonism,. Unions do change, sometimes quite eiaqnificantly within « few yeare, and further amalgamations remaina poasibility even if none are on the im- mediate horizon. Not thet thie removes the neceesity of a choirs, ag soon as possible, daepite the orasesing need for further investigation. The only conclusion thet can ba reached at thie point, however, ia that none of the three ‘prospective’ unions we hava lonked at satisfactorily fulfille our otiteria. what than ehall we do? Wie cam make four clear recommendations already: 1. Architectural workers thangelves should tekea the initiative in organising all unorganised workers in architecture (tonsther with workers from the ather building professions} into one, and only ane, atrono, militant, demo- eratic snd brosd-minded trade union, preserying maximum autonomy and iden tity within it, The choices emone the TOW, ASTMS, UCATT and TASS (aALEY should be made se quickly ss possible after further research and discua-_ sion. A union with an established presence in the buliding induatry would be preferable. The nossibllity of qetting the four or five prospective unions ta jointly back a new, indenencdent union for the bullding profes- alone, while nerhape remote and unprecedented, should nevertheless be therouohly axploread. » The organising drive should be simed at sil the building profesaions. Just aa the initiative in organising in erehitecture will have to coma from the architectural workers themselves, the cther bulilcine professions. howavar, the same applies to 3. The Pirat tarqat of any organising campeion must be the unorganised expanses of tha privete seecter. 4. In order ta compensate for the ineviteble chitectural workers, architectum] workers should immediately eeteblish and build up a atrong “inatitute," or coalition, of ofaanieed architec- tural workers, open to and uniting at the rank-and-file level all erchi- testural workers regardless of their particular union membership. should also have a student section. Such an organisation could not only bring trade unioniste in archites- ture together to help organiee tha unorcanined but would aventually be able to epeak progressively, clearly, and coherently for 35,000 architec- tips.soniene.fietateeepokece,ondaquas_of:commonindustsial..atve. fessional and anvirenmantel concern where individual unions with small architectural minoritins would have naither the interest, the will or the means to do sa. Uniy them will the reactionary influence of the enployers® orqaftisation, cleiming in the present vacuum to spask for lack of one union for all are < It 4.8 eget fu ese eh a coalition, or "inetitute.," could assist the relevant trade unions in developing and implementing fat oraes raota rather than at haadnuarters level) co-ordinated policies and action campalans on wegen and working canditions, an industry-wide mension scheme, systems of workers’ control and acceuntability to the sommunity in the snecifie context of architec. tural practice, a professional code of conduct in the interests af the workare and tha community, orogressive design and specificetion guidance, on-the-job training and continuing eadunation, etc. Such cooperation is the only way te keep divisivanese between workere in different unians from playing into the hande of a management which is already well-coordinatead, Bavand that, it would probably te the only canceivable organisation which could oroduce an architectural workeral handbook, a progressive journal of architecture, and ba the "official" volee af architectural workers as We consider the eatablishment of such a body of organised architectural workers to be a pressing oriority. while its precise geals, membershins and structure remain, of courae, to be developed, wa mfopose that it be organised ag democratically as possible at local, regional and national levels from the rank and file up, based on 8 "caucus" of workere in every architecture office or department, their elected reotesentatives, and Wie whale orofession, be effectively counteracted, a whole before the community, the state, and fraternal bodies abroad. periodic congresses delegating central execution of policies as nacessary. Part One INTRODUCTION: why is trade unioniem 144 on the architectural agenda now? What ie the problem? Let ue very briefly review tha situation in architec- of architecture, with help from the media, ture todey. The "profeesional myth" perpatuated profession is still (if it ever was) with ap a partnership the eventual outcome of the typical peefeee architec- tural career. The profession is in fact made un of near equals ae fear as ability to do the work of architecture is concerned, which helps to keep by the RIBA and the echools would have us believe that tha a community of equals or near-equals, Nearly a yeer ago, the Council of Engineering Institutions, a sort of supereRIBA grouping the various institutes ef encompassing some 300,000 shartered profesional engineers, iesued a report entitled, "Professional Engineers and Trade Unions." The report moted that over a third of pro» fessional engineers are already in uniona but pointed out that in the pris vate sector, where over 60% of professional efgineere are amployed, only 10% are already organised, The report concentrated, therefore, on that area, Noting the bread~andebutter incentives for engineers to organise and seeifig the elosed shop end aome form of employee partigipation in management meta aging on the horizon, the CEI urged profeesional angineers in the private seator to join emall, elitist “pesudosunions" willing to sollaborate with the Chartered Inatitutione. This, it was hoped, would forestall the growth of the bona=fide, TUC«affiliated unions like TASS (of the AUEW) and ASTMS, who had already begun organising engineers, not to mention the possibility of afigineers organising their own union. Whatever the chances of the CEI pipe-dream bearing fréit, we can expect a similar effort to be made by the RIBA and RICS, if they san get together, assuming the RIBA can get itself together. For even the custodians ofPort- jand Place paternaliem will soon begin to think twice about trying ke once again to sweep the subject of trade unionism under the rug. Notwithstanding an economic crieis which is steadily cutting the real income of architec- tural workers and monumentalising thair lack of employment security, ptee~ sure for job satisfaction end industriel demacracy continues, slowly but surely, to grow. White collar organisation, right up to management level, ie the growth area in trade unionism now, and the virtual collapes of the short-lived and loudly~trumpeted "preeence’ of ealariad architecta on the RIBA Council can only be taken as the handwriting en the wall. Even Church of England vicars have begun organising now, and young lawyers ate starting to join the Traneport and Generel Workere Union. Having nearly recovered from the Modern Movement, and now passing on to energy conservation, his- torical conservation and maybe sven “pattern books," can architecture, we ask, teally be far behind. OF Part Five WHAT ARE THE FIRST STEPS? A, ‘ In erder far our four recommendations ta be carried out, we believe the Pollowing will be necessary: 1. An expanded "Oreanising Committees" should carry on the work of the Unienisation working Group by planning the organisinn campaian; dis- cussing, magotiatinn, and cooperating with the relevant unione;: and, generally, take up the committment to organising architectural workere. 2. The Committee should continues and speedily conclude the researeh into the existing aituation and into prospective sion with those unions toward a mutually acceptable eatretecy. We expect our network of personel contacts among architectural workers to be the = main organiaing tonl, backed up by literature, time erganisera, ete. The compilation of a “diractory of architectural workers, indicating smolovment and any union affiliation, ia an esseftial piece of research both for developing atrateagy and proceeding with aifoan:- purpose Of raising the iseuwe loudly and clearly. Funding and distribution must be arranged. 4 Based on the proposal eventually agread tiate with the relevant union or unione ‘ing which union(s) te work with (unless developed), upon, the Committee should nego- end make a final decision regard- a more suitable strategy can be unione and continues discus- maatings, full- or part- J s sation. It is s difPloult but feasible task. Se fg sbon as the resgerch and development of an aqreed strategy can hej S. The organising drive must bagin ag soon a8 possible. The subject is tanid- sibility of getting some or all the orospective unions to back a combined Moluded, the Committee should publish a convincing repert with the ly moying into the apotlight end if the architectural workers don't move, fast, the boasee no doubt will, making daals with as many ae possible of the moat decile unions thay can find aa asoon as they perceive the threat of a really affective unionisaticn. This ie another reason why the pos- organising drive in the name of a new union for workers in the building professions must be fully exolored, however remote it may bee bie believe that the organising drive itself must be in high gear within three to six monthe from now. { to architectural mansgament, whether partners or salaried. oe A .5 ladt the myth alive. The crucial reality, however , ie that over 90% of tha pro~ feesion is already salaried. The figure je ateadily inersasing. No coubt any amateur mathematician could quickly figure gut the probability of soma- one now beginning a career in architecture aver becoming a pattner. Itfa probably no better than one in six and hardly improved by the evan more remote possibility of bacoming 4 principal in the public sector, which hee by and large modeled its structure and methods on those of privata prec- tice. In the past, we are told, a young architect could ressonably Look forward to the day when he would gain central over hie work, win the res- pact of the community, achieve a level of economic well-being and fulfill his professional obligations by “becoming his own boes." Today, only © tare and aver-decreasing percentage of architectural workers will ever achisis thie status. Tha most thet the overwhelming majority can look forward to is a continuing life of drawing board drudgery, inascurity and slienecion. The fact thet is dawning on architectural workere with ever-increasing clarity and force is that architecture ia, firat and foremoet, a business, Like any other business. But what is an "architestett? ocho" ' other bueinees, the cornerstone of architectural practices ie a division of the “playara" into a small minority of businessmen and bureausrate, the management, on the one hand, and arehitectural workere, be thay acohiteats, architeotural assistants, technicians, draughteman, ate., on the. other Hed « ‘The situation ia slightly obscured by the Architacts Regist:otien Couneiite legal reatriction of the uee of the title, “Arehiteet." ARCUE aside, the term "architect" can be taken to mean, "designer of buildings: who prepares plans and superintenda sonatruction. "| This nanmmoniv accepted definitien obviously rulee out much of architectural management who neve .. _ ceased to be architects (if they aver were), despite thelr continued and legally-sanctioned use of the title. On the other hand, many who actually da the dasigning, draughtino, specifying and eupervieion of construction on site are prohibited by law from describing themeelvas as “architentsu.” In this report we are concerned:with the peaple who by and large de the work of architecture. These.aze tha "oreh*! The current economic crisis, which hae resulted in large-scale redundan~ cies throughout the entire building industry, has begun to clarify for many architectural workers a situation which persiste through boom ae weil as bust. Architectural employment in tha private sector, which com prises over half the profession, is now down 25% from ite level at the end of 1974 and this la axpected to reach 30% by the end of next month. 4. The Conciss Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Sixth Edition, 1975 In the public sector it ie already down between two and four per cent, and the expected redundancies have only just begun. The official Nungm~ ployment rate" among ARCUK's “architecte" is eatimated to be over 10%, and it is predicted in some quarters that it will rise to 25% in the coming year. The architectural worker, whether already on the dole queue or still at the drawing board and hoping that tha next round of redundan- cies will pass him by, 1s reduced to waiting (with the patience that has become expected of him) for the next building boom, though the fear is gaining ground that this may be a long way off if it ever does material- ise. In the masntime, architectural workers have seen their real incomes steadily declining during the past few years. This has been particularly marked in private practices, tha birthplace of ths profession. A deeper and broader dissatiafaction with the situation in architecture runs equaliy through both private and public practice. Taught to consider himael? (or hereelf) technically competent, socially concerned, and pro- feseionally independent, the architectural worker is forcad to work within a system that gives him, just as the workers in other industriesn,o control over his working lifs. His technical, creative and social concerns and cap- abilities are continually frustrated by the arbitrary and unaccountable power of the sane people who are making his economic position increasingly untenable: the architectural businessmen, who are more in sympathy with the bankers and bureaucrats with whom they play golf than with the workers in their offices or the people who must live in the buildings for which they are so quick te take cradit should the critics applaud. The architectural worker ie separated from his fellow workers in the of- fice by axcessive division of Labour, elaborate status groupinga and a competitiveness which owes more to the realitias of employer-employee ra- lationships in the profession than it dees to any artistic preteneionas. At the seme time he is denied the contact with the client, not to mention the people who will setuaily use the buildings he designs, without which it is impossible for him properly to carry out his responsibilities. Con- tact with the building workers who must use the drawings and specification he produces in order to build “his" building is hardly more frequent or profound. Set in this context, the architectural sorkerfe ultimate elisna- tion from the product itealf ia inevitable. While the "myth of the professional" has been waaring thin on the architec- tural worker, the so-called "crisis in architecture," a crisis of both con~ fidence and identity, has been brought closer to the ignition point by the unprecedanted collapse of public confidence in the architectural profession. 163 This has quite undarstandingly followed Ronan Point, Centrepoint, Summerland “Ff Lar 41.4 and Poulson, not to mention the profession's full-scele collaboration in the destruction of, countless neighbourhoods and towne whose only crime was to be out of step with the “demande of the market" and their replacameant with the shabby yet sxpeneive wasteland of arbitrary and oppreasive "ea- tates" and "blocks," motorways and parking.garages, shopping centres,: civic centres and cultural centres which (eave for central heating and indoor toileta) signify ‘modern architectures" for the man in what used to be the street. Communities want control over their environment and architectural workers It is becoming increasingly obvious to beth architectural workers and the public that architecture as it ia now practised serves only the inter~ es$s of the few and remains inaccessible and unaccountable to tha communicy, despite all thea committees, enquirias and reports, codee ef conduct, pilot projects and pious sentiments about participation and public service. - are beginning to realise the need for control over their working Lives, creatively and socially responsible architecture of which they are cepable. But how hes the architectural worker come to find himself in thie situation af exploitation, isolation and alienation? The relentless drive, which no enterprise in the market economy can avoid, towarde an ever-inereasina profit element and steadily declining labour element has resulted, in ar- chitecturs, in larger and more hierarchical practices. Thess are incress~- ingly bureaucratic and arbitrary, remote and unaccountable, unable to utile ise fully the human ekills and material resources made available to them. To eneaurs higher profits, ineluding the maans to pay higher interest and “Insurence charges, the ownere of practices have hed to out their lebour costs by reducing manning, outting salaries, beth proportionally and in real terms, and reducing the time ‘and resources which can be allocated not only to gach job but aleo to back-up Jike on-the- job training, contin uing education, research and other "labour casts," ba thev nenstanea. mbhem payments or social provisions. of course, this cost cuttieg is nat anly against the: interests of architectural workers. By praventing those who must do the work of architecture from doing a competent +d reaponsible job, this cutting of “labour costs" ia againat the public interast as wall. The collapses of public confidenca in the profeesion is no eoincidenca. Osspite the occasional feudal remnants with which we are all too familiar, it is cbvicus, then, that architecture has entered the ege of capitaliainsee or what some describe as “monopoly capitalism." what, then, ie thea seer” of the architectural worker? It le in thie context that we must consider forachancebothtosurviveeconomicallyandtapeesfheBehe? the question of trade unioniem in architecture. Part Two SHOULD ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? +* demand, for examples: 2. Collective negotiation of salaries, hours, and all other conditiona. of employment,taenaureforallarchitecturalworkersaas aap aa of living. Thie would includes a. Raducing exceseaive and divisive raising the oqrosely oe tural workers. b.Stoppingthedeclineinrealwegeaendeee that by ellow architectural workers to maintain their atandard salary levele of living. pay differentials, particularly esleries of thea lawast-paid architec- We heave seen how architecturel workers are slowly and neinfully becoming aware that their employment security, their standard of living, and the what, how, and why of the work thay do, not to mention the quality of the environment which they shere aa membere of the community, are as much at the mercy of tha market syatem se those of any othar working people. with the "professional myth" going into "progressive collense" and their "pro- laterianieationTM coming home to roost, they begin to realise that they have more interaetes in common with other workers in the building industry, and indeed in all industry, than they have with their own amployere., Rut, lack- ing any organisation of their own, the responae of architecture] workers no far, sepecially in the hard-hit private sector where the problems are Workers thet wera "oroletarianised® long before hava for over @ century seen the answer in solidarity. The trade union movement is the inatitutionel fo rm which that eolidarity hes taken, Through their unione, working people have defended their standard of living and right to work sqainst the ravages Of Lapitcl, FY tke arma time, thay have bequn organising to overthrow the whole market syetem and eetablish democratic control aver all aspects of their working lives, so that the human, natural ene cultural resources af the nation may be used, rationally, for the benefit of all. what could trade fe in othar industries, the firat stan is to make rallebtive bargaining by the organised workers the mathed by which-all queetinne of amployer-employes relations are resolved. The architectural workers union would need to fight for racognition as thair representative and, through collective bergaining, most glaring, has been, not surprisingly, sunine. union orgsnisation secomplieh for architectural workere? 1. An and to arbitrary, unnecessary, and inequitable redundancies. To kean going in tima of crisis, excess nrofite end ag-called "management expen~ see" should be trimmed, not jobs, where any redundancies are agread ta de unavoidable, the "who, when and how" must be negotiated in deteil with the union and thoee made redundant given adequate notice and redundancy pay. (ue ve not renatdes the presant legal minimum at all adequate.) Em ployers should contribute to an industry-wide supplementary unemp Loymant insurance acheme. The use ef architecturel "lump" labour muet be ended. , ide A ‘minimum.of. one aonthi#: paid Oeabtten Poe all arehitectiral WOrKALEs e. One. unified: and adequate: menesn6 plan’ coverinrs ait axel‘itecturel wn, ee ployment. a .f., Adequate paid maternity (and paternity): Teave: aoe ptowlgion of day - Auresties at or near the of fire. : qe Safe cand healthy working conditions, including ‘senting, Lighting and Ti Pe precautions. 3, Sufficient time off with, pay. fon attendance at. releuant éduteens canfer~ ences and meetings, aa well as for - trade union activities: PEGlévence” to | be determined. by the union orhantaation ine the office. Of: ct. In order to.ehare equitably the work available, 9 maximum work week ae “94 houre and no overtime work as a substitute for full employment. I?overtimeworkteunavoidable,iteehepetaandatan<idaa ..,.:Pilaterate. |: 2 ; TpToLe “The ati Beate 9 architecture ‘today, However, makes Lt necasasry, for e “union: to 90) bayond these vital Nbroadaand-buttsr", theues. oe anrer could lydadaay ‘dah had an’ denies 44 An and to “praduction Line" manasemant. techniques, the’ erbitrary divi- sionofLabourandtheartificialseparationa ee “Gorkers into *nrofessionals" and |“technicians,” 2200s ‘ . .2, The opnartunity t6 do gach job opoeaieaenete ed ee SSS gaehge - af corners. _ oe 3. Adherance to a untonedeveloned Suis of conduct* whieh would prevent ' -arehitectural workers from haveing to collaborate in the destruction . Of our netural ‘and architectural heritage, the brasking, up of coherent “popular neighbourhedda, ‘and tha ‘diversion of valuable materiol and human . Tesources from socialiy~useful |pro jects to aneculative, monumental, pres tige, authoritarian and colonial ONGa. “"@. An and to secretive management and erbitrary ducieifone over the lives of architectural workere as well aa over the planning, dasign, construc- tion and management of the built environment. Architectural workere nead Not merely: “open booke,® but complete, damocratic paphon Over every aspect of architectural practices, 4 : 5.Employersto.contribute,parenitraveeptsUiHe CEROfundgetab~ lishing email, damocratically-organised. Locrlly=bes od Parmmind ty design cos emagyten would staff each office with architectural workera, whoea' ‘amp Loyets would be required to orant “lasve of: sbhaance.! Firms’ could he’ given theoptionofconvertingtovamall,moreppnPitymet2.wiganSeem under a suttable framevork eneurtrc atcountability to the communi ty Ril'tes _to-ordination with other community destior offices. Fither WEY, We would begin to. build, from the oraen roots ups a democratically-organiaed and locally-controlled "national cdesiqn service. Joe isu Solidarity dors not Just mean collective bargaining. thoes. famikier:: eith trade undone know hour, in. addition, they defend workers ‘against dscsimt. nation,unfatrdiamisaal eee eitherbytags)seprenaguerion SAVE. + hargaining sgreemente sre,clearly aa pndivany!sachet uranelly architectural offices" to provide an architecture) sarvice ‘accessible toca able to popular-based community: action: groups,” ‘tenants “assotiations, trades councils, ete. The -unton; in coblakoration with the ‘elient," workers. could. bangin to: take control at: their dwn destinies, their. trade Ped union could also act positively and effectively in other ways, in the office, the profession, the building industry and the community. For example: 1. If architectural workers were well-organised, they, together with other organised workers in the building industry, could exert the political influence that is necessary to stop the cuts in socially-necessary building expenditure and investment. The use of the building industry by successive governmants as a handy "economic requlator" (however in- effective) is partly a reflection of the comparative weakness of trade union organisation in the industry. 4. times when a reckless scramble and material resources, are wall reasonable employment prospects in the industry, architectural workers, if organised, would be in a position to campaign for an end to the use of the building industry by the market for bankers and speculators and cultural facilities for whole range of human, material construction sector be used the luxury of the few or to maintain elitist, oppressive available to the and not for institutions at home or are well-organised will ulate and forcefully present designed, well-built, cratically-planned buildings. gun to demonstrate that floor" as well as in the broader political and wasteful abroad. Only if they Its disastrous effects, even in boom for profits stretches inadequate known. But beyond merely fighting system to ensure profit and power instead of decent housing, the community. They could industrial, social demand that the and financial resources for the good of the community fascist and racist regimes architectural workers be able to develop, artic- their demand for the right socially-useful, environmentally=sound The Lucas Aerospace shop demands of this nature can arena. stewards have be- be made on the "shop to produce well and demo- human for 2.3 Collaborate with organised building workers not only in their campaign to end tne "lump," but also to ensure decent, healthy and safe conditions on site and to develop "Green Ban"-type actions blacking politically, socially or environmentally destructive projects. Architectural workers could also begin to refuse to collaborate on projects unless the workers who build them are ensured fair wages, decent conditions and trade union representation. Campaign for changes in the Architects Registration Acts to alter the composition of the Architects Registration Council in order to give it a lay majority representative of the population as a whole and an archi- tectural minority elected directly by workers and employers in proportion to their numerical strengths. Such an ARCUK, removed from control by architecturel management, should stop delegating responsibility for ar- chitectural education to the RIBA and should promulgate and enforce a "code of conduct" which is in the interests of the public and the workers in the profession, not those of architectural businessmen. The code should only permit among architects non-profit, self-managed forms of practice which provide for direct accountability to the community and complete internal democracy. Protection of the title, "architect," and control over architectural education should no longer be used to filter out those potential architects who come from working-class backgrounds or who otherwise fail to fit the mold required by architectural manage- ment to perpetuate the present system of architecture. Architectural ed- ucation should aim instead to produce socially, technically..and creatively competent architectural workers. This need is shared by all“ architectural = workers; a union could fight for an end to education without jobs abd jobs pelisok education by demanding on-the-job training ana@-continuing educa- ion Collaborate with trade unions in other EEC countries to ensure that FEC policies affectino architectural practice, the building industry and the environment are in the interests of architectural workers and the community. im at have not yet been stamped- out. With "modern architecture". discredited, designers have desperately’ ‘searched for more sophisticated and credible technical" answers?''for another would-be solution which avoids the need for changes’ in’ the! structure, of the profession (iva, neo- vernacular, historical ‘conservation, alternative technology, energy conservation, etc.). As consensus: is lacking, however , the latest hope appesars to be a sort of enlightened neo--eclecticism, Lee caramelaie He.gRieseg ‘forward for. the building industry and for the gommauntsy- We don't see or- ganisation. ‘in the work place aS a panacea. We see: it as one Necessary in- gredient, invan interdependent, three- Fold strategy for progress, alongside action in the community ‘to develop structures of direct involvment and .ac- countability and political action on a broader scale. ‘No. doubt there |are: some who are now thinking, "...but surely, there must bo some solution besides unionisation..." A brief look at the recent his- tory of. "progressive directions" in architecture will help provide: ‘the an- aResiers Here are nine. ways that Warchitécte ‘Df conscience". eave attempted, ig Eh ‘varying degrees OF. success, to find a:‘way out: i BIE Various "formalisms" and-other attempts to seek: "technical. solutions" to political problems have always been popular in the profession. (Cyrics might. say that is the profession's main ‘role.) From.the late Nineteenth Century. until after the Second World War, the gréatest en- ergy of many talented and dedicated architects went into the “¢rusade" fot "Modern Architecture," a style which lent itself better t6 a capital- “tintensive building and design industry than did more traditional styles but which acquired an air of social progressiveness because some of its . leading, exponents weré Sdéial Democrats or Communists (and some Social Democrats and Communists patronised the style), thus. encouraging’ the Nazis to attack the, style. This gave it great credibility after. the Second, World War until its massive shortcomings became so painfully and tnagically obvious - that. they could no.,lenger:be glossed: overs: This’ "move- ment" has by now all: but gone into. hiding, though' cits. influence ‘persists and though its simple- minded concern for "pationalissation" and ““indus-— trialisation" of “building continues ta obsess a few die-hards and make: : .headvay where traditional’ labour-intensive building methods and skills 2. Many who realised ‘that formalisms, “including ibdchnandabbac fetishism," would solve none of the underlying problems of architecture and only served: to.mystify the profession andthe public put their faith into ‘the extension of socialism=nationalisation into the. practice. of archi- .tecture. For them, the local authority architect's department was: to be the answer. The notion of a bureaucratic and centralised socialism, however, no longer has the "pull" it once had. The failuroef public sector architecture, modeled on private practice, to change the internal Telations in the production of architecture and its inabilittyo with- stand the forces of the market system externally have created broad disillusionment with local authority practice, as a solution in itself, both from within and from the community. rt a our ‘opinion: ‘that, there are very ‘tau problems facing architecture “today that trade’ union organisation and action could not come to grips with! and, make a real contribution towards resolving. We believe that union- i isation’ is “the only way that architectural workers can begin to gain con- i over ‘their working lives. at the same time it would be -a positive step, UNIGNISATION WORKING GROUP The New Architecture Movement, Central London Group November 1976 ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS AND TRADE UNIONISM Draft report on the organisation of architectural and allied workers PREFACE Thie draft report on the organisation of architectural and allied workere has been prepared by the Unionisation Working Group of Eantral London "NAM" for the New Architecture Movemant conferande being Held ih Blackpédl,y No- vember 26-26, 1976, It is based on six montha of discussion among ourselves, with officials of some of the relavant trade uniona and with interested in- dividuals bath inside and outside of "NAM," ae well aa upon reading of some of the relevant Literature. Ite purpose is te bring into focus and stimu- late discussion upon a subject which the Unionisation working Group believe requires urgent action by the New Architecture Movement and all workers ine volved in tha dasign of the built environment. CONTENTS Part One: INTROGUCTION: why is trade unionism on the architectural agenda now? Part Twa: SHOULD ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? Part Three: CAN ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? Part Fours HOW SHOULO ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? {includes "racommendations"} Part Fiver WHAT ARE THE FIAST STEPS? Short Bibligraphy ADDENDA PAGE Tnloae 2slees Beteos Asteoe 5e7 6.1 Cel Part Une INTROGUCTION: why is trade ufiohiam om the arshitectureal agenda now? Nearly a year ago, the Council of Enginesring Inetitutions, a sort of aupereRIBA grouping the yarious institutes BR oncempassing some 300,000 shartered profeseiofial engineers, lesusd a ceport antitied, "Professional Engineere efd Trade Uniofie.” The report noted that ower a third of pros feesionel engimeere are already in unicne but pointed cut that im the pri# wate sector, where over 60% of profeseional efgineers are smployed, only 40% are already organised, The report concentrated, tharefora, on that areas Noting the bread=andebutter ificeftives for enginesrs to orgafiee and seelifig the glosed shop end eome form of employee participation in management mene eeing on the horizon, the CEL urged profeesional engineers in the private sector to Join amail, slitist "ysoudo-uniwoinllsi"ng to gollaborate with the Chartered Inetitutions. This, it was hoped, would foresatall the growth of the bonas?ide, TUC«sffilieted unione like TASS {of the AUEW) and ASTMS, who had already begun orgsnising spgineers, not to manbion the possibility of angineers orgeahieing their awn union. Whatever the chances of the CEL pips-dream bearing Fraélt, we can expact a similar effort to be made by the RIGA and RIGS, if thay can get together, assuming the RIGA can get itself together. For even the custodians of Port- land Place paternaliem will. soon begin to think twice about trying sa once again to sweep the subject of trade unioniem under the ruq. Nobwithetanding an enonomiec crisis which ia ateadily cutting the real income sf architece tural workers and monumentalising their lack of amloyment security, pree<- sure for job satisfaction and industrial demosreacy continues, slowly but surely, to grow. White collar organisation, right up to management level, is the growth araa in trade unlonism now, anc the virtuel collapea of the sharteLlived and loudly«trumpeted "presence" of ealaried architecte on the RIBA Couneil can only ba taken as the handwriting on the wall. Evan Church of England vicers have begun erganising now, and young lawyers are starting to join the Traneaport and Generel Workers Union. Having nearly recovered from the Modern Movement, and now passing on to energy consarvetion, his- tordeal coneervation and maybe aven "oattarn books," can architecture, we ask, faasay bo for Sohied what ia the problem? Let ue very briefly review tha situation in arohitec- ture todey. The "profeestonal myth" perpetuated by the RIBA and the echools of architecture, with help from the madia, would hava us believe that tha profeseion ie etill (if 14 ever was) s community of equals or near-equals,. with gg a partnerehip the eventual outcome of the typical paefase architec- turel caraer. The profeasian ie in fast made up of near equale as far as ability to do the work of architecturs ie coneerned, which helps to keep the myth alive. The crucial reality, however, ie thet over(209) of thea pro- feesion is alraady saleried. Tha figura is steadily increasing. No doubt any amateur mathematicien could quickly figure cut the probability of some- one now beginning a carser in architecture ever becoming a partner. It?s probably no better than one in six and hardly improved by the even more remote poseibility of becoming 4 principal in the public sector, which has by and large modeled its eteucture and methods on those of private prac~ tice. In the past, wa ara told, a young architect could reasonably look forward to the day whan ha would gain sentrol over hie work, win the res- pact of the community, achieve & lavel of economic well-being and fulfill hie professionsl obligations by “becoming hie own bose." Today, only a tiny and ever-decreasing percentage of architectural workere will evar achieve |this status. The most that the overwhelming majority can look forward to is a continuing life of drawing board drudgery, inaecurity and alienation. architectural assistants, technicians, draughtemen, etc., on the other hand. ‘The situation is slightly obscured by the Arohitacts Registration Council's legal restriction of the uee of the title, "Architect." ARCUK aside, the term ‘architect" can be teken to mean, "designer of buildings; who prepares plans and superintends sonatruction.'| This commonly accepted definition obviously rules out much of architectural management who have long since ceased to be architects (if they ever were}, despite their continued and legally-sanctioned uee of tha title. On the other hand, many who actually do the designing, draughting, specifying and supervision of construction on site are prohibited by law from describing themeelves aa “architecta." In this report we are concerned:with the people whe by and large do the work of architecture. These are the “architectural workers," aa opposed to architectural managament, whether partners or ealariad. The current economic crieis, whish has resulted in large-scale radundan- cies throughout the entire building industry, has begun to clarify Por many architectural workers a situation which pargsiete through boom as wejl as bust. Architectural employment in the private sector, which com- prises over half the profeesion, is now dewn 25% fram its level at the end of 1974 and this is axpected to reach 30% by the end of nmaxt month. 9 Tod The fact that is dawning on architecturel workers with ever-inoreasing clarity and force is that architecture like any other business. Hut what is an “architectural worker?" As in any other bueiness, the cornerstone of archibeotural practice is a divielon of the "players" into a small minority of businessmen and bureaucrate, the management, on the one hand, and architectural ia, firat and foremost, a business, workera, be they architects, In the public sector it is already down between two and four per cent, , and the axpected redundancies have only just bagqun. The official “unam~ a uJ ployment rate" among AACUK's “architacte" ia estimated to be over 10%, WY panditiepredictedinsomequartersthatitwillriseto25%inthe Mud coming year. The architectural worker, whether already on the dele queue or still at the drawing board and hoping that tha next round of redundan- ko, Cies will pase him by, is reduced to waiting (with the patience that has ve becomeexpectedofhim)forthenextbuildingboom,thoughthefearis (ag asee ground that this may be a long way off if it ever does material- [gwibiog ise. In the meantime, architectural workers have geen their real incomes a“ steadily declining during the past few years. This haa been particularly marked in private practios, the birthplace of ths profassion. A deeper and broader dissatisfaction with the situation in erchitecture runs equally through both private and public practice. Taught ta consider himaelf (or herself) technically competent, socially concerned, and pro- feeaionally independent, the architectural worker ia forcad te work within bf aayetemthatgiveahim,justastheworkersinotharindustries,necontrol over hie working lif_—e, His technical, eraative and sacial concerns and cap- ‘abilities are continually frustrated by the arbitrary and unaccountable f \ power of the sama people who are making hia scenamic position incresaingly - untenable: the architectural busineasmen, who are mote in sympathy with the bankers and bureaucrats with whom thay play golf than with the workers in their offices or the people who must live in the buildings fer which they are so quick te take credit ehowld the critics applaud. The archit|ectural worker ie separated from hia fellow workere in the of- fice by excessive division of Labour, slaborate atatus groupings and a - competitiveneas which owas more to the realities of employer-employee re- SG lationshipe in the profession than it deas to any artistic preteneiona. At the same time he ls denied the contact with the client, not to mantion the people whe will actually use the buildings he deeigns, without which it is impossible for him properly to carry out his responsibilities. Con- tact with the building workers who must use the drawings and specification he produces in order to build "his" building is hardly more fraquant or profound. Sat in this context, the architectural workers ultimate aliena~ tion from tha product itealf is inevitable. While the "myth of the professional” has basen waering thin on the architec- tural worker, the so-called "crigis in architecture," a crisis of both con= fidence and identity, has been brought closer to the tanition point by the unprecedented collapse of public confidence in tha architantural profession. Thie has quite understandingly followed Aonan Point, Centrepoint, Summerland a 5s “= : = as 72 —_ 4 CO” 3 2 +) ? anal * hast the queetion of trade unioniam in architecture. 1.4 and Poulson, not to mention the profession's full-scale collaboration in the deatruction of countless neighbourhoods and towne whose only crime was with the shabby yet expeneive wasteland of arbitrary and oppressive "se~ tates" and "blooks," motarways and parking.garages, shapping centres,- civic centree and cultural centres which (save for central heating and indoor toilets) signify ‘modern architecturs" for the man in what used to be the street. It 1s becoming inereasingly obvious to both architectural workers and the public that architecture as it is now practised sarves only the inter~- ee$s of the few and remains inaccessible and unaccountable to the community, deepite all the committess, enquiries and reports, codas of conduet, pilot projects and pious sentiments about participation and public service. Communities want centrol over their environment and architectural workers are beginning ta realise the need for central cvar their working lives, for a chances both to survive sconomically sreatively snd socially responsible erchitesture of which they are capable. Hut how has the architectural worker come to Pind himaslf in thie situation af exploitation, isolation and alienation? The ralentlase drive, which no anterprisa in the market economy can profit slement and steadily declining labour element has resulted, in ar- chitecture, in larger and more hierarchical practicas. These are increas~ ingly bureaucratic amd arbitrary, remote ard unaccountable, unable to util- ise fully the human ekille and material resources made available to them. To ensure higher profits, including thea means to pay higher interest and insurence charges, the owrera of pranticas have had to eut their labour costs by reducing manning, cutting salaries, both proportionally and in real terms, and reducing tha time not only to gach job but aleo te back-up like on-the-job training, contin- uing education, research and other "labour casts," be thay pensione, other payments or social provisions. Of course, this cost cutting is mat only against the intsreate of architectural must do the work of architecturs from job, thie cutting of “Labour costs" ia againat the public interest as wall. The collapae of public confidence in thea profession is no coincidence. and to praduce the technically, avoid, towarde an ever-increasing and resources which can be allocated Oeepite the ecoasional feudal remnants with which we are all too familiar, it is obvious, then, that architecture hae or what some describe as "monopoly capitalism." What, then, is the responee of the architectural worker? It is in thie entered the age of capitbaliames. context that wea muet consider workers. By preventing those who doing a competent and reaponsible Part Tiges necsteameletine seh emesaerNee damend, for axanple: SHOULD ARERTTECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? We heve sean how architectural workers are slowly and oainfully hacoming auere that their emoloyment security, their standard of Living, and the what, how, and why of the werk thay do, not to mention the quality of thea environment which thay share ag mambare of the community, are as much at the mercy of tha market syatem ag those of any other working peonle. with the "orofeestonal myth" notsG inte "engreaaive eollagseTM and their "nro- laterlanisstion® coming home to racet, they begin te reallee thet they have mote intersete in sommon with ether workers in the Building induehey, and indeed in all industry, than they have with thede owe amployerea,Fut, lack. ing any ordarieation of their own, the craanpanse of architectural workera ao far, sepaeially in the hard-hit orivate sector whare the probleme sre moet olearing, has been, not surprisingly, suoine, Yarkers that were “nroleatarianiaad® tone; before hava for over « cantury seen the anawer in solidarity. The trade unien movement ia the institutional Fore which that solidarity has taken, Through their uriene, working paanle have defanded thatr standard of living and right to work sqainet the rAayAgan of capital, At the eame time, thay have beaun argeniaing to overthrow the whole market ayatem and eatablish democratic control aver all asnerte of their working lives, so thet the human, amstural and culturel rasourcea of the nation may be used, cationally, for the benefit of all. that could trade union orasmisatian accomplieh for architechurel workers? Ae in other industries, the first satan is to make collective baroatring by the organised workers the method by which all qubetions of amoloyar-employes relations are resolved. The architectural workers union would need to finht for recognition as thair representative and, threuah collective bergaining, 1, An and to arbitrary, unnecessary, and inequitable redundencies, To teen going in tima oP crisis, excess orofite sid so-called “management expan see" should be trimmed, not jotsa. Where any redundancies ara agraad ta be unavoidable, the "who, when and how must be regotisted in detail with the union and those made redundant civen adequate motica and radundancy nay, (We do not conaidar the present leqel minimum at all adequate. ) Em nloyera should contribute to an industry-wide supplementary uneamnloyment insurance acheme., The use of architecture} “lump” Lshbour must be anded. 2 Collective nenotiation of salaries, hours, and sll other canditione of anployment, to enaure for all architectural workers « tassonable stan- dard of living. This would inelurte: a, Reducing axcessive and divisive pay differentials, particularly by raising the grosely inadequate ealariea of tha lowast-paid architer- tural workers. bs Stopping the decline in real wagae and ingurings that selery levale Sllow architectural workers to maintain their etandard of living. c. In arder to share squitebly the work available, a maximum work yaak of 324 houre and no ovartime work as a subetitute for full employment. Tf? overtime work ie unavoldsble, if should he osid, end at an annrape tiate rate. de A minimum af one month'e paid vacation for all ‘srohitectural workers. e. ting unified and avenuere pansion plan cavering all architectural am- ployment. /f,. Adequate paid peiweatey (and paternity) a and provision of day hurseries at or nsar the office. : f qs Safe and healthy working conditions: including senting, Lighting and Fire pracautionsa. 3. Suffielent time off with pay for attendance at relevant. courses, canfer~ “ences and meatingsa,a weil ag for trade union activitise: “"relavanceTM to be determined by the union oroanisation in the of fice.. The situation in architecture today, howaver, makes it necasaary for 2 unien to ao bayend theses vital "bread=and-buttert iasues. Aunton could damands 4. An arid to “‘sraduetion Line” management techniques, the. arbitrary divi- sion of labour and the artificiel separation of architectural workers OTP AEG *profaseionals® and "technicians." fsThaoppertunitytodogechjobreeponsibly!nespeed-upanednocutting of corners. “eo 3, Adhéranée to a unian-develoned "“oode of conduct” whieh would prevent architectural workers feem haveing to collaborate in the destruction ‘af our natural arid architectural heriteags, the breaking up of echerant popular neighbourheoda, and the divarelen oP valuable maherict and human resources Prom agcially-ueseful prejecta to apeculative, monumental, pres- tige, authoritarian and colonial onea. 4, Am and to: necrative management and erbditrary daciatians over the lives “ig architectural workere as well an over the planning,. design, sonstruc~ tian and mananament af tha built environment, Architectural workere need Fe " “not merely “open baoke,” but complate, danocratic control over every eapect of architectural oractics, Ewpleyertso contributepe,ar emnloyes, to a unien-administered fund setab- lishing small, democratically-arganised Locally-basead "community dasign offices” to provide an architectural service accesaible ta and account+ able to popular-based community ation qrouns, tenants associations, trades councils, ete. The union, in callahoration with the "cellent," would staff each office with architectural workara, whoee smoloyearts would be requitad to grant “leaveof absence." Firms could be oiven the option of converting to amell, nonenrofit, salf-mananad practices undet a suitable framework eneurine aeeourtabilfty to the community and en-ordination with other sommunity desion offices. Cither way, we would “ beoin te build, from the grasa roots up, a genaeretigastyse gansaay and ‘Lacally-eontrolled "national design service." Solidarity doea not: juat mean collective bargaining. Thove familiar with trade unions: know howe, in addition, Shey defend workers against discrimi - nation, - unfair diamiseaal or vichimisation, either by Legal renrasantation at tribunals ot by more ‘direct Sehon Floor" ection. And while ecallective “bargaining adreamente are cleerly the nrimary mathod wheraby architectural workers could begin to take control of their own destinies, their trade union could also ant positively and effectively in other ways, in the office, the profession, the building industry and the community. For example: 1. If architectural workers were well-organised, they, together with other organised workers in the building industry, could exert the political influence that is necessary to stop the cuts in socially-necessary building expenditure and investment. The use of the building industry by successive governmants as a handy “economic regulator" (however in- effective) is partly a reflection of the comparative weakness of trade union organisation in the industry. Its disastrous effects, even in boom times when a reckless seramble for profits stretches inadequate human and material resources, are well known, But beyond merely fighting for reasonable employment prospects in the industry, architectural workers, if organised, would be in a position to campaign for an end to the use of the building industry by the market system tc ensure profit and power for bankers and speculators instead of derent housing, industrial, social and cultural facilities for the community. They could demand that the whole range of human, material and financial resources available to the construction sector he usec for the good of the community and not for the luxury of the few or to maintain elitist, oppressive and wasteful institutions at home or fascist arid racist regimes abroad. Only if they are well-organised will architectural workers be able to develop, artic- ulate and forcefully present their demand for the right to produce well designed, well-built, sociaily-useful, environmentally-sound and demo- cratically~planned buiidings. The Lucas Aerospace shop stewards have be- gun to demonstrate that demands of tinis nature can be made on the "shop Floor" as well as in tine broader pelitical arena. 2. Collaborate with organised building workers not only in their campaign to and tne "lump," but also to ensure decent, healthy and safe conditions on site aiid to develop “Green SariTM-type actions blacking politically, sociaily or environmentally destructive projects. Architectural workers could also tegin to sefuse to collaborate on projects unless the workers who build them ara ensurec fair wages, decent conditions and trade union representatisn. 3. Campaign for charges in the Architects Registration Acts to alter the composition a? the Architects Reoistration Cfeuncil in order to give it a lay majority veotesentative of the population as a whole and an archi- tectural minerity 3lected cirectly by workers and employers in proportion to their numerical strengths. Such an ARCUK, cemoved from control by architercturai management, should step deiegatino responsibility for ar- chitectural education to the RIBA and shouid promulgate and enforce a "code of conduct" which is in the interests of the public and the workers in the profession, not those of architectural businessmen. The code should only permit among architects non-profit, self-managed forms of practice which nrovide for direct accountability to the community and complete internal democracy. Protection of the titie, "architect," and control over architectural education should no longer be used to filter out those potential architects who come from working-class backgrounds or who otherwise fail to fit the moid required by architectural manage- ment to perpetuate the present system of architecture. Architectural ed- ucation should aim instead to produce socially, technically and creatively competent architectural workers. This need is shared by all architectural workers; a union could fight for an end to education without jobs abd jobs without education by demanding on-the-job training and continuing educa- tion 4. Collaborate with trade unions in other EEC countries to ensure that EEC policies affecting architectural practice, the building industry and the environment are in the interests of architectural workers and the community. 20 It is our opinion that there are very few problems facing architecture today that trade union organisation and action could not come to grips with and make a real contribution towards resolving. We believe that union- isation is the only way that architectural workers can begin to gain con- trol over their working lives. At the same time it would be a positive step forward for the building industry and for the community. We don't see or- ganisation in the work place as a panacea. We see it as one necessary in- gredient in an interdegendent, three-fold strategy for progress, alongside action in the community to develop structures of direct involvment and ac- countability and political action on a broader scale. No doubt there are some who are now thinking, "...but surely, there must be some solution besides unionisation..." A brief look at the recent his- tory of "progressive directions" in architecture will help provide the an- swer. Here are nine ways that "architects of conscience" have attempted, with varying degrees of success, to find a way out: 1. Various "formalisms" and other attempts to seek "technical solutions" to political problems have always been popular in the profession. (Cynics might say that is the profession's main role.) From the late Nineteenth Century until after the Second World War, the greatest en- ergy of many talented and dedicated architects went into the "crusade" for "Modern Architecture," a style which lent itself better to a capital- intensive building and design industry than did more traditional styles but which acquired an air of social progressiveness because some of its leading exponents were Social Democrats or Communists (and some Social Democrats and Communists patronised the style), thus encouraging the Nazis to attack the style. This gave it great credibility after the Second World War until its massive shortcomings became so painfully and tragically obvious that they could no longer be glossed over. This "move- ment" has by now all but gone into hiding, though its influence persists and though its simple-minded concern for "rationalisation" and "indus- trialisation" of building continues to obsess a few die-hards and make headway where traditional labour-intensive building methods and skills have not yet been stamped out. With "modern architecture" discredited, designers have desperately searched for more sophisticated and credible "technical" answers: for another would-be solution which avoids the need for changes in the structure of the profession (i.e., neo-vernacular, historical conservation, alternative technology, energy conservation, etc.). As consensus is lacking, however, the latest hope appears to be a sort of enlightened neo--eclecticism. 2. Many who realised that formalisms, including "technocratic fetishism," would solve none of the underlying problems of architecture and only served to mystify the profession and the public put their faith into the extension of socialism=nationalisation into the practice of archi- tecture. For them, the local authority architect's department was to be the answer. The notion of a bureaucratic and centralised socialism, however, no longer has the "pull" it once had. The failure of public sector architecture, modeled on private practice, to change the internal relations in the production of architecture and its inability to with- stand the forces of the market system externally have created broad disillusionment with local authority practice, as a solution in itself, both from within and from the community. themselves? NO 3, In an attempt to learn from the mistakes of more conventional practices, a few "enlightened" architects have tried to create small, fairly "respon- sive practices, more or less "democratically" fun.as ‘cooperatives or mod- ified partnerships. As “None-off" cases they have been obliged to compete ‘in isoletion for patronage, manpower, financing, etc. in a completely capitalist system whose business and professional structure has been designed for their more bureaucratic, hierarchical and profit-oriebted copetitors. Yet because of their internal advantages as well as the un- -usual amount of talent, effort and committment which those involved have brought to them, some of these practices have achieved limited.success “bndvheavevneb:eenseizeduponbytheprofessionandmediaassignsof progress. Signs of hope they are, but it would be foolish ‘to believe that inthepresentcontextsuchacourseifrealistiopceanltol:yanymore than a token number of practices,.. Others in a related vein sought to rectify the obvious lack of direct accountability to the community which has characterised both private and public practice and set up would-be “community architecture offices" in the wake of the "advocacy planning" movement. These have been involved, with varying degrees of success, .in:fighting the planning and architec- ture establishment in the name of threatened local, generally wotking- class, communities and providing them with architectural services to: . <Whichthey’wouldnototherhawvei‘asccess.Itappearsthatwhiletoken, scattered local successes may be tolerated, if not ancouraged, in order _,to. give the profession aslightly more’ progressive and dynamic ‘public “image. and to keep busy. and content some:of the more committed young architectural workers while.at the same time isclating them from the “umainstream" of architectural: workers in- the offices, "downtown," there is’alsoreasontobelievethatthisdirecthairdloynac,cesisisbleas -g'Nggneral solution" on any scale without major structural changes in the “-pbofession. In the meantime, lacking a consolidated. power base and. with ‘tenuous sources:of funding and support, such offices may even run the risk of competition from the professional establishment itself, seeking “ ~*to move in on the new "market" they have opened up, recoup some respect- One step farther is taken by advocates of “Nself-build" who attempt to "drop-out" of the building industry and all its frustrations, though they sometimes do reserve a continuing role for the architect. “Others have chosen to try to minimise their connections with the mar- ket system itself by setting up rural: "communes." This again, though presenting a challenging model, is not an option open to large numbers Some thoughtful architects, seeing no socially or creatively positive role possible within practice as it now is, have retreated into afchi- tectural education and theory. While there is no doubt that important contributions can be made in this field, even at times in isolation from practice, there can also be little doubt that there is ai tendency among some of these people to erect a protective shelter of mystification ~around their somewhat vulnerable and isolated professional Sosition. ability and ensure that "things don't go too far." .Seeing the need for basic changes in the professional structure itself, groups like the "New Architecture Movement" have begun to call for its -reorganisation into a national design service of small, locally-based, democratically-run non-profit practices directly atcountable tothe community. But without developing the industrial and political power to _begin to move in this direction. let alone to fully realise the propo- sals,,how will they even be able to realisticaaly develop the concepts ‘In the late Sixties, some salaried architects began the latest attempt to gain influence within the employers! organisation. The Salaried Arch- of people in the ptesent context. itects Group in the RIBA was formed and the RIBA's electoral system mod- ified in the hope of giving the salaried majority of RIBA members some control of the organisation. The group has subsequently spent four years of considerable effort achieving token recognition of the salaried arch- itect in a by now contradictory "Code of .Conduct" whose "enforcement" is still entrusted to the employers.;Meanwhile, involvment at Portland Place has tended to isolate these articulate and committed architectural workers from their "constituency" hile. their:token presence has perhaps encouraged the illusion: that. the RIBA might someday be made accountable to its salaried majority. How seriously would the RIBA'S “democratic framework" be taken if it were placed’ in the architectural..office itself rather than at Portland. Place, given the absence of strong"s nop floor" ‘organisation of architectural workers. We doubt whether the charade — could continue. B8y removing the scene of confrontation:firom the work- place, where the conflicts are,.to a sa-called "professional institute," the illusion of demovracy is sustained. Tactically, by trying to deal with the employers within the RIBA framework, bather than at the place of work, the S.A.G. allowed themselves to.be-separated from many of their fellow architectural workers who are not even eligible for RIBA membership, while allying themselves instead with some salaried architec- tural Management. If this is beginning to read like a "nine lives of architectural reformism," it's no coinciderice. Ali the ebove-mentioned. "tendencies" try to solve the problems facing architecture by a solution within the scope of action by the isolated individual. They demonstrate an increasingly frenzied attempt... to avoid the inevitableth:e need for collective action on the part of arch- itectural workers to bagin. to transform the productive relations within ar- chitecture itself. _It.is our opinion that only when architectural workers” are _organised will these tendencies wgzyx cease to be "diversions" and be- gin. to make a posiitive |and significant contribution to architectural and social progress The extento which this happens will..depenncodt. only on whether architec- . Suen workers organise, but how they co so. we thimk we have shown sort of unionisation will be better than none. ‘The real question now.is whatkionftdradeunionorganisationisappropriateforarchitectural workers toda¥? Although we shall deal with this in more detail in Part Four, it is.useful to outline a general approach here. webéliavethattheproblemistochoanoappsroaech.totradeunionism (from among the many) ‘which will not only facilitate: organisation but will at the same time have tho: best chance of maximisingt.he eventual benefits of organisation to architectural workers, The direction we would recommend mem has already been. implied in our anal - ysis of the situation in architecture could accomplish. It might be termed the "workers! control" conception of trade unionism. the industry. and the community. today. and our .sketch of what a. union that any 2.6 environmental questions. This conception stresses the need for workers to gain“full, democratic: ‘control over all aspects of their working lives, not just wages, hours, job security and pensions. It does this not merely out of a fundamental faith in democracy and egalitarianism, and their ability to mobilise people's productive and creative capacities, nor merely out of a recog- s nition that low wages and insecurity are not the only harmful and oppressive aspects of capitalist control which need to be met head-on. It oelieves that unless wprkers take the initiative and militantly fight and destroy that system of capitalist control where they work, replacing "management prerogative" with democratic self-management , the fight for even decent wages and job security will remain a rear-guard, defensive action, ine creasingly unfruitful. The workers' control approach sees strong, militant and democratic "shop floor" trade union organisation as not merely an aasential means in the struggle for workers! control but the embryo as well for the end which is being sought. While it emphasizes the primacyo.f the work place as the scene of the confrontation between two mutually-antagonistic conceptions of social organisation, it stresses as well the complementary need for militant political mobilisation on a broader plane to replace the market _ system and the institutions which perpetuate it. 2.7 The workers! control conception has a long history which received added momentum from the ferment of 1968 and 1969. Unlike some of the more flam- boyant manifestations of that period which tally suppressed, it has continued to develop and make a stronger impact on the British Odie: Wine movement, as witnessed of they key role of "shop stewards" in the trial occupations and setting up of self-managed pected legislation for a baginning of some formalised "industrial democ- racy" and in the far-sighted and aggressive union activity typified by the "Green Sans" Building Labourers! Union. and. the. proposals a ‘production hich have been made ‘by the combine committee. Even in the USA, where narrow and essentially -"defensive" “bread-and- butter" trade unionism is particularly well-entrenched, large: unions. like the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers have recently pioneered health the giant United Auto Workers (which covers aircraft industry as well) have begun to devote considerable attention to have withered away or been bru- in thé growing recognition union structure, in the indus- cooperatives, in the ex- attitude toward, the Ssocmere? pioneered by the Australian for conversion to socially-use- ‘kucas -‘Aerospace shop. stauards the traditionn of a‘stong but and safety agreements and much heavy machinery and the We believe that this type of trade unionism is the most likely to be rele- vant to the concerns of architectural workers about the nature of the prod- uct they produce and the use to which it is put, about the way the work of architecture is organised, and about the sétisfaction they receive from doing their job. Its explicit call for self-management is pabticularly relevant in architectural practice, where many of the"obstacles" to it which exist in industry are more easily overcome. Moreover, because of its broader appeal and its emphasis on strong "shop floor" organisation, it may also be most likely to achieve significant and lasting progress on "bread-and-butter" questions as well. lle believe that architectural workers need a positive trade unionism whose aim is to combat both the material privations of the market system and the lack of accountability and humanity which it engenders. This requires a unionism based in the daily experience of its members and accountable to their wishes. Trade union organisation firmly based on the "shop floor" will enable members to formulate policies in the context they know best. In this way, too, the everyday opposition of workers to the oppressive and de-humanising forges of the market remains undiluted by remote hierarchies acting on their behalf. Whatever the advantages that the trade union organisation, per se, of architectural workers may have for themselves, the industry and the com- munity, and the significant additional advantages of a workers' control approach to organisation, the reality we are faced with is that architec- tural workers are, in general, not now either organised or in the process of organising. The next question, then, is whether architectural workers are really capable of organising. Part Three CAN ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? arehitecture and’ ‘ta conaider ite implications, non-manual worker previously in the various craft sectiaong.of UCATT. Ie there raaily any resson to believe that architectural workere actually can get orgenisad, notwithstanding the need to do so? The idea of a4trade union for architeotural workers ip nob, in fact, antirely a new one. we believe at ie instructive briefly to examine the history of organising 3in The "Architects? and Surveyors! Assistante Profegetonal Union" (ASAPU) waa foundad in 1919 amidst the intense industrial unrest ‘and union eaotivity which Pollowad the 1914-1918 war. In 4924, alr3ady 60% of the profsasion was ealaried. The union grew in strength te 2500 by the mid-Twerties, at a time when there were only about 12,000 "architects." ‘In 4924, the name was changed to "Association of Architects, Surveyare and Technical Revio~ tante" (AASTA). By tha mid~Thirties, in tha depthe ‘of the Depression, » though 70% of the profeesion was by ther salaried, unemployment wes 30%and the membership wae agein 2500. Aftar the Seeand world War, the name waa, changed again to the "Association of Bui ding Yachniiniane.TM Membership . was 3500, where it has remained, though today Few members are architect a or atchitectural ‘technicians. The AST ginal gamated with eaveral building craft uniane to form the “Union oF fohsetruction, Qilied Trades and Tech- nicianat (UCATT) in the late Sixties and this yaar waa abeorbed into the Larger sy navly=formed nSUPELVAigory Tachnical, Administrative, Managerial- and Profesaional® (STAMP) section of UCATT, incorporating all salaried, During ite heydey in the’ Twenties and Thirties, the union consisted mainly of architecte and draughtsman and conéentrated ite energy on trying bo gat e minimum salary acala for the profession, to get Ne oeucontatian Par ealar- ded architects on tha RIBA Council and te Limit the number of workers en tering arohitectura by setting more stringent and timea-canauming educational standards. Ite main efforte on these issues were made in megotiatione with the RIBA, rather than directly with the employer in tha architectural office, where if wae naver able to reach a noeiiion of baing recognised aa the rep- tesentative of ite mambers in collective bargaining. It collaborated with the RIBA in supporting the passage of tha Architects Registration Acta, apparently in "return" for expected AIBA agreement to a minimuin gulary acale. Strangely enough, the RIBA never did agree to one. AASTA then adapted a some~ what more militant tone, and mambarahip took am upturn. It didn*t sffiliate to the TUC, however, until 1939,| why, despite ite pioneering efforts and some significant achievements, did the ABT "fade into obscurity" as a trade union for architectural vworkere? iesishiceenp aemasatnemmaneers 4s See addandum for more detailed history of ASAP. AASTA«RAT.«STAMP, ieee e pe syn gee We have identified four related factors which wa believe are relavant: 1. First of all, the union never achieved any real bargaining strength 2. Portland Place. In short, if was never able ta "deliver the gaods."” The attitude of trying to gat invited to dine with the employers Cin- stead af arganising their kitenan atat f) had another serious effect. The union was badly, if not mortally, compromised by its collaboration with tha RIGA. It fought for saats on the RIBA Council, helped set up the RIBA Board ef Education, supported the Architects Reaistratian Acts and devoted much of ites anergy in the Thirties to joint appeals, with tne RISA and Qullding canmtractors, toa the government to gat nelp for the industry. Some of its inadership even took an activa role in RIBA affairs. Yet it had never bean in a position to deal with the employers? orgqanisa~ tion from a pagitian of strength. Lacking a atrong organisational be in the offica, the union structure came to revelve around the branches and nmetional executive rather than around "ehap stewards" directly representing he arqanised worker. This may be OK. for a "friendly society," but wa believe it doas net make for a ebrong union, may facilitate domination by a bureaucratic minority, and results in the leadership gatting out ef touch with the rank and file. Finally, the credibility af the union as the representative of the archi- tectural worker may have been called into question by the prominence in the union of salaried architectural management. One can speculate as well on their effect upon union policy and strategy, especially as some ware active at the sama Lima in the employars?t institutions. More about this later, “- 3. 4, where it counts, on tha “Yahon Pfloar." This may have been the rasult of several factors. As historical context, less of the profession was sal- atied in those days and amall offices were mors mumerous, making affective organising mora difficult. The legislative and judicial situation then alao made union recognition mare difficult’ than it is naw. Much of the union leadership at ane time apparently aubseribed to the then current "soulaliem in one country" line emanating from Moscow and was perhans not oriented towarda industrial mibitanoy in Britain. Instead, several rege to managerial positions in lseal authority (and even private) prac- tice and to prominence in the RIBA, whether in pursuit of the party line or of personal inclination it is difficult to judge. In addition, aa a YeraPt"® union, it had too little interest in organising all amployees, including clerical staff, in the offices. Solidarity at tha place of ,!r wark too often took a back seat to discussions af “Yoraft*® issuas at While the ABT has been the only attempt in Britain at a spanifically archi- btectural trade union, architectural workers im the public sector, who now #}? 542 es" comprises at least 40% of the profession, have in addition had the optioen of joining. the relevant public sectar uniones | By now, throughout the pub- lic sector, trade unisns are racognised as the smployeesa® representatives Far collective bargaining. While there are extrems variations from offica to office, we believe that between 50 and 75% of the architectural workers in the public sector are union membegs, though we have been unable to sub- stantiate this. In any case, with the continued apread of the closad shap this number will inevitably grow. At the moment, though, architectural mem- bership in the public sector is probably lower than among other public sec- ter workers. None of the unions concerned actually knew how many architec- tural workers were members or what per cant of their “architectural con- stituency" thay had organised. Small wonder then that apparently few architectural workere take an active interest in thair public sector unian. Architectural workers have rarely found theae unions relevant to their day-to-day professional concerns, prab= ably because they are tiny minorities in unions otherwise having nothing to do with building and because the career structure in architecture may run not only through more than one union's territory in the public sector but obviously through the unerganised private sector as well. Because of that it is fairly unlikely that an architectural worker will become active in and make a committment to such a union. The public sector unions themselves have generally done Little to encourage sank and file activity or grass roots internal democracy, appearing some- timas to be bursaucracies aping the bureaucracy, They have tended to lack beth industrial and political militancy, too easily falling in step behind their employers? relatively benevolent paternalism. Hardly a good advertise- mant for trade unionism? Mogecver, because of the total lack of organisation’ in the privates secter, the employers there, through their institutions, have been able unilaterally to dictate the shape of the profession, public sec- tor included. There is thus reason to believe that organisation in the pri- vate sentor may be a prerequisite to injecting some life blood into trada unionism among public sector architectural workers. Public sector unionism among architectural workers may also suffer from another problem, one which we believe also contributed to the decline of the ABT. In the public sector, management is salaried. The public sector unions, like the ABT, have always allowad membership not only to the archi- 1. NALGO (National Association of Local Government Officers) in local authorities, regional hospital boards, 'Staff A&Sociation in the GLO/ILEA. IPCs water authorities, ete. GLC (InstituteTM of Professional Civil Servants in the DOE, PSA and other organs of central government. a Le I TSSA (Transport Salaried Staffs Association) in British Rail and London Transport. amployears! insti not unknown to follow a term as chief architect partnership in the private eee ultivated "in the ion can not only hamper in public practice by a calling inta question of the interesta of the ising itself. We believe isation teaches one lesson of the union, but by as the bona Fide defender Taw years confirms this, seeter, nourished by connactions (to say the public service." It is obvious how such a situa- the effective functioning the union's cradibility architectural worker it can prevant effective argan- that if the brief history it is that the short cut of architectural union- to failure lies along. f9% ° ms ct roles of the various design professions. teéctural worker but alee to the man who is the “bosstt for the practical purposes of everyday working life. These architectural managers have at timas been able to influence ar aven dominate unian activity (or inactivity) in their departments. Usually thay share the outlook and concerns of arch- tectural employers in privata practics and often take an active role in the whians,. Given the career structure in archit acture, it is the path of collaboration with management and Lts institutions. That is not the only difficulty to be encountered in arganising architec q “3 tural workers. Une of the classic argunents against the feasi bility of ¥ arganieation is that the incentives ta Join a trade union are Lackinas architects are well-paid; their employers are liberals; their work is neither back-breaking, impersonal nor Wazardous and providas a high Level af job satisfaction; and as "norofessionals" they anjay a high level of control aver the organisation of their work. Without Peginning a discussion af whether this was ayer an accurate picture, and For whom, we think have alrgady made clear that it is by now obvious that this no longer ap~ plies to the overwhelming majority of architectural workers », whose worrias in the present crisis only thinly conceal a deeper uncertainty about the future of the building industry and the aconamy, mot to mantion the future The other claseic arqumant is based upon anobher aspect of the "prefessional myth." The salaried architect, it goes, will aventually become a partner and not only sees his security ina partnership rather than through the solidar- ity of trade union action but already shares the amploayar's manbality. He has no long-term interesitn building the union; quite toe the contrary, he already takes an active intereat in the amployers* inetitutions. Mytha do die hard, but with 50% of evan registered architects already salaried and the figure steadily mounting, the “proletarianis n" of the profession is beginning to be understood. Reality oan only so long be denied. The rapid growth of white cellar and professional trade unionism in the past Others argue convincingly that trades unionism can only be built upon solidarity and that architects will never overcome the individualism and competitiveness which stams from their middle-class backgrounds and aducation. (And because of tha employers? control of tha Architects Reg~ istration Council and thus architectural education, the titla, "architect," is by now virtually restricted to people with that background and educa tion.) Fortunately, the education system is less than 100% afficient and even a middle-class background can be overcome (with effort). A corollary to this argument is that the architect is anxious to maintain a social status which places him “above” trade unionism. If wetre to believe the resulte of recent sociological surveye, thar's apparently not too much | left of the architect's vaunted "status." The current form of thie argument is perhaps that trade unionism isnt trendy" enough for the architect. Un- fortunately, ons can’t pay the rent with "etatus," and “trandiness" is no substitute for a full stomach, fulfilling work, and self-respect. Thies is baginning to dawn on those who have hitharta been too easily satisfied for their own good. Likewise, we have shown how architectural reformism is run- ning out of rope. We believe this is also becoming increasingly apparant, despite the frenzied effarts of the media to market the latest paneceas. The most serious arguments against the feasibility of organising among architectural workers are of another sort, however. Thay all hinge upon the extreme fragmentation of the profession, This fragmentation takes three forms: 1. Tha employers’ classic form of fragmentation divides architectural workers into several categories, each of which is supposed to have its own epe- cial interests which override common ones. This is done first of all by statutory division (aimed at reinforcing existing differences in class background) of architectural workers into those who are "architects" (and may on occasion be invited to dine with the lord of tha manor) and those who are “architectural technicians," otherwise known as draughtemen. This type of division is carried further by the creation among salaried archi- tects in private practice of "associate" status (a sort of standing invi- tation to dinner with the potential of an eventual partnership). The tech- nician, of course, is one step above the clerical staff. This fragmentation has a second form, which is “division of architectural workers "horizontally" (though with a poorly concealed vertical component) into distinct "crafts." (The distinctions tend to blurr easily when therets @ scramble for work.) Thus we have the intricate and cultivated division of building design inte tasks for architects or surveyors, town planners or urban designers, structural and sarvices angineers, quantity surveyors, building contral officers, stc. The division we are told is the result of maximising efficiency. Ne comment. tactural “minority! of thelr members. we believe that, given the situation in arehitecture today, exacerbated by the current employment crisis, a carefully designed organising campaign would succeed in convincing the 50,000 unorganised workers in the buliding profesaions that their common interests call for common organisation and that their fragmentation works only in their amployers’ interests. It has become apparent ta us, hewaver, after meetings with high-level officers in sogeral *oroapective” unions, thet no trade union is ab this point eeriously interested in launching in the building professions the kind of organising drive that would have a realistic chance of suecess, cormidering the diffi- cubties we have just outlined. We must have no illusions about this. te should consider the possibility, however, that should an effactive argani- ging campaign gat started, hitherto thusilasm for organising, encouraged are in "good industrial relations." We Nave come to the conclusion that kere is foasible. In fact, we believe that despite all the obstacles, some Porm of trade union ocrmanisation is inevitable. To achieve really effective luke-warm unions may show a sudden an- by an equally sudden interest by amploy- the organisation of architectural wore 6G an inevitable historical process of speeielieation for the purpose of . The employment pattern in architecture, particularly in the private sac- tor, is’ characterised by a great number of small effices. Thie always makes difficult mot only organising in tha firet place but maintaining what organisation has geen achieved, especially when combined with high staff turnover, another characteristic of the profession, particularly when times are good and in Landon, where probably half of the arehitectu- ral workers in Sriteain are amployad. 3. The "typical" career structure in British architecture, when combined with the prasent form of the Britieh vhstacle to organisation. it's nat at all unusual fer an architectural _ worker to move from local autharity te private practice, to teaching or research, to cantral government or a nationalised industry, inte a con- tractor's office or private industry, working lifetime. He may mot only pass or four different trade unions but may ganised ta unorganised territory. Thie an incentive to the architectural worker to take ar active part in his or her trade union and make the kind of Long-term cammittmant upon which or- ganisation depands. The corollary is that the trade unions ara alen quita understandably discouraged by this fragmentation ganising architectural workers or paying from either actively or- much attention to a small archi- trade unian movement, adds a further and perhape back again, all in one through ths territories af threa aleo pass back and forth from or- atate of affairs hardly provides ht BRIEF BIBL TOGRAPHY On trade unlonism: Gn the situation in architecture: 3e7 organisation, and to achieva it when it is really needed, however, those obstacles must be overcome. We believe that this can be dona by a care~ fully considered strategy and committment, hard work and a willingness to taka personal risks. Only architectural workers themselves can provide this. If they do, we balisve that the trade union movement will contribute the essential support that only it is in a positien to provide. But the process will also take time. "Seize the day! Ssize the hour!" Kan Coates and Tony Topham, The New Unioniam: The Case for Workers? Cantral, Penguin Books paperback, 1974, FSSENTIAL READING. Tony Topham, The Organised worker, Arrow Booke panerback, 1975, Ken Coates and Tomy Tephem, Industrial Democracy in Greet Britain, Panther Bocks paparbeck, 1970. A Short History of the Architectural Profession, by adam Purser, TI7G, Available fram The New Architecture Movement, 143 wWhit@iald St., London wt, Malcolm Mac Ewen, The Crisis in Architecture, RIBA Publicetions Ltd., 1974. Edited extracts published in RYSA Journal, Anoril 1974. (See alec his lang avticle, “what Can 8a Done about Competence?" in The Architects Journal, 19 November 1975; po 1063-1084. Louis Heliman, "Democracy in Architerture," RIBA Journal, August 1973, pp 395-403, and "Prefessional Representation," Architectural Besign, Merch 1976, on 156-459, Patet, Four HOW SHOULS ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS ORGANISE? From our discuseion of why architercturel workera ought to organise, it wavuld appear thet the maximum hsnefite of organigation will bea reamed were all wore kare involved in the design of the Built enviranment to come tagathar in ane coherent union within a larger union covering the entire building industry, which, indeed, cught to form mart ef a still larger union of all working peo- plea. Energy which would otherwise oo inte constant defensive esetion agsinat the unified ineatitutione of the employera (ineluding finance, madis,. and the etate}, not to mention the diversions of defending onafs "patch" againat sn~ creschmant by workers in another "erafi," industry or sector, could be dirac- ted to making teal progress in the office, srofeesion, end community. Tf there were one union fer ail architecture] workers it would have the human resources and cammittment mot only to soeak Por them srticulately, coherantly: and forcefully, but aleao te carry through to completion the task of organi- sing. Only auch se union would Mave the meane and will to undertake the research and discuseion, deveslon oolicy and take action on vital desuea facing erchi- hecture and the built environment, in the } office, orafessional structure, huiiding industry, and community. IF ia nob only sechitectural workers but also the building industry and the community that need such a union. Until atehitectural workera are coherently organieed, the bio amnisyers, though a tiny fraction of the mrofassion, will sontinue ta claim, through their ineti- tuitions, that thay speak for the orafesasion...an we shall ell, sorkers end community, continue to pay the orice for thet volee, however garbled it may SRR. Tt is further important thet ali workere involved in buiiding deafon, mat just architentural workers strictly speakine, Sut aleo quantity surveyore, ebruc- tural and services engineers, bullding surveyors, landscene architects, atc., be srashised inte one undan and thet union encemnasa beth nublic and orivate sectors. Ags contributors te the same oroduch, mutual sunport in induetrial disputes is essential. And sines one group is often capable af doing the Same work as another {a.9., architects and surveyors, lotal authority archi-~ tects or consultants, etc.), common orosnisation ia assantial to prevent not oniy exolieit or de-facta "aeabbinaTM om ane another but else daatrustive com- petition Por wark at the other's expanse and isalous guarding af possibly subgated delineations of exclusive professionel spheres which pravent the industry from developing for tha samman goad an determined by its workers as a whole and by ths communities who use ite preducte. And it ia necessary that euch a union in the building professions be part of a union of all bulldina industry workers, and indeed of all workers in iB or all industries, for similar reasons applied to the wider scala, to combat the power and flexibility which capital companies, conglomerates, finance, state and media. Such arguments as theses have been out forward many times before in the his- tary of the trade union movement and have tant influence upon ite development. We must face the fact, howaver, that the historical development of trade unionism the formation of ona big union. Indeed, in the building industry slone, af- ter numerous amalgamations, the moet at least three unions of major significance: General Workers Unien)} and the electricians chitectural workers, because of the and plumbere union. As for sr- with "a finger in tha pie" (that is, with architectural members, in the econatruction industry or sengacad, sionals from various industries), there ployment and the existence of a variety roring ite management atructure, ° and considering all the unions already union sould. 4, aaa footnote 1, peqe 3.3 has at ite command through ite had and continue to have an impor~ in Sritsin hae not resulted in recent in the late 1960ta, there sre UCATT, TGuWU (Transport end split inte orivate and nublic sector ame of unions in the public secter mir- like ABEX or ASTMS, in organising are a good dozen unions which an orofes~ 4.2 architectural worker might find himeelf joining. If this diffuse situation ie allowed to continue, end unlees architectural workere take the initiative, it will, the result will be that the inevitable organisation of architectural workere and workere in the ellied professions will proceed slowly, sporadically and hesitantiy: will be unnecesserily oro- tracted; will remain inconrlata, and will never be able to contribute to the workers, profassion, industry and community what an effective, coherant Wheat then area the prospects of achieving ona union for all architectural workers? lie are immadiately faced with certain oroblema. The unions who have at present the largest memberships of architectural workers are public sector unions like NALGO and the GLO Staff Association wha have no interest in arganising workers outsida their marrow and pracisely-defined "constitu- encies." And while the CEI may be only too hanpy to recommend that profas~ sional engineers employed in the public sector join theee unions, we suspect that they are among the least likely of the dozen or so "srospective" unions to satisfy our criteria for # suitable union far architectural workers. Yo propose that some other union could orgsnise not only ail the unorganised architectural workers but alec those now aither members of or reoresented by a "rival" union te alas unreslistic as a short-term proposition, thouch Ths formation, by architectural workere themeelvee, f 2 naw, independant union has obvieus attractions, inclucling “oroeanactive" unions, 4sedeaeFiFp omedaneoe 6? te the option of amalgamating in the union on terms oreserving sufficient Putute with a larger, more general autonomy, as the Medical Practitioners coneidering the difficulties which an organising encountert,he likelihood of getting such a uninan off the oround witheut the back-up which only an already slim. Organising requires funds overheads and to cover for inevitable In addition, tha expertise which comes ience and the access ta trade union allies in case of disputes are umlikely Union did with ASTMS. Unfartunstely, drive in this field will powerful union could supply ie pretty for oaraonnei, literature, legal atrikes, lock-nuta, and victimisation.- fees and from considerable trade union exper- i.3 Es such a development over the long term is parhans more olausifle. #Raiding*® of another union's membership would be counter-nroductive and in cenfiict with the TUCts "Heidlington Principles" anverning relations between sffili- Sed unione. Nor is one union likely to be keen on actively sroaniaing on The immediate mrospecte Por achieving ena bic union, even juet fer arechi-+ tactural workers, ara therefore not very encourecing. The only realistic alternative at thie point would seam te be thet architectural workers join one or more of the dozen or soa “prospective” uniene. But ie that « eaufficient recipe aither for launching a successful organieing drive or fer eventually praviding an effective trede unian orgabisation for architectural workers that will reap the full benefits that could come from unionisation? The former may depend on the parceived likelinoed of the latter. It is essential at this point to begin ta axamins mora closely the situation regarding another's "patch," sapecially when thet liee in the nublie sactor. to be easily available today to @ naw union, however genuine it may appear. Qvar the years saveral different typas of unions have develonad in Britain. Thay can be distinguished by different concestions of their "constituencies" as well as by differences in structure and orientation, The early unions de« veloped along "craft" lines {a.q., bricklayers, olumbers, ste.) reminiscent of the medieval guilds. More recently, "white collar" work has been organ= ised across industriel lines almoat ae a sort of “slite”TM oraft, by unions like APEX, ASTMS and NALGO es wall as by eectione of large general unions like TASS (Technical and Supervisory Staff) in the AuUEY and ACTS (Admini~ etretisea. Mlanisset Tashminal are fonarviegry) in the TG. In order to match the power and flaxibility o* cepital and te organise hitherte unorganised workers ignored by the craft unions, induetrial unione developed, grouping all workers in an industry into one union, The National Union of Mineworkere is perhane the closest epproach te this in fritain, shough amalgametions have made some headway, In the United States, the great arganiaingdriovfethe1930'sresultedinthecreationofthepowerfuline GUSeSio. UMSSns of Ina CIO, like the Automobile Workers and the Steelworkers, In industries where the mpublic secter hea « virtual monopoly, like sostal service, rail tranenort, medicine and education, could become induatrial unions through aporoorietea amalgamations within each industry. Otherwise, the publie eacter unions are more analagous to the staff association of e particular enterprise. Finally, cutting acresa all craft, industrial and sector lines are the general unions, Like the TGWU and the National Union of General and Municipal Workere, on the model of "ane bio union" for ell wotkers. Theee "ideal types" herdly sxist aa such in practice, due to amalgamations and other historical and practical circumstances, Largn general uniona like the Tew include craft unions like the plasterers, who amalgamated with it when the sarpenters, bricklayers and painters were joining to make UCATT almest an industrial union. white collar unione may function as industrial unione whers an industry ie almost exclusively white collar, like banking end insurance. Perhaps the differences bewtesn uniona in terma of structure and orientation are more significant. Some tand to be like friendly societies while others act more forcefully in the industrial and political arenas. Some unions are sencerned almost exclusively with “bread-and-buttar® issues of wages, houre and pansions, while others take a broader view of their members? intersate in the workplace and in the community. Some defend narrowly their own inter- este with little regard for those ef other workers, while other unions eae their own pregress as inseparable from that broadest senee and act sccordingly both om the shap floor and in the commun- ity. Some have a docile sttitude towards management while others are mili- tant and incorruptible renresentatives of their membsret interests. Some unions ara run from the ten down in a hierarchy while othare function by a democracy built up from the "qrase roots" and dependent upon an active rank and file. Somes unions Punetion mainly by full- tima, permanant "professional" trade union are essentially "amateur" operations, with the bulk of the task left to the “Lay" memberahip rather than to the "axnerte," and officials, mafnerally elected, returning to their old fobs after ralatively short tarme in unian office. In the hiatery of trade unioniam have existed, but today in Britain the differences while significant, are usually of degree rather than of kind, can change in a few years and are not always easy ta discern Prom without. What union should architectural workers join? There are six unions which ere’ in a position to scrganise in the assentially unorganised private sector, and they are all invelved to sone extent in the public sector aa well. These six include three large general unions, the TGWU, GML and AUEWs two white-collar- only unions, ASTMS and APEX; and STAMP of UCATT, which ie active only in the building industry. For the purposes of this discussion, we shall look atone union from each af the abeve threa categories; that is, TGWU, ASTMS and UCATT. Why these three? It is cur impression that, while similar in conceptian, ASTMS may be more effective, dynamic and nolitically-committed than APEX, APEX is also much smaller than ASTMS, although it is etranger in the con- struction industry. The TG) is much Larger than the SRuti and, in addition, is quite strons already in the building industry. ive have, therefore, nat setiously considered thea GRU. The AUEY da another very large unich with a reputation for democracy and militancy and has a atreng base in civil engin- the public seetor unions of the Labour movement in ite mirraring that of sapitel, "administrators," while othere all thease contrasting positions between and within unions, 4.4 firma of coneulting civil engineers. tie are not tonaidering them at this time only because we have not vet had a chance to meet with their officials end to study: their literatures, “fa ahall mresent here only the briefest des- erintion, inevitably subijective, of those thres unions. t9 & : nos ible te s3enarste brene We underetand that it mould alec orobably be ches For architectural workers and for salariad architecture] management. The union emohasizes ite fPlexisility and relative cpennecs to arqanisetiansl innovation. In addition to the “trade croup" at geographical structure, with tan reqiene in Briteir (and officials} between them and the branches. ghasizea its reliance on sn active lay membership anc shan i tate sega: ataneimastent, 1. 988 Dagee 3.3 and 3.4 daity ware is a oarallel sict committees devate cansid- oe ty oriva'te sector tir g procmfessionals :ih nai highear~ recent cast by manual 4,5 aering construction, where TASS has appsrently already organised some large The TCM, ss s ganerel umion, may plance Lack the attraction of CATT of ASTMS which may lia mainly in theirs well-cultivated images: UCATT as the building industry union and ASTMS ss the union fororofessionals. The” Towel, though, is the largest trade union in fritein with nearly twa million mambere, ome in avery Five trade 2, and still groawine ranide ly. In addition to its obvious atrancth in road transoort, the docks and he motor industry, it haa nearly 300,000 members in tre bullding industry. lalf of these are in the production and transport of building materiale and the remaining 750,900 sr se work in building construction proper. anal 8 quarter of those sre skilled trades and the remaining, "sami-skilled.” In additian to its Construction Section, the hite collar section, ALTs has sbout 400,000 mambers throughout induatry.’ while there are at oresent few or no architects at all in the TAC, wa undarstand thet archite ctural workers could orohably form their awn branches where numbere NUMDSLES » seamed to justify it. a branch im the T&S.) Theses branchae would presumably fall apetion, though it might be possible to came under the arable resources to oroanising, Fessarsh, punl earian hut arte (Fifty ie usually coneiderad ASTMS (Asancistion af Selanti and Manenerial Staffa) was Formad in 1968 ov thr amslgqar SeTSn of “a ‘eetettt 9 teenoilar unions and has grow quickly from under 490,000 Benner to some 350,000, by further aralogemations and orqant: white-collar workers, The union in many fields. Much of ita "pitch" salsried ataffe recoup differentials workers’ caing; it haa thus hesn against Flaterate uace inctaases in the current crisis. Tt amohasizes sisa and extensive servicas ta members: a orafagsional union far profession ai geoble, rather than strar- aing a union self-managed by the Wworkears® theaselves. We have mot yet been able te make & reasonably sceurate avaluation of its industrial militancy ar its internal democracy, but it does annear often to take progressive nositions on broader solitical issues, oerhaps surprisingly for a white pridss itself or ray is based an its lier union. ASTMS would bea unlikely to allow architectural workers to have their own branches until mora than 150 in an aree had joined. de are concerned not only about the possibility thet within ASTMS sslaried archi- tectural management might gore easily be able to influence the earchitectu- ral workers! organisation, but also about the problem of architectural workers getting "lost" among workers from complately unrelated industries, The Medical Practitioners Union, whan it amalgamated with PSTMS, ues able to maintain = auitable daorea of autonomy, including “comniete sutonomy in tecard to all professional matters affecting Medical Practitioners in- cluding the conduct of disputes." In our view, it ie unlikely thet hitherte unorganised architertural workera entering ASTMS would ever be able to achieve such autonony. Following sublication of the OC] report, ASTME haa aradead i: 4 vee ‘Act gactiaon. =e. cr et re] x om 1734 “sm et 4 bean making an effort ta recruit professional engineers; we have no idea as yet what: progress, if any, they heave made. We have already discussed STAMP, the non-manual section af UCATT, in rela- tion te the History of the ABT. UCATT «9 a whole now includes nearly 309,000 cenetruction workers, moahly akilled tradee, though construetian as an ine dustry ia still comparatively under-orgahised. STAMA mow cumbere some 19,000 to 20,006 membera, of which 3,500 were former ABT mambers. We got the ime oression that there are at present en almost insignificant number of archi- tectural workers in STAMP. Tt anpesra that STAMP ie sancentratina mainly on organising eite foremen; it has no plans for em orgenising drive among erchitectural workers. In our view, it probably dosa not have the capability of indeapandently croanising architecture] workare, either. Yet it le unlikely that erchitectural workers could have their own saction in UCATT outside of STAMP. Surprisingly, the present architectural memberahio of STAMP seems to be dominated by a few older, RIBA-criented, manacemant-lavel architects in . the public sector, which may also explain how (or why) few architecte or architectural techniciane are actually in STAMP. As far ae we know, the only architectural office with which STAMP has a collective bargaining agreement is (in conjunction with NALGG) the Seottish Special Housing Association, a public sectar offices which funetions in Scotland somewhat ae the GLO does For housing in Geater Londen. fash of thase three preapactive uniona has nomathing to offer arehitectursl wokers. te have emphasized, howaver, the necassity of having one strong un- ion for as many architectural workers es possihle. ft ig eegantial, there- fore, that architectural workers committed to organisation collectively de- cide as soon es possible on ona union for the task. The alternative ie hav- ing architectural workers straggling into all of these unions, not to men-= tion other proepective unions, based en "pereonal oreferance." Parhaps this is the firat test af whather architacts can avarcome the “bourgeois individ- ualiomTM which has condemned to failure or ineionificance ao many of their pravious “reform effarta, The choice amone Tou, ASTMS, UCATT and TASS CAUEW) ia not an easy ona. Tha criteria we think ought to be applied in making that choice sre probab- Ly apparent by now from whet we have already discussed. We think it is im- nortant, nevertheless, to make explicit tha more important ones concerning the union's structure, its attitudes, and ite sotential role in a drive to organise architectural workers. 4.0 STRUCTURE 4.1 To what extent do the rank and file run the union, or is the union actually contrellad from the tap down? 4.2 Is there a union “priesthood” or do the workers themselves sdminister the union, returning te the "shan floor® efter brief terms in union offices? 1.3 How powerful are elacted “shon stawarde" in the union structure? Se thay oet full support frem union officiala? 4.4 To what extent does shop floar initiative and action gat smothered under the weight of union bureaucracy and Rierarchy? 4.6 %he umianm ta iLisa aad freely io eseociete 2,4 Deaa the union take a clear and tuneomorc ard of ficial ‘opm for its views? 3imm pueition in deafenes of the interests of workers when in comPliet with those of management or ites institutions? 2.7 Will thea unten militantly fight moat only for better wanes but for Pull control by workersaf all napeets of their — ine lives, by beth mili- tant “ehoo PloorTM ‘orwandeetion and broader nolitical action? 2.3 What attitude will the union take towards axiating cay and atatue differ- antials amone architectural workers and what orierity dees it dive te reiging the lavels of the lowest paid, both in architecture and in the hroader economy? 2.4 fs the union symnethati agemifdad aporoach to imoravinn amolay~ mant orosnmects in the Fidina 6 ofessione and to anviranmental iseues as they concern the eikaeace {e.0., "Sraen Bans," Lucas Aerospace shan stewsarda-type propos Seth on te of inetitutions oe community con= trol, etc.}? foes aeHa idantifyF emniovmant sen: vation of seteweuiieisengs( “posits comet rather she loak on tha divieion of labour and continu 2.8 To what extent ia the union wil solidarity amone all workers in 2.6 To what extant does the union actively among iis mambere ae walk aa in diserimination t oretere ste 2.7 When the union invests (or evan builde}, does it take an anviranmentslly, socially and politically respansicla attitude? 3.0 QOASANISTING ARCHITECTURAL WORKERS 3.7 Te the union willine and able «x v to aroaniee all unarganisad wor kers in the buiiding profassions, no matter what typos aor size of office thay work in near whateestor the offices falls in? 3.27 Will they organise all workers in such offiees or danartmente, including clarical and administrative? 3.3 What is tha unionts sttitude toward oresnising s riedmanraement in architecture? What safequarde can it provide ee would oravenk their gaining control of an oraanieation of architectural workers? 3.4 What dedree of autonomy and how clear and coherent identity cauld weorkera i in the building professians anjoy in the union? 3.5 ould the unian support the eatablishment of = rankeand-file level ornani- sation (or "inetitute") bringing teqether architectural workers Prom sl) the relevant trade unions? 3.6 What resources cen the union make available for an orcanising drive? (e.g., financial, personnel, legal, research, publicity,ate.) Unfortunately we are nat yet in a position to fully evaluate the “orosnectiveTM umians accarding te the ahave criteria, though some tenbetive comelusions may be anarcing., None of the unions, for exemmis, give a clear imoression of ace tive and militant grass reote democracy, unfettered by hierarchy and dureau- cracye In any cage, it should be in mind that bayand the immediate orob- % ao is] my 2 im lem of launching an organising drive ie a lang-term committment to trade unionism. linione do change, sometimee quite significantly within « few yeare, and further amalgamations yemailn a noesiblility even if none are on the im-~ mediate horizon. Not thet this remeves the naceasity sf a choles, as soon as poseiblse, deepite the oreasing mead for Purther investigation. The only conclusion thet can be reached at thie point, nowaver, ia that none a? the three “proepective” unions we hava looked at satisfactorily fulfills our oriteria., that then shsil we do? 7 ie car make four clear recommendations already: 4. Architectural workers themeelves should take the initiative in organising all unorganised workerea in architecture {together with workers from the | ather building professions} inte ona, and only ons, atrono, militant, demo~ eratic and broademinded trade union, preserving maximum autonomy and idere tity within it, The choice among tha TOwU, ASTMS, UCATT and TASS (AUEL) should be made eas quickly as possible after further research and discus-_ sion. A union with an estebliehed presence in the bulidino induatry sould be preferable. The nossibility of getting the four or five prospective unions toa jointly back a new, indenencent union for the buliding profas- gions, while pearhape remote and unprecedented, should nevertheless be theraughly explored. 2. The arganising drive should be aimed at all the building profesaions. duet aa the initiative in organising in arehitecture will have to come from the architectural workers themselyes, however, the same applies te the other builcine professions. 3. The firat tarqat of any organising campaign must be the unorganised axpangses of thea private secter. 4. In order te compensate for the inevitebls lack sf one union for all ar- < chitectursl workers, architectuml workers should immedistely establish and build up @ atreng “inatitute," or sealition, of organieed architec- tural workers, open to and unitinn at the venk-and-file level ell archi- tectural workers reqardieas of their particular union membership. It ahould also have a etudant aection. Such an arganisation could not only bring trade unioniete in architec- tures together to help organiee the unorganised but would aventually be able to epeak progressively, clearly, and coherently for 35,000 architec- tural workers architectural workers on issues of common industrial, oro- fessional and anyvirenments!] ecancern whare individual unisne with emall architectural minorities would have neither the intereat, the will or the means to do so. Only then will the reactionary influence of the amployers' organisation, claiming in the preeent vacuum to anpaak for 4.8 the whale orofession, he effectively counteracted. Such a noalition, ar “inetitute,"” could essist the relevant trade unions in cdayeloning and imnlemantina (at grees roota thar than ab baad eanditions, am industry-wide nenalor echeme, ayeteme of workeral contral and ancaurtability to thea community in the snment tural oranticea, a ofofessianal code of conduct in the interests af the workere and tha community, orooressive design and specification guidance, on-the-job training and continuing sdumation, etc. Such cooperation is the only way to keep divisivensee between workers in different unions from playing into the hands of a management which is already well-coordinatad, Bavond that, it would probably be the only conceivable organisation which could produce an architectural workera' handbook, a prograssive journel of architecture, and be the "official" voice af architectural workers as a whole before the community, the state, and fraternal bodies abroad, We consider the satablishment of such a body of argenised architectural workers to be a otessing priority. hile its preciae aqeals, membershic and structure remain, of couras, to be developed, we mropose that it be organised as democraticaliy as possible st icecal, reqionmal and naticnal levels from the rank and file up, based on a “ecaucue" of workere in every architecture office or department, their alerted ranresentatives, and periodic congresses delegating cantral execution of policias as nacessary. 4.9 $ why wo fie oe vt? 4 9 level) co~ordineted policies and action campaigns on wegee and working Dart Five WHAT ARE THE FIRST STEPS? In arder for our four recommendations to be carried out, we believe the Following will be naceseary: 4. An expanded "Oraanising Committee” ahould carry an the work af the uUndonieation Working Grou by planning the organisinn campaian; dis- cussing, negotiating, and cooperating with the relevant unione; atid, generally, take un the committment to organising architectural workers. 26 The Committee should continua and speedily conoludea the research into tha existing aitustion and into prospective unions and continue discus- sion with those unions toward a mutually acceptable etratecy. We expect our network of persanel contacts among architectural workere to be tha = main organiaing tonal, backed un by literature, meetings, full- or part- time oraanisera, ete. The compilatian of 9 “directory of architectural workers, indicating employment and any union affilistion, ia an essential piace of reseateh both for developing atrategy and proceeding with argani- vation. i= is a difficult but feasible tesk. Be Ae sbon as the research and develooment of sn aareed atrategy can he comelucded, the Committee should publish a convincing repert with the purpoea of raising the iseuse leudiy and claarly. Funding and distribution must be arranged. 4. Based on the proposal eventually agread uoon, the Committse should nege~ tiate with the relevant union or uniena and make a final decision recard- ing which union(s) te work with (unless a more suitable strategy can he developed). Be The organising drive must baqin aa scan as poesible. The subject ie ranid- ly moving into the apatlight and i? the architectural workers don't move, fast, the bosses no deubt will, making deals with as many as poseible of the moat docile unions thay can Find aa soon as they perceive the threat of a really affective unionisation. This la another reason why the pos- sibility of gettines some or all the orospective unions to back a combined organising drive in the name of a new union for workers in the building profegsione must be Pully explored, however remote it may be. te believe that the orcanisina drive itself muet be in hioh gear within three to six manthe from now. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource NAM Unionisation Group Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Allan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 1976 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/ffe692c179d6579865e52ba6dca638f0.pdf 9b72e15763391d181a59793fe9a48064 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Professional Issues Description An account of the resource A cohort of NAM members became engaged with the professional registration body, standing as elected councillors on the Architects Registration Council and its various committees. Hitherto entirely dominated by the RIBA bloc, the Council began to yield to a new dynamic through NAM's involvement, enabling fresh perspectives on such issues as mandatory fee scales, greater lay representation on the body, ethically-based standards of professional conduct, etc. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ARCUK 'Unattached Architects Subject The topic of the resource "ARCUK 'Unattached Architects" Explanatory paper (6 pp total) Description An account of the resource ARCUK UNATTACHED ARCHI TECTS WHO ARE THEY? Shortl y there wi l l take pl ace the el ecti on of ' unattached ' Counci l l ors for next year ' s Counci l of the Archi tects ' Regi strati on Counci l of the United Kingdom (ARCIJK) . In these el cti ons a group of candi dates present themsel ves to represent those archi tects on the Regi ster who do not belong to any of the consti tuent bodies of ARCIJK which have the r i gh t , under the 1931 Act , to nominate members to Counci l on the basi s of one member f or every 500 (or porti on of 500) of thei r own membership . The most important of these, numeri cal l y , i s the RIBA with 42 members for next year , but al so l i sted are such bodi es as the Archi tectur al Assoc at i on (2 members) , the Facul ty of Archi tects and Surveyors ( 1 member ) the Incorporated Assoc at ion of Archi tects and Surveyors ( 1 member ) and S. . . 1 memebr ) . number of other organi sati ons nominate a member , but not on a numerical basi s . Archi tects not bel ongi ng to any of these organsi ati ons are the so-cal l ed ' unattached - for next year thei r number has grown to 6610 (the numbers grow ei ther through newl y-qual i f i ed archi tect E not joi ni ng any of the consti tuent bodi es , or through the resi gnat i on of ol der ones) wi th 14 representati ves on Counci l . Si nce they represent about one quarter of the professi on , it i s i mportant that there shoul d be , at l east i n thei r consti tuency ' of the 'unattached some understandi ng of what they stand for . It i s al so i mportant that these archi tects exerci se thei r r i ght to vote (often onl y about 20% do so) and , i f they f i nd no cand idates who represent thei r vi ews , that they nominate , i n future years , candi dates who do so. The Act al so set up a Board of Archi tectural Education on which , apart from representati ves of the Counci l , an even wider range of educati onal and other organsi ati ons are represented . These i nc l ude ( as now amended ) most of the School s of archi tecture. Those ' unattached Counc i l l ors and candi datess who have si gned th i s statement are i n no sense an organi sed group . But they do share some common ground which i s set out here for i n for nati on , wi der debate and to encourage greater parti c i pati on i n the el ect i on . ARCIJK IN AND OUT OF THE NEWS Most arch i t ects , beyond paying the necesary annual retenti on fee , have no contact wi th the organi sat i on , no i dea of what I t does , and l i tt l e i nterest i n i t s debates . I n recent months there was short l i ved medi a coverage of a rumpus between the RIBA and ARCUK on what appeared , to 1 most outsiders, to be tri vi al and l egal i sti c issues about the way people had been appointed onto ARCIJK Counci l and i ts Board of Archi tectural Education. Once there was news of an amicable rapprochenen t between the two bodi es , ARCUK once agai n sank i nto i ts customary obl i vi on ! But that rumpus was the t i p of an iceberg whose submerged porti on represents very real di fferences wi thi n ARCIJK on the way i ts rol e i s percei ved . The 'unattached have consi stentl y pressed that i nterpretati on of ARCUK ' s rol e which , as f ar as the Acts al l ow , broaden i ts representati veness , 1 ncrease i t s democratic processes and open to the publ ic i ts debates and i ts reports (e . g . an education ) . Above al l , they have recogni sed that the processes by which bui l di ngs come to be desi gned - whether forfthe s ate , l oca l authori t i es or pri vate devel opers as cl ients - exclude he 95% or so of the popul ati on whi ch (beyond perhaps wni or buying i ts own house) has no direct fi nanci al i nterest i n any bui lding project. These people are commonl y referred to as ' users which def i nes a role where f i nance , desi gn , producti on , ownershi p and management of the bui l di ng stock i . e . al l control of resources - i s excluded . Powerl ess , and di senfranchi sed , thei r i nterests are so i ndi rectl y represented , i f at a l l , that they may be better def i ned as ' sufferers ' of bui ldings rather than ' users . The Communi ty Archi tecture movement , wi th i ts strange al l i ance between Pri nce Charles, the RIBA and some devel opers, has come i nto bei ng as one response to the al i enati on whi ch ' users experience, especi al l y i n housi ng . Whi l st the movement has certai nl y had some l i mi ted successes , on the whol e i ts rhetori c now masks i ts unwi l l i ngness for any real transfer of resources to those who have none. So the tri vi al debates on form and styl e , the conti nui ng aesthet i c , soc i al and techni cal f ai l ures and the cl osed debate i n some School S , continue . Natural l y educati on i s seen by us as a central area of concern i nc l udi ng accepti ng the ful l responsi b i l i tes for recogni sing (through Vi s i t i ng Boards) and , i f necessary , hol di ng , exami nations as l ai d upon ARCIJK by the Act . The current negoti ati ons wi th the RIBA for joi nt Vi s i t i ng Boards are a step i n the di recti on of assuning thi s responsi bi l i ty i nstead of del egati ng i t , Hi th l i ttl e pol i cy control to others. As far as upholding and improving the standards of practice are concerned , we see i t as important that d i sc i pl i n ary powers wi th regard to disgraceful or unprofessi oal conduct should be used , where appropri ate , not onl y wi th regard to professi onal i ntegr i ty , but al so wi th regard to performance. So the ai m of produci ng bui ldi ngs wi th good , or at l east adequate , performance becomes the ul t i mate cr i ter i on . A VIEW OF ARCIJK ' S ROLE It i s cl ear that Par l i ament i ntended , i n 1 9 3 1 , to set up a mechani sm whereby the Statutory control of archi tectural practi ce and educati on shoul d be exerci sed by a group representat i ve of more than merel y the professi on i tsel f by bri ngi ng i n others who represented independent and pub l i c i nt erests . Al though the l i st of such bodies l ooks somewhat quai nt today , the Parl i ament of the day tr i ed , accordi ng to i ts l i ghts , to bring i n the infl uence of other educational bodi es , bui l di ng crafstmen and trade uni ons , the major Government commissioning Departments, and other professions i n the bui l ding i ndustry. In other words the i nf l uence of those who would work wi th arch i tects , comi ssi on them and produce the bui l di ngs they desi gned . I t i s reasonable to suppose that i t was al so intended that the users , at l east of the pub l oc bui l di ng stock , would be represened by the machinery set kip . these i nte f i ons have been l argel y frustrated. Some general objecti ves concerning ARCUK ' s and the professi on ' s i nternal structure fol l ow from Fi rst , that ARCIJK should work towards becomi ng a ful l y democratic body, i n which every archi tect has one vote , for a si ngl e national l i st of archi tect candi dates. Second , that wi thi n i ts own membership , ARCIJK promote such pol ic i es w i ll i nc ease communication between archi tects and the Counci l . And thi rd that ARCUK O use -every avai l abl e means to create equal opportuni ti es wi thi n the professi on , i rrespecti ve of race , gender or creed . There al so fal l ow more speci f i c obj ecti ves which rel ate to the posi t ion of archi tects i n the communi ty. The si gnatori es of th i s statement are ' unattacehd ' Counci l members , or candi dates. What fol l ows would probabl y be supported , i n general terms , by most members of Counci l and i ts Board. It i s the emphases and speci f i c detai l s , i f anything , which di sti ngui sh the pol i c i es of these ' unattached from the wider consensus. Speci f i c objecti ves 1 . Comprehensi ve The responsi bi l i t i es of ARCIJK are: . To mai ntai n a regi ster of archi tects . To both recogni se and , i f thought desi rabl e , hol d , exami nati ons i n archi tecture . To make awards to students i n nee d and for research d. To impl ement HM Government ' s obl i gati ons to the European Communi ty i n respect of EC archi tects e . To mai ntai n standards of conduct by d i sc i p l i nary proceedi ngs agai nst regi steredd archi tects whose conduct f al l s beneath an accepted standard set out i n The Standard of Conduct for örch i tects To prosecute those who use the ti t l e Archi tect i l l ega l l y . To carry out these objecti ves and to mai ntai n both prof essi onal and pub l i c cred i b i l i ty i n changing circumstances ARCUK must : . Mai ntain and enhance the standi ng of archi tects as evi denced by the �qual i ty and performance of the bui ldings they design , having due regard to the i nterest of cl i ents , producers and users and . Improve professi onal comwpetence of al l regi stered archi tects throughout thei r careers. 2 . Conduct . Promote the use of the Standard of Conduct and revi ew i t so as to make i t more preci se and more convi nc i ng wi th regard to hi gh standards set by the professi on i n i ts repsonsi b i l i ty to the pub 1 1 c Interpret the Standard of Condust so as to make the performance of bui l di ngs an i mportant cri ter i on c . Review the di sci p l i nary procedures so that , i n sp i te of ARCIJK bei ng judge, jury , prosecutor and court of appeal , they are more independent and seen to be so (un l i ke , for i nstance , the pol i ce compl aints procedures) . de Establ i sh a system , wi thi n the Acts , for carryi ng out the di sc i pl i nary functi ons i n a way more respnosi ve to publ ic assessment e . Make regul ar and publ i c reports i n detai l of those removed from the Regi ster , with both the processes and the reasoni ng behi nd the deci si on f ul l y set out (as , for i nstance , i n the Tines Lan Rep or ts ) . 3 . Education . Organi se and lobby for greater publ i c funds and resources for archi tectural educati on , and defend resources agai nst cuts (ARCIJK was, notabl y , the onl y professi onal body to defend vigorousl y the School s agai nst the cuts proposed by the E sher Report ) . Respond to al l government and other proposal s that would affect archi tectual educati on opposing those which woul d reduce standards , supporti ng tbose that would i ncrease i t . I n i t i ate proposal s of i ts own , part i cul ar l y having regard to the publ i c i nterest , which woul d i mprove educati onal standards . Create a centre of i nformati on and advi ce for a l l seeki ng to enter the school s as students or teachers and for the professi on . Wove towards an accred i tati on system that has the conf i dence of the publ i c , the professi on and the School s i ncl udi ng thei r students Reorgani se the vi si t i ng board system so that ARCUE , the prof ess 1 on , non-professi onal i nterests and students have adequate and agreed rol es g . Make al l vi si ti ng board reports pub l i c . 5 . Awards . Make awards to archi tectural students i n need , and ensure max 1 mum pub l i c i ty for the avai l ab i l i ty of thi s help . Provi de schol arhsi ps to enabl e excepti onal students to compl ete thei r courses wi th d i st i nct i on . Make awards for research to: . Undertake research projects Assi st the organi sation of research Publ i sh research resul ts having regard not onl y to the normal cr i ter i a of schol arshi p and rel evance , but al so to advancing professi onal and bui l di ng performance. A part of the funds must therefoe be devoted to advancing CPD. 6 . Conti nui g professi onal devel opmeht . Encourage and promote CPD for the whole professi on . Support the development of a regi onal CPD system . Appoi nt , or support the appoi ntment of , a nat i onal CPD co-ordi nator . Encourage and gupport the appointment of CPD c cordi nators i n the reg i ons and i n the School s , i n al l these acti vi t i es keepi ng , once agai n , the publ i c i nterest i n the forefront . 7 . European Community . Pub l i c i se the opportuni ti es i n the EC for both IJK and EC archi tects . Prepare the professi on f or the un i f i ed market proposed f or 1992 . Encourage the exchange of i nf ormati on between al l EC arh i tects on both practi ce and educati on . Create , or support the creati on of , a centre of i nformat i on on the EC for both UK archi tects wishi ng to work i n the EC and for those EC archi tects wishi ng to work i n the UK. 8 . Fi nance a . Col l ect and provi de adequate funds to achi eve these objecti ves , revi ew the retent i on fee annual l y and , i f necessary , i ncrease i t . b, Al l ocate adequate funds for education , awards and CPD. If necessary , move towards the ori gi nal 50% of the retenti on fee envisaged i n the 1931 Act . THIS ELECTION I f you agree wi th the tenor of th i s statement , and are an 'unattached archi tect , use your vote for the candi dates who commi t themsel ves to pol i c i es along these l i nes . It i s important for the total vote to i ncrease , and for those elected to f eel conf i dent that they real l y represent some si gn i f i cant proportion of opi ni on . If you can f i nd no candi dates who seem to represent your vi ews , organi se to have some nomi nated , at l east i n ti me for next year ' s el ecti on , and make sure that the i ssues you care about are debated both nati onal l y and l ocal l y . Si gnatures : Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource T Markus Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived JA Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/683c67bc6c53834966dde4ea4a5bf8cf.pdf 5dea6107f1cc72b55178aec8b7ac521e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Education Description An account of the resource Many NAM members were engaged in the field of architectural education, either as staff or students, and pursued new ideas for course content and pedagogy, reassessing existing course structures and priorities in conventional architectural training. The concern to focus on socially necessary buildings and to find new and meaningful ways of engaging with building users and the wider community- both central NAM themes - illuminated much of the discussion. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ARCUK Council papers Subject The topic of the resource Note Several items on Architectural Education Description An account of the resource 73 Hallam Street London WI N 6EE Tel: 01-580 5861 Registrar: Kenneth J. Forder M.A. 184/86 PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL TWO HUNDRED AND NINETEEN ORDINARY MEETING 17 DECEMBER 1986 AT 2 PH AT 66 PORTLAND PLACE LONDON WI A G E N D A 1 . Apologies for Absence 2. Minutes of 218 Ordinary Meeting (Attached as Document 160/86) 3. Constitution of Council To accept the resignation of I G Urquhart and to nominate in his place Mrs Jenny Williams. 4. Constitution of Discipline Committee To accept the resignation of I G Urquhart and to nominate in his place Mrs Jenny Williams 5. Constitution of the Board of Architectural Education (a) The Privy Council formally gave its approval to the amendment to ARCtJK"s Regulations (text given in Minute 23 of document 160/86) on November 7th 1986. (b) To accept the nominat ion of Alan Chapman nominated by Brighton Polytechnic; 184/86/2 (c) To accept the nomination of Dr A Forvard nominated by Huddergfield Polytechnic. 6 . Section 7 of the Principal Act Conduct Cages attached ag ANNEX A 7. Reports (i) Admi68ion Committee to be tabled ANNEX Board of Architectural Education ANNEX C Board of Architectural Education Awards Panel ANNEX D Finance and General Purposes Committee ANNEX (v) Professional Purposeg Committee ANNEX (vi) Registrar's Report to be tabled ANNEX G Affidavit of complaint againgt Steven Lawrence Hole 8. Direct i ve of the Council of the European Community Chairman to 8peak to report attached. 9. Other Business 10. Date of Next Meeting 18 March 1987 Registrar. Kenneth J. Forder M.A. 181/86 BOARD OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION REPORT TO COUNCIL - DECEMBER 1986 1. Education Policy Policy paper "Architectural Education: Statement of Principles" ig attached to Report. ARCUK has increasingly been placed in a position of making reactive reponses to various educational issues. The volume of material now being handled by ARCUK, augmented by its responsibilities to the Department of the Environment in termg of the E.C. Directive, is such that the GPC had concluded it vas necessary for ARCUK to formulate its own policy on education. The paper "Architectural Education: Statement of Principles" drawn up by the Chairman and agreed by the GPC vag welcomed by members of the Board ag providing a framework for ARCUK policy. Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom ESTABLISHED UNDER THE ARCHITECTS (REGISTRATION) ACTS 1931 TO 1938 The regolution that the BAE adopt the paper and that it be put before — Council for endorsement vag pagged vith 42 voteg in favour and 5 against and the Board agkg the Council to ratify this document as a statement of policy. 2. ARCUK/RIBA Visiting Boards (a) ARCUK Participation in the Visiting Board Programme Because of responsibilities placed on it under the terms of the E.C. Directive ARCUK is nov obligated to be more directly involved in the recognition of qualifications. As a means of attaining this the GPC had recoamended to the Board that a partnership be established with the RIBA to operate joint Visiting Boards on which at least two representatives would be nominated directly on to each visit by ARCUK, the costs and administration to be Shared with the RIBA, the whole coming into effect for the autumn programme 1987. A paper (copy attached) vas endorsed in principle by the BAE and vas passed by 35 votes in favour to 2 against and vith 8 abstentions. Discussions vill begin with the RIBA vith this object in view. (b) Visiting Board Reports ( i) Mackintosh School The Board recotnmend8 continued recognition in the following formal terms ; that — (i) the three years full time course and four years part—time course leading to the University of Glasgov"• ordinary degree of Bachelor of Architecture, and the first three yeare of the four years full time course leading to the University' g degree of Bachelor of Architecture with Honourg, and their related examinations; and ( i i) the course leading to the University of Glasgov'g Diploma in Architecture (comprising either the tvo years full time or three years part time course or the fourth year of the Honourg degree courge followed by the second Diploma year full time), and its related examinations; or the course leading to the University of Glasgow's degree of Magter of Architecture (comprising the fourth year of the Honourg degree courge followed by the taught MArch course in Architectural Studies taken in one calendar year full time, one academic year full time and one academic year part time, or tvo calendar yeare part time), and its related examinations; and (iii) the School '8 lecture course and examination taken in the last year of the Degree course (RIBA Gl), the course and examinations taken in Diploma years one and tvo (RIBA G2), and the Professional Practice Examination (RIBA G3) taken on completion of a minimum of tvo years practical training undertaken in accordance with the RIBA Practical Training Scheme, continue to be recogniged by ARCUK as Parts I, Il and Ill respectively for the purpose of admission to the Register of Architects. ( i i) Dublin University College (visit on 6/7 February 1986) The Board recommends continued recognition in the following formal terms ; that ( i) the five years full—time course and related examinations leading to the National University of Ireland Bachelor of Architecture Degree; and ( i i) the Fifth Year course and examination in Professional Practice and Management (RIBA Gl and G2), and the postgraduate block course and the examination leading to the National University of Ireland Certificate in Professional Practice and Practical Experience (RIBA G3), taken on completion of a minimum of tvo years' practical training undertaken in accordance vith the Rules of the RIBA Practical Training Scheme, continue to be recognised by ARCUK as Parts I, Il and Ill for the purpose of admission to the Register of Architects. ( i i i) Humberside College of Higher Education (visit on 20/21 February 1986) The Board recommends continued recognition in the following formal terms ; that — (i) the three years full—tine courge and related examinationg leading to the CNAA Degree of BA in Architecture; and (i i) the tvo years full—time course and related examinations leading to the Humberside College of Higher Education Diploma in Architecture; and (iii) the Technical courge lectures and related aggeggmentg in the Degree course on contract Lav, the architect' g role, relationship to the building process and current legislation (RIBA Gl), the Lav and Construction lectures and related assessments in the Diploma course (RIBA G2), and the lecture course, seminars and related examinationg leading to the School' 8 Post Qualification Certificate in Architectural Practice (RIBA G3), taken on the completion of two years' practical training undertaken in accordance vith the Rules of the RIBA Practical Training Scheme , continue to be recogniged by ARCUK as Parts I, Il and Ill respectively for the purpose of admission to the Register of Architects. (iv) Polytechnic of the South Bank (revi8it, 6/7 March 1986) The Board reconnnend8 continued recognition in the following formal terms ; that — (i) the 4—year day—release course and related examinations leading to South Bank Polytechnic Graduate Diploma in Architecture; and (ii) the 3—year day—release courge and related examinations leading to South Bank Polytechnic Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture; continue to be recogniged by ARCUK as Parts I and Il respectively for the purpose of admission to the Register of Architects. 3. "The Content and Context of Architectural Education" ARCUK has been invited to respond to the RIBA discussion paper on architectural education. In view of the importance of the document it vas agreed to hold a special meeting of the BAE on January 13th 1987 to discuss and consider a response for report to the March meeting of Council. 4. Cont inuing Professional Development The Chairman and Registrar vill put forward a discussion paper to the May meeting of BAE containing proposal 8 for ARCUK'8 C. P. D. policy. 5. Appointment of Secretary to the BAE The increaging volume of educational material nov being handled by ARCUK hag been referred to in paras I and 2 (a) above. Since the Board met, the Finance and General Purposes Committee (report attached) hag endorsed the reconendation that a permanent Secretary nov be appointed to the Board of Architectural Education in terms of ARCUK Regulation 23. At the time the Board net a Job Specif ication for the nev post vas not available and it hag reserved to itself the request to examine this at its Special Meeting in January. 6. RIBA Examinat ion in Architecture The RIBA hag formally applied for ARCUK recognition of its revised Examination in Architecture. The examination vill be aggegged by an independent ARCUK Visiting Board. Profeggor D Hinton Chairman 125/86 ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION: STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES 1 . Introduct ion ARCUK's responsibilities in the field of Education derive directly from the 1931 Act and the 1969 amendments. The terms of these are statutory and prescriptive but ARCUK is not limited in its activities solely to those mentioned in the Acts and may legitimately engage in courses of action which it considers relevant and/or necessary to achieve the objectives which the Acts embody. The objeCt of this paper is to provide a framework of principles within which these objectives can be realised, based on (a) Decisions taken and statements already made by ARCUK. (b) Examination of issues confronting ARCUK in both the short and long term future. 2. Representat ion ARCUK"s own constitution and that of the Board of Architectural Education provide a broad basis for discussion not limited to members of the architectural profession. By this means it is possible to receive a vide range of opinions representing public and consumer interests, other professions, Universities, Polytechnics and Government Departments as vell as those of architects whether they belong to professional institutions or not. While taking full advantage of the breadth of its representation, ARCUK should try to ensure, on educational issues as on others, that the architectural profession speaks with one voice. It should therefore (a) give high priority to consultation with all its constituent bodies and with representatives of the unattached. (b) use the unique constitution of the Board to ensure a balanced presentation of opinions on educational issues. (c) establish a continuing dialogue with Government Departments and other agencies concerned with the formulation of education policies. 3. Powers under the Registration Acts A. The 1931 Registration Act the BAE to recommend to Council (a) the recognition of any examinations in architecture the passing of which ought, in the opinion of the Board, to qualify persons for registration under this Act; and (b) the holding of any examinations in architecture which ought, i n the opinion of the Board, to be passed by appl icants for registration under the Act; It follows that Board and Council must be concerned with and responsible for the setting and standards. 125/86/3 The wording places stress on improvement. ARCUK awards are by themselves insufficient to support major research programmeg but are intended to give encouragement to the expansion of research activities. The provision for research awards has been extended to cover Cont inuing Professional Development. ARCUK has made a major investment in this area and must continue to influence further developments preferably through collaboration with recognised Schools of Architecture and the profession. 5. Admission from Overseas 0 The existing regulations make provision for registration b possessing equivalent qualif icat ions to those recognised at art I level. This process will continue except for applications b the EC who will be admitted under the terms of the Directive. The Act vill be amended in 1987 by a Statutory Instrument to accommodate these prov is ions . Recent changes in procedure whereby all non E. C. applicants from overseas will be processed via Regulation 27 and the continuance of the JCAR Agreement vill provide a uniform body of information and further experience in the field of international recognition. A major task and an unprecedented opportunity confront ARCUK and its resent-ae-i-v-e.s—ia the Advisory Conunittee set up to advise the Commissron in BrusseTG--the implementation of the Directive throughout the EEC. Even at a minimum level of activity in this Committee, the task of coordination and verif icat ion vill be cons iderable. The opportunity — to create an agency active in the promotion of high standards and the exchange of ideas — is one which ARCUK must pursue energetically. It must be one of ARCUK's major priorities to 9-nsure unity of purpose i-A---e-he pursug 04 these aims and to put its experience in overseas relations at the disposal of the European Community. Prof D Hinton Chairman BAE 161/86 YISITING BOARDS Recent events, particularly the advent of the European Directive, have prompted a review of the present Visiting Board arrangements and the degree of responsibility exercised by ARCUK in the validation of examinations and courses. AS the competent authority responsible to the Department of the Environment for implementing the terms of the Directive, ARCUK has to supply information concerning standards and confirm that these have been met by the Schools nominated under Article 7. It ig cons idered that the present arrangements in which one member of the Visiting Board represents but is not directly nominated by ARCUK do not meet these requirements and that a system should be devised which gives ARCUK more direct responsibility for validation and enables it to vithstand possible challenges to its authority and methodology. One possible alternative would be for ARCUK to mount a wholly independent Visiting Board system — a proposal which has been considered in the past and rejected for the following reasons. 1 . The duplication of RIBA and ARCUK visits (together, in some cases, with those of CNAA) would place an unacceptable burden on the Schools. 2. The heavy additional cost in terms of ARCUK resources would not be justified. 3. The impression which vould be created of a divided profession v ith disparate aims and standards in Architectural Education should be avoided. These objections still apply and, as a vay of avoiding them but still retaining direct responsibility for val idation, it i s proposed that a partnership be established vith RIBA to operate jornt Visiting Boards on which at least vo representatives VI I l be nominated directly on to each so O 161/86/2 Visit by ARCUK and both the cogt6 and administrative work shared with the RIBA. It vill be necesgary for a scheme to be worked out in detail in collaboration with the RIBA with the aim of coming into effect for the autumn of 1987. The GPC recommends that the Board endorse this proposal in principle 60 that discussions vith this object in viev can be commenced . Prof D Hinton Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom ESTABLISHED UNDER THE ARCHITECTS (REGISTRATION) ACTS 1931 TO 1938 73 Hallam Street London WI N åEE Tel: 01-580 5861 182/86 BOARD OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION AWARDS PANEL REPORT TO COUNCIL - DECEMBER 1986 1. There hag been one meeting of the Panel since the October meeting of the Council. 2. Student Grants The following applications vere received: Renewals Other applications 9 Total 9 The applicat ions vere dealt vith as follows: Under review 2 Refused 5 Withdrawn 1 Avards approved 1 Total 9 3. The following grant is recommended: EGP 580 S T S Bates Poly of the South Bank E1582 Also one award recommended by the Chairman subsequent to the Panel meet ing. EGP 600 S Nadarajah Poly of North London E 846 4. At the meeting of the BAE the Vice Chairman of the Panel acknowledged the assistance given by the Heads of School in responding to the Panel's reports on individual cases. 5. 1986 Research Awards An increased number of applications vas received and the following tvo awards vere made: Dr. T Woolley — "User Participation in Design — Exploratory Project" E2500 Mr. P J Robinson — "Aspects of a Scottish Flat Tradition". E1600 6. The evaluation reports of the completed research projects of Malcolm Reading and Amy Sargeant are attached for information. David Gregory Chairman A HISTORY 0K} THE MARS GROUP 1933-44: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS: MALCOLM READING Historical writing should communicate; have selected evidence and have three central elements - narrative, analysis and description - and have a bibliography and footnotes. It should also be set in historical context and use both primary and secondary sources. This work reads well and therefore communicates. It makes extremely good use of primary sources. It strikes a good balance between narrative and analysis although it peters out somewhat at the end and really needs a good 'rounding up' conclusion. It could have set the historical context more fully. If the •work is aimed exclusively at architects, it probably serves in this respect but the general reader would not understand the background. More could have been made of the very strong anti-modern movement in Britain. There is no bibliography - a serious omission in such a work, particularly with such obvious books and publications which are directly relevant. It would have been greatly improved by some illustrations - eg, on page 79 there is reference to a six-page special, well illustrated feature by Fry in the AJ - it would have been nice to have seen it incorporated. It would have been useful too if more had been made of the architecture actually produced by members of the MARS Group which is so well documented elsewhere. As a piece of work simply indicating the history of the actual setting up of the Group it serves well. I enjoyed reading it; he is obviously extremely knowledgeable about the subject, has had the privilege of direct interviews with MARS Group members and his record of those meetings alone Will make this study interesting to other scholars. "Jacques Gondoin and the Ecole de Chirurqie" have read Amy Sargeant•s research report on "Gondoin & and the Ecole de Chirurgie". It is a brief, but well researched and well written piece of work. The illustrations in the larce folder, however, are far from well presented; poor quality photostats, haphazard sizes and even haphazardly rounted, scruffily titled (or, in some cases, untitled), no list of sources for the illustrations (although by inference and a lot of digging one can work this out for most, but not all of them) etc. Surnrisingly, apart fron the 50—year old paper bv Jean Adhemar, there i.s no recent work on this well—knol..rn building. Her reading, visits to Paris and Nice (where e remote descendant with material about Gondoin lives) have been fruitful. However, there is, T sunpose because of the Can.bridge "architectural— history—as—art—history" approach, en undue enphasis nn for-ral and metaphoric issues, with a consequent loss of discussion of the plan and section of the anatomy theatre, the roots for this kind of share, the way it relates to new scientific, medical end teaching attitudes in Prance in the last guarter of 18th Century, its relationship to earlier, circular, anatomy theatres such as Bologna, (is this the first semi—circular one? '"hat shape was its nredecessor in Paris? etc. Considering the huge delays on this award, it is surprisina that the proaress has not been more. Her (excellent) application made in 1982 already covered much of the material in the renort. Her interim report in 1 9 83 developed it a lot further — and the additional material in the past 3 years has been quite small. I feel she lost interest about 1983/ pa. a:evertheless, n. considerinc it only cost us El 000 (althouah at 1982 nrices) it was a worthwhile investment. '.5 th some tidvina up of a few confurions about references and a bit Af annlification of t:he issues mentioned above, it could (and Ghould) mako F. Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom ESTABLISHED UNDER THE ARCHITECTS (REGISTRATION) ACTS 1931 TO 1938 73 Hallam Street London WI N 6€E Tel: 01-580 5861 Registrar: Kenneth J. Forder M.A. 185/86 FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES cmNITTEE REPORT TO COUNCIL - DECEMBER 1986 Retention Fees (a) It vag reported that 419 architects had not paid any part of their fees by November 1986 compared with 426 at the game time the previous year. There vere however 643 who had only part paid (this is characteristic of any year following any increase in retention fee). (b) The Committee had reingtated to the Regi8ter the names of 5 architects. (c) The Coumittee hag approved the vaiver of 3 retention fees by persons retiring. (d) The Council is agked to author ise the removal from the Register on the 318t December 1986 the names of all those who still ove retention fees, wholly or in part, on that date. A list vill be tabled. 2. Admi88 ion Fees The recommends the Council approve the folloving changes in Admi88ion Fees in Regulation 37 — to come into effect on January 1 1987 185/86/3 3. Representation of the Constituent Bodies (a) On the 31st October 1986 the total number of architects on the Register vag 30,029 (29,593). The number of architect memberg of the constituent bodies vhoge addreggeg are normally in the United Kingdom and the number of repreeentativeg they are appoint to Council for the year 1987/88 are 8hovn belov. The figures in bracket8 indicate the position in 1986/87. Const ituent Home Number of Council Members To Body Member 8 h ip Nominate for 1987 (88 Session 800 (811) 2 (2) FAS 317 (319) (1) IAAS 98 (106) 1 (1) PROV 260 (290) 1 (1) RIBA 20788 (20462) 42 STMP 143 (149) 1 (1) 4. Election of Representatives of Unattached Architects AB at 318t October 1986 the total number of architects recorded as unattached vas 6390 compared with 6197 in 1985. The number of unattached representatives on the Council for 1987/88 vill be 13, as in the previous year. 5. Composition of Board and Committees Under the Gentlemen' 8 Agreement The Committee that the Gentlemen-g Agreement providing for the representation of the constituent bodies on the Board of Architectural Education and Committees of the Council as accepted by the Council at its meeting on the Il December 1985 be adopted and unaltered for the year 1987/88. 6. Admission Certif icates The Coumittee has considered a suggestion that persons newly admitted to the Register should receive Certificates of Registration but has rejected the idea. 7. Appointment of Secretary to the Board of Architectural Education (Ref. Report of the BAE above). The Committee hag carried out its annual reviev of staff conditions of service. The Committee unanimously recommends to Council the appointment of a Secretary to the BAE in terms of the attached Job Specification. 185/86/4 8. First Schedule to Che 1931 Act — Survey The Electoral Reform Society hag conducted a 15Z stratefied random sample of congtituent bodies by means of a questionnaire. The replies are nov being checked and evaluated by the Society and a report vill be submitted to the Comittee as goon a8 possible. F Goodall Chairman Atchitoct6 Rooibtration Council ot the United Kinodogn GENTLEMEN'S AGREEHENT 1 . at present constituted. the Gent Ignen' s Agreemcat provideg ao fol lovs : Board of Architectural Education 2. Of the 24 regiocered pergons co be appointed by the Council:— 2 shall be nominated by the Royal Ing tituce of Briti8h Acchicect6 2 Incorporated Aggociacion of Architects and Surveyorg 2 . Faculty of Architect6 aed Surveyors 2 Representatives on the Cotmcit of the 'Unattached' Architeccg Leaving 16 co be freely chosen by the Council. Admission 3. 8 registered persons shall be appointed by the Council of vhoa.•— 2 shall be nominated by che Acchiceccucal Association 1 STAMP section o? UCATT 2 Repregentaciveg on che Council of Che 'Unattached' Archiceccg leaving 3 co be freely chosen by che Council. Finance and General Purposes Coazniccee Profesgtonal Purpoges Cantntctee 4 . Each of che above Coamiccces shall cons isc of 13 raemberg . exclugive of che ex officio member 8, appointed ag follovs : — I by che Royal Ing t i tute of Brit i Ah Archi ceccs 1 ' e n v t ns• Incorporated Assoc i ac ron of Archi ceccg and Surveyor e Faculty of Arch 1 C CCC s and Surveyor 8 Archi t ectura l STAN!' MCA', r Repr e sent t o be t re e Candida c es foc t rec e lec t ion 5. Thac vich regard co che candidates for free election by che Counci l . che following infomacion shal l be provided, by chose nominating, in not more than, say, 25 vords: age, name of archi— cectutal constituenc bodies of vhich candidate is a member (i f any) . presenc post and cype of practice , and reason for nomination; and chac che nanes shall bc submit ced to the Council in alphabetical order. Dates for nominations 6 . That nominations for vacancies to be filled by free election together with the required information about the candidates, must be sent to the • Registrar, 21 days before the Annual Meeting of the Council, in order that the lists may be circulated to Council members prior to the meeting. 178/86 JOB SPECIFICATION TITLE Secretary ARCUK Board of Architectural Education (ARCUK Regulation 23) DUTIES Service Board of Architectural Education Avardg Panel Visiting Boards Administration Advice on formation of Boards Advice on timetables Attend gome visit8 EEC Service ARCUK'g Advisory Monitor EEC Schoolg CPD Develop policy Advise constituent bodies Monitor developments and procegg official reports Constituent Liaison on educational matters and Bodies otherwise administer implementation of Statement of Principles — ARCUK document 125/86 REQUIREMENTS Graduate or other suitable qualif ication. Age over 30 High Level Experrence Educat ion and/or Adtnrni8tration and/or Architecture Languages. French or German desirable Grade 11 SALARY 12-15000 Condit ions Standard ARCUK Staff Pengion Scheme 6 months probation DATE Start March/April 1987 SUPPORT STAFF Por the moment the lines of the duties of existing 8taff can be rescheduled to cope vith the secretarial load involved. Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom ESTABLISHED UNDER THE ARCHITECTS (REGISTRATION) Acts '931 TO '938 73 Hallam Street London WI N 6EE Tel: 01-580 5861 Registrar. Kenneth J. Forder M.A. 183/86 PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES cmff1TTEE REPORT TO COUNCIL - DECEMBER 1986 ARCUK Disciplinary Proceedings Following the joint meeting with the Discipline Committee in September, the Committee is examining the implications of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1975 and its effect on criminal cases appearing before ARCUK Council. The Home Office hag been asked for guidance. When confirmation is to hand, the Professional Purposes Committee vill continue its review of disciplinary proceedings. 2. Standard of Conduct The Committee has examined a suggestion that professional indemnity insurance should be made a condition of registration and concluded that no ruling would be feasible. 3. Criminal Cases (a) The Committee has asked for research to be carried out among ARCUK's past legal opinions on how a situation is to be handled where a person no longer on the Register has been convicted of a criminal offence. (b) ARCUK v. Bishop On October 23rd 1986 Malcolm Bishop was convicted in Cambridge Magistrates Court of an offence under Section I of the Architects Registration Act of 1938 as read with Section 17 of the Architects Registration Act of 1931 . A brief summary is attached. 183/86/2 (c) Warnings Letterg of warning have been gent to:— P R G Wean Chelmsford J A Smith Barking C W Lang Ed inburgh M C Nickolls Cha irman 188/86 REPORT OF MEETING op CLAEU 20/21 NOVEMBER 1986 FOR COUNCIL 17 DECEMBER 1986 The meeting vas held in Brussels on 20th and 218t November 1986 vith David Waterhouse (leader) and Alan Groves representing RIBA and Bob Adamg and Professor Denyg Hinton representing ARCUK. 2. The main item vas a prolonged discussion on alternative policies for CLAEU A wider role, increased expenditure, legal gtatus within the EEC and right to speak for all architects in the EEC, prepared by the French President of CLAEU and the French delegation. A modest role ag a forum for discussion and exchange of information, vith revised regulations prepared by David Waterhouse (UK). The UK view vas eventually agreed by 7 votes to 4. 3. It vas learnt that no EEC funds are available in 1986 or 1987 to get up the advisory committee under the directive and a motion deploring this situation and urging that this committee meet vag passed. 4. It became clear that not all countries had taken the necessary steps required by the EC Architects directive due to come into operation in August 1987. Further detailed information is being sought from all countries. 5. The budget for 1987 vas agreed at 1,506,700 BF (E25,500) compared vith a 1986 budget of 998,045 BP (E16916). The 1987 budget allowed Covering a deficit in 1985/86. ( i i) The entry of Greece, Spain and Portugal. ( i i i) Contingency for additional published information. 6. The UK share of the budget, equally shared with the R IBA. 1986 1987 Share 19.32% 16.4% Value 0268 ARCUK E1634 E2091 David Waterhouse vill become delegate general on 1st January 1987 having led the UK delegation for many years. 8. The next meeting vill be held in Spain on 30 April and I May 1987. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARCUK Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Allan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 17 December 1986 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/fe3afcfe631438c77af18b3bda64f475.pdf a0ce95b3ab6a28369800f61467d6280a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Professional Issues Description An account of the resource A cohort of NAM members became engaged with the professional registration body, standing as elected councillors on the Architects Registration Council and its various committees. Hitherto entirely dominated by the RIBA bloc, the Council began to yield to a new dynamic through NAM's involvement, enabling fresh perspectives on such issues as mandatory fee scales, greater lay representation on the body, ethically-based standards of professional conduct, etc. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ARCUK scraps Code Subject The topic of the resource Article "ARCUK scraps Code" Description An account of the resource The weekly newspaper for the building team FRIDAY JANUARY 23 1981 No 529 Building Design's code campaign triumph ARCHITECTS were granted new freedoms this week when the Architects Registration Council voted to scrap its code of professional conduct. ARCUK Council agreed to abandon its existing principles and rules in favour ofa ARCUK new soft-line approach of discretionary guidelines out- lined at a special council meeting this week. The new principles leave architects free to choose their own standards of behaviour with no permanent form of guidance from ARCUK. A RCUK 's powers will be restricted to advice. S CChanges are particularly although there were some relevant to the 5000 reservations, particularly about simultaneous attached architects. They bility practice.and limited lianow have a set of far less But there a general restrictive ethics than RIBA acceptance of the new pnnciplcs members. for the maintenance of an The old code will be kept architect's integrity in the RAPS until June this year but ARCUKun-to following areas:was tntent to is suspending clauses relating of information on directorships and limited lia- availability The giving in a proper manner, bility companies and touting and without oust for work — falling in line With another architect from an recent RIBA code architect changes.will appointment A registcrcd not be struck off for carrying The definition of the terms out any of these prohibited of service, duties and responactivities between now and sibilities and their legal basis, June. scope and remuneration, and ARCUK's "new approach" the prior declaration of other means that no occupation or interests relevant to an engageaction is prohibited or is in ment. itself disgraceful. There will be The concientious perforno compulsory conditions or mance of duties undertaken, restrict ions On means with proper regard for the practice. such as limited o' an by or simultaneous practice. and the product, With fairness in the mation means or the of giv•ng amount out of fees.infor- adrmnisterin tract and witkout a buildvng inducementscon• On the whole the proposals to show favour. were welcomed by council, The architects are requested Inside aboard ! page 13 THAT MAN AGAIN pages 16-17 Index ROSTRUM 2, News 3-6 and 28, Infill 7, Comment 7, PersJ.ective 8. Scorpio 9, US cavity foam storm — 'Britain is quite safe' For Precincts, Pavements and Paths. ina wide rangeofcolours and textu 3 forcolcodata spec et to... Clive Green. Concrete Services Ltd. Ouse Acres, Boroughbridge Road.York Y02 5SR. Telephone 0904 794151 Concrete Services reader inquiry number 1 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Building Design Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived JA Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 23.1.81 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/5ffc3db8d0553dfd8635e011726e0043.pdf cf53e7a16ab623909f3a03c3d946dacc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Education Description An account of the resource Many NAM members were engaged in the field of architectural education, either as staff or students, and pursued new ideas for course content and pedagogy, reassessing existing course structures and priorities in conventional architectural training. The concern to focus on socially necessary buildings and to find new and meaningful ways of engaging with building users and the wider community- both central NAM themes - illuminated much of the discussion. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ARCUK snubs RIBA over Council Subject The topic of the resource Article by Alan Thompson Description An account of the resource 4 BUILDING DESIGN. April 3. 1987 Drury Lane warehouse gets the go-ahead PLANNING consent has been 39. Sq. m of residential accompt for the EPR Partnerships mediation complete with redevelopment scheme for a at num. warehouse/office building at Meanwhile. an EPR scheme 54-57 Drury Lane, London a residential redevelopment WC2. at 44-46 Drury Lane has been but work will not he abstract submitted to Westminster City until vacant possession is ob.• Council for approval. EPR's trained in 1990. clients, the Limco Groups arc JR P Investments Will develop proposing 17 flats for the mixed scheme. which Will conservation arca Site. which is comprise 3.900sq m of offices. currently occupied by a vacant 20fisq m of studio space and social club budding. Biffen hopes Victoria Tower TIIE Palace of Victoria Toner may not be refurbished along with the rest of the Parliamentary buildings, In response to Parliamentary question from Harry Greenuay MP. the Rt non John Bitren. leader of the 'louse of Commons, said "I hope that in due course the Victoria 'Isomer can be. restored". A PSA spokesman told BI) that • 'it is likely the tower will be for a fresh plan restored but it will be several years before work starts. as funds have to be allocated before planning and consultation can begin." Architect SIP Sydney Chap• man asked whether there were any plans to improve some of the palace's internal courtyards "which are very untidy and a disgrace to the splendid architectural heritage that has been passed on to us". Docklands young at Easter IIS year's RIBA workshops tor young people will be held during the Easter break, Qualified architects will accompany 14-17 year olds on a study trip to London's Docklands on April 23 while on April groups of8-13 year olds will take part In the Makerspace project (designing a lifesize space for a person. mammal or object). For the Docklands trip the teenagers will be asked to workshop for prepare a brief and drawings for a new Docklands building. right be lacking and various design criteria. Places at the workshops are limited and applications should be made to the RIBA as soon as possible. It costs €2 per head. Practising architects or students who would like to lead groups should contact Sheena Parsons at the RIBA, Building contracts warning WARNING about using the appropriate form of contract been Issued by two national building bodies. 'l hey claim using the wrong contract leads to Increased costs a less satisfactory building process. 110th the Joint Contracts Tribunat for the Standard Form Building Contract OCT) and National Joint Consulta- Committee for Building (NJCC) are urging clients and professional advisers to study the JCT practice note 20, two bodies also warn that outdated 1963 standard vs still being used in some cases. This has been superseded JCI'S(). which was amended January to require works to insured on an all risks basis, The advantages of JCT 80 explained in practice note 21. Practice notes 20 (€2.50) and practice 21 (f t. 3()) are available RIBA Publications. FinsMission. Moreland Street. London ECI. Arcuk ARC UK has delivered a massive public snub to the RIBA by turning down institute nomination Gordon Graham for the post of council Vice-chairman. Members voted by 24 votes to 21 to appoint Ken Taylor of the Abbey Hanson Rowe Partnership. Unattached Arcuk members refused to field a candidate as they feared it might split the Arcuk vote and let Graham in. This is the first time in 55 years the RIBA nomination has not been elected despite the RIBA snubs RIBA over council Arcuk should keep some inde- education but the RIBA is battle loomed and nominated role under the EEC directive. pence and not be overwhelmed having none of it. loyal RIBA establishment fig- But both members are now on by the influence of the RIBA. President lorry Rolland has rues and seasoned campaigners Arcuk's Board of Education. "Arcuk will no longer be a said Arcuk's increasing interest for Arcuk Council this year. nominated by Portsmouth and rubber stamp," he said. in educational matters was "not He dropped council chairman Huddersfield schools. Pundits main area of contention in the best interests of archi- Bob Adams and education arc predicting that the board is between the two bodies is edu- tecture. the public, or future chairman Denys Hinton from where the education battle will cation. Arcuk has said It wants a student tntakc••. council after they refused to be fought and that it will be a greater say in architectural Rolland knew a difficult overturn Arcuk's strengthened hard fight for the RIRA. By Alan Thompson appointing 42 of the6.Srncmbers sitting on Arcuk Council. Taylor poured oil on the RIBA Arcuk troubled waters and called for a "harmomsation of interests and not a fragmentation" Unattached member Norman Arnold told B": *'Taylor •s appointment should bring opencss and umty to the education debate". Arnold is keen that Scottish multi-millionaire Murray this week unveiled an ESO million reconstruction scheme for Edinburgh's historic Port Hamilton district. The mixed commercial and residential dcsclooment on a 2.Sha site jtzst half a from Prances Street will be the largest privately funded scheme since war. It is the most ambitious planner launched by MI M. the property arm of Murray International Loadings MI.M's consultant architect Gareth Hutchison said the project based on original canal-basin buildings demolished SO years ago and at}deed that they already applied roar planning permission. scheme provides for a waterfront development in the highly successful popular style or London's St Katharine's Dock." he said. Plans for the site include 34.000sq m offices; 10.000sq m private bousing• m retail space complete smith a glazed mall. and 6.500sq m hotel accommodation with a m function suite. "'Il also beundcrgrouncl parking OSO cars. Murray said the mixed developments soot only complemented commercial viability. but also helped to ensure activity all day and all year round&'. r the scheme is given the go-ahead by city and regional planners work should on site this year "its completion set 1990. Up to 1.200 jobs 9ilI be created. WATERPROOFING DESIGN REGISTER TECHNICAL ADVISORY SERVICE Professional and free service to specifiers for all STRUCTURAL WATERPROOFING problems. Over seventy years of experience. full technical back up. Contact technical Dooanment. RIW Protective Products Co. Ltd 792966 Telex. Broadway House. Shute End. WoA•nqhatn. Berkshire RGtt IBH Telephone. 647930 RIW — Brush, Sprayed and Sheet Applied Waterproofing products for surfaces subject to damp and corrosion. the A has and of the live their the form by in be are Enter ON EXPRESS ENQUIRY CARO from bury mile tbc the had and I start C' A Sal refi exo tec BUILDING DESIGN. April 3. 1987 3 News Construction Adopt a homeless Scottish industry pulls family, says Hackney ROD 'lacuney has urged archi- bad or non-existent housing". teetS to adopt homeless families The latest figures from Shelter council cuts jobs to sol•c Britain's housing prob• say there are at least 100.000 lern. homeless people in Britain, STRATHCLYDE Regional Council's architectures depart- Speaking at the Family Forum Hackney said: "If every RIBA mcnt. the biggest in the country, conference as part or National member adopts a homeless family has axed 177 jobs ina restructure together for 'lousing Week. Hackney re- and finds a solution to their vealed his plan to put architects housing problem, the problem of masterminded by department director Jack McDougall. and the RIBA at the forefront of homelessness in Britain could be With the agreement of Nalgo the fight against homelessness. ended Hithin five years. and his staff. McDougall has so "Where architects see a prob. "Architects are uniquely lem they should not wait to be placed in the housing market to far managed to reduce his computer link asked for help. They have a duty see opportunities whether they be department by 140 people over the last year. to initiate action. Who else is building a self-aid scheme or He has also reorganised the there who knows more about directing a temporarily housed department to give It a greater A COMPUTERISED infor- IS days are possible — but so far environmental and housing prob- family to a more permanent and lems other than the very victirnsof better home." "community architecture" slant. Instead of running it through mation exchange to make the construction industry more the only savings achieved have been marginally tn excess of two New South Bank move three main groups. there are now six, efficient is planned by major days. The cuts have been made to product manufacturers, build- Edicon points out that many LAMBETH council was de. Hall — part of his more ambi- try and prevent a S2.S million ing contractors and public individual organisattons in the industry have in ciding this week 9hetlter to allow the tious scheme to glaze over the shortfall between the depart- bodies, Invested heavily computer systems for internal second phase of 'I'erry Ear. rel's scheme to brighten up space between the buildings to allow room for new foyers. cafes. ment•s earnings and what it costs to run. McDougall told BD Trafalgar House. IBM. Red- communications. but the necdis London's South Bank. shops and restaurants. his cuts would save €3 million. land. John Laing. Boulton & for a system of communica- Farrell wants to demolish the Farrell has been re-elected Job cuts have been achieved Paul, Redland. the Property tion between the different high-level walkway in front of the president of the Urban Design through early retirement and Services Agency and others have launched a company to promote the concept. Edicon — electronic data exchange in the construction industry — will be invitingothet members of the construction industry to join the company. Other industries such as elements of the industry. south side of the Royal Festival Group for a further two years. holding vacancies. retailing. pharamceuticals, automotive. and more recently Probabtvthe best shipping arc using electronic data By Lee Mallett the the pr incipie is well-established in Atnerica. "Devclopment Of an EDI system would not only bc feasible, but is essential for thc future health of the industry". Edicon clams. A launch meeting will be held soon to invite membership and to receive nominations for executive posts in the orgamsation. Three main areas of the industry that EDI would improve are financtal management, inventory control and customer service, according to Edicon. If EDI systems were adopted internationally savings of up to €10 billion for businesses could be made. says the company. Where EDI has been used in Bntain, in the invoicing and payments cycle. savings of up to Joining the board ARCHITECT lets councillor Jonathan Mathews has been appointed to the London Docklands De. velopment Corporation board. Mathews. a tutor at the house floor in the Architectural Association. is a founder member of the Social Democratic Party and lives highly insulated domestic flooring system ever. north of the Isle of Dogs on Jetfloor Plus is the only flooring The system gives unrivalled With a •tr value in the order of Tower Hamlets' Docklands. He system to have been designed advantages to the architect for 0.2 W/m 20 C it will easily meet the is the second architect to specifically for housew It has been design, to the builder for ease of proposed new building tv•gulations be appointed to the board alongs;dc Sir Andrew Derby- successfully used in thousands of construction. to the homeowner for for energy conservation. shire. homes throughout the country. as economy and that's why more and Mathews says his key concern well as in many of the most highly mote people are beginning to realise Write now for details and literature. to secure jobs for local people. regarded house designs for the future that every home should have one. In brief Wycombe shortlist WYCOME council has selected nine practices from more than 70 applications to go forward tn an architectural competition for a new arts centre, They are Aldington Craig & Collingc•. Derek Walker Asso• ciates; Eldred Evans & David Shalcv: Howell, Killick. Partridge & Amis. McCormack Jamieson & Pritchard; Ncylan & tJnglcss•. Paul Makcrow•. Roderick Ham & Partners; and Trevor Dannatt Partners. The centre. which will include a 400.seat theatre, hall and multi•storcy car park, will be developed on a conservation infill site in central High Wycomc. Inplan win FIRST-YEAR architecture student at Bath University Julian Brown has won the 1987 Inplan Award Trophy and a cash prize of €2,000. Sponsored by BRUFMA. the British Rigid Urethane Foam Manufacturers' Association, and Building Design. the award is intended to promote energy conscrrvation planning in buildingSecond prize of El ,000 was won by Chris Gregory of Not. tingharn University and other awards went to Sinclair Thomson, Martin Hughes, Stephen Meeney and Susan Cornish. Flat grant COVENTRY's Wood End Estate is to have a E92S.000 urban development grant as part of a E-S million improvement package. Developer Bellways Urban Renewal will replace 76 flats and maisonettes with 95 houses designed by Geden ofCoventry. Island talks THE scheme for the Jacobs Island Company has not been refused planning permission by the London Docklands Development Corporation as stated in our report last week. Discussions are taking place over some of the design details. We apologise for any embarrassment caused. Bath show BATH Arts Association will show a film on Frank Lloyd Wright at the Huntingdon Centre in Bath on April 15. Details: (0225) 69874. Sugden goes DEREK Sugden, one of the founder engineering partners of Arup Associates. retired from the practice at the end of last month. He intends to concentrate more in the field of acoustics and will remain a consultant to Arup Acoustics. Enter 3 ON ENQUIRY EXPRESSCARD Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Building Design Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Allan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 3 April 1987 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/5cd9edfe5d68d8c325d8388276e4dc53.pdf 794e5567f0480b49eebd3b04cccba6ca Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alternative Practice Description An account of the resource This investigated other forms of organisation of architects' offices based around the concept of cooperative working and shared equity. Several members went on to establish their own practices adopting such models. A pre-eminent example was Support Community Building Design, which emerged from a small group of graduates from the Architectural Association which went on to create a cooperative practice focused on potential client groups in society which traditionally were not the beneficiaries of the architectural profession which, we would have said, was essentially the handmaiden of capital. These groups eventually included local authority tenants, women's groups including refuges, ‘black’ i.e. racially self-defined groups. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Article Subject The topic of the resource Practice Management Incorporation 4pp. Description An account of the resource Al CVS'B PRACTICE MANAGEMENT INCORPORATION Since changes in the Arcuk code in 1981 permitted architects to practice as limited liability companies, many partnerships have opted for the change of status. But there has hardly been the queue of architects at Companies House that some predicted. Ruth Owens talked to Ray Moxley, who has been considering taking the plunge, and to Michael Manser and Andrew Derbyshire who gave him some advice on the basis of their practices' experience. Michael Manser heads a west London practice with 14 staff, which became a limited company within a year of the code changes. 'The only thing that held us up was tax complications. Our commercial clients approved of the change, although one did ask to see our insurance certificate. Some asked why on earth we had not done it before,' said Manser. 'The insurance company assumed responsibility for the historical risks of the partnership on behalf of the new limited company. So, provided the company continues to exist, directors who were partners can retire with an easy mind.' Manser's original reason for making the decision was indemnity, but he has gradually discovered that a limited company is also a good way of doing business. 'Directors can come and go without causing the company to wobble. They don't have to be shareholders.' Other advantages he cites are paying tax by PAYE, the opportunity to leave money in the company after retirement, and the ability to diversify by forming subcompanies and to set up or borrow from pension funds. He has no regrets over winding up the partnership. 'There used to be some cachet in being a partner in a professional firm but not any more. There is a general drift away from partnership. Uncertainty is the main problem. Your partner can quietly run into deep financial problems and the law makes you bale him out. Partnership is a bit like marriage—very demanding of personal relationships.' RMJM (London) Ltd Andrew Derbyshire is chairman of RMJM (London) Ltd, a practice at the opposite end of the scale to Manser's with more than 150 staff. The original partnership was formed in the late 1950s and set up two offices, in London and Edinburgh, with a high degree of autonomy. They were each run by local partners meetings, and their activities co-ordinated by a policy committee controlling borrowing and work search. But around 1980 this set-up began to be questioned. 'In London we became dissatisfied with the structure, which makes each partner jointly and severally responsible for what the others do. In effect it meant partners had a right and duty to be involved in every decision. This was becoming cumbersome,' says Derbyshire. 'We needed to be able to respond more quickly to the changing market conditions brought about by the recession, the abolition of mandatory fees, and the code changes.' Various alternatives, including a co-operative, were considered over a four-year period until February 1984, when the London office began trading as a private limited liability company. As well as the Edinburgh office, some jobs in London for clients of long.standing remain under the partnership. 'The big advantage is that company structure is clearly understood,' explains Derbyshire. 'Eventually, within about five years, we aim to become a common ownership company, with all our senior employees on a council which controls the shares through a trust.' The council, made up of the London partners, elects a board chairman for a three• year term. The chairman selects the chief executive, deputy chairman and board members, and reports back to the council quarterly. The board is not composed entirely of the partners, nor are all partners on the board—some have found niches elsewhere in the organisation. The practice's jobs are assigned to one of five project groups, which report to an 'operations board' on organisational matters and a 'design board' (chaired by Derbyshire) on matters of design and quality. There is, however, no attempt to enforce a house style. 'Our buildings are noted for their diversity,' says Derbyshire. 'But in some areas our procedure can become more autocratic now. I'd like to enforce use of the National Building Specification, for instance, and draw up lists of good and bad products on the basis of experience.' Derbyshire sees the company structure as being well suited to RMJM's traditional characteristics. 'Our aim has always been to provide continuity of employment for good designers. We are not like those firms based on one or two personalities, which tend to disappear when the "big AJ IS January 1986 6t name" retires or dies.' Derbyshire's personal enthusiasm for multidisciplinary practice also led him to support the idea of becoming a company. 'New skills can be brought onto the board much more easily than making new partners: it is not such an irrevocable decision. I was keen on getting young architects and engineers into the management of the business and the company structure made this possible.' Dynamic structure Having learnt from the experiences of Michael Manser and Andrew Derbyshire and spoken to its accountants, Morley, Jenner and Partners decided to become incorporated. 'It seemed the best thing for us to do. It is a much more dynamic structure than a partnership—and the London office needs it,' says Moxley. 'l suppose the main advantages are first that a limited company is a legal entity, which a partnership is not, and second the organisational advantages it gives.' Architects trading as limited liability companies are required by Arcuk to take out adequate professional indemnity insurance in order to protect their clients, so the change does not reduce insurance costs. But if the company is sued, individual employees do not risk losing their personal property. Likewise, retired directors— unlike retired partners—are safe from future claims. 'In partnership, if one of you goes, you all go down together.' The organisational advantage, Morley believes, will be to allow more local autonomy and responsibility. 'It is difficult for eight 64 A' IS January partners to control the efficiency, direction and marketing of a practice based in three separate offices, each with its own way of working. The set-up was too amorphous for there to be strong central policies. 'Instead, we hope eventually to form three separate companies, allied for marketing, career structure and information transfer, but each with its own chief executive and its own local directors. The Cardiff and Bristol offices are to remain as partnerships within the group for the time being.' Taking a share Morley regards a company structure as highly democratic. 'The directors are responsible to the shareholders and elected by them. The directors in turn elect a managing director or chief executive to oversee the direction of the firm. 'It's like a ship—you can't have three or four captains. But if a director becomes ineffective you're not stuck with him for life, as in a partnership. The shareholders will vote him out.' The initial shareholders will be the former partners, but the plan is to broaden the base of the organisation by allocating shares to new associates. 'We've got one starting next week. Once he's proved himself, we'll give him some shares and make him a director,' says Moxley. Besides these major advantages, Moxley reels off a list of minor ones. Directors can contribute more towards pensions than partners, and have a slight tax advantage as well; tax is paid as you go along rather than in arrears, which can be an advantage when profits are falling; outside capital can be brought in if required; shares can be bequeathed to members of the family; and the company can build up more capital than a partnership, since it can set aside income before tax, whereas partnership income is tax paid. Client reaction Before the change was finally decided upon, the practice also consulted its clients. 'Two-thirds of an architect's new work comes from previous clients, so it is very important that they should support the change,' says Moxley. 'Fortunately, none of ours responded negatively. If any current client had objected, we would have had to run the partnership down over a period and there would have been two lots of bookkeeping to do.' Having avoided this pitfall, the only disadvantages he foresees are the need to file annual returns (and the consequent accountancy bills) and the increased National Insurance contributions for directors compared to those paid by partners. In view of the enthusiasm of those who have tried it, and the trend towards companies in other professions, it is surprising to learn that a RIBA survey in January 1984 found only 102 out of 4709 RIBA member practices were limited companies. The RIBA has no more recent figures available. 'It is only in the past two or three years that the climate of opinion among clients has changed and limited companies have become acceptable,' says Ray Moxley. 'Lots of other practices of our size could benefit from it. It simplifies relationships with outsiders because they understand what they are dealing with.' He cites the example of the Surrey Docks competition. 'We entered as a design consortium together with Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. The developers did not know how to relate to us. Now we have just won a competition for Chelsea Basin. We have set up a company with the others involved in the design and everything is much simpler. Everyone knows where they stand.' The future Manser, too, sees companies as the thing of the future: 'It's the way the rest of the world trades. I'm much happier trading as a director than I was as a partner. Companies are more autocratic than partnerships—because the commitment is not so hair• raising you can reach decisions much more easily.' Derbyshire, meanwhile, sets the trend in a broader perspective. 'The strain on the profession due to the recession, code changes, the need for more marketing, and the collapse of the public sector will lead to many new forms of practice. As well as setting up limited companies for design, architects will become involved in more multidisciplinary firms, and design and construction companies.' With the leaders of the profession turning to limited companies so enthusiastically, it seems that the days of the old-style architectural partnership could be numbered. ACA Index November 1190 December 119$1 For application see AJ 26.1.83 pp27 and 53. PRACTICE MANAGEMENT COMPANY OR PARTNERSHIP In AJ 15.1.86 p61 Ruth Owen examined Ray Moxley's very positive decision to practise as a limited liability company, heeding advice from Michael Manser and Andrew Derbyshire. Following representations from several of his architect clients, solicitor Gordon Jones now presents what he feels is a more balanced view, particularly for small practices. What prompted me to proffer some contrary views to those in Ruth Owen's article was the clutch of letters from architect clients that dropped on my desk asking why my recent advice on incorporation was so much at odds with the views of Ray Morley, Michael Manser and Andrew Derbyshire. I do not seek to challenge the wisdom of their own decisions. Many of their reasons are valid as general principles. There are, however, assertions and opinions I would question. Before outlining the pros and cons of incorporation the nature of the architectural profession should be considered. The 1984 RIBA census reveals that in private practice (including sole principals) the average number of principals per firm was approximately two. If sole principals are excluded, the average rises only to three. One therefore has to consider the most convenient business framework for a profession of creative individualists. A number of factors come into play. Limited liability Limited liability is the most often quoted benefit. It is a snare and a delusion. Ignoring directors' guarantees—often required by banks, landlords and hire purchase companies—it is true that the directors and shareholders are not, in normal circumstances, liable for the company's contractual obligations. However, if one of the directors commits the tort of negligence while about the company's business, he will be personally liable. It may be argued that his failure will not ruin the other directors and shareholders, but the directors will have 7. z shared the profits. Should capital is a possibility though they not share the uninsured the 'partners' may prefer to losses? I would certainly raise long-term loan capital advise architects and thus retain the benefit of contemplating incorporation the growth in the firm's to enter into a shareholders' profits. In this case a large agreement providing, inter partnership could just as alia, for contribution towards easily borrow. such claims. Liability under Profit-sharing can be fixed such an agreement survives or flexible under either death or resignation, thus structure, though there are sleep may not necessarily tax efficient profit-sharing be easy. schemes for rewarding employees with shares or Capital, profits and tax options on shares which are available only to companies. Historically, the capital of a These advantages may well be partnership has generally critical factors in favour of been provided by the equity incorporation for large firms. partners and is limited by A traditional method of their resources. In theory a increasing the capital of a company has greater firm is by retention of profits. opportunities than a Here the company has a major partnership to raise capital advantage in that retained from outside sources, but for profits will suffer only the an architectural practice is small companies tax rate of there a real difference? Not 30 per cent, whereas the for small firms. An outside partnership will suffer the investor, professionally partners' highest marginal advised, would be unlikely to rates up to 60 per cent. invest as a minority This 30 per cent may be the shareholder in a private maximum exposure to tax for company dependent on the many years if low salaries and architectural talents of a dividends are paid by the small band of architects. company, though Capital If all the required capital is Gains Tax may be payable on not easily provided by the disposal of shares in the architects themselves, banks company. and insurance companies will There are many tax aspects be the sole source of outside to be considered, but if capital whether the small firm partnership profits bring the is corporate or not. marginal rate of a partner's As for large firms, the tax above 30 per cent acquisition of outside equity incorporation may be advantageous. Timing, however, will be critical. Pensions The maximum rate of contribution for self.employed persons and partners is 17 • 5 per cent of earnings (though higher for persons born in 1933 or earlier). For companies, the maximum employee contribution is 15 per cent of earnings, but there is no limit on the company's contribution provided the Inland Revenue maximum benefit limit for the employee is not exceeded. If partners start early enough and pay maximum permitted contributions they can acquire as high a pension as from a company pension scheme. However, unlike a company, partners cannot adequately compensate in later years for insufficient funding earlier. Funding partnership capital is possible in both methods. For a large firm a self-funded corporate pension scheme may be an attractive option that can also assist with funding capital assets. For partnerships of seven principals or more there is the option of forming a friendly society to provide a pension scheme. Management control A partnership is owned and managed by the partners. A company is owned by the shareholders but managed by the directors, who need not be the same. Traditionally a professional practice had to be owned and managed by members of the profession. However, since the 1931 Act architects have been permitted to practise in corporate form provided the business was controlled and managed by a registered AJ 9 April 19B", 67 person. It is therefore possible to have non• architects as partners, shareholders and directors provided they are not in control. If non-architects are required by a particular practice it may choose either partnership or company form. Similarly, the form of management and administration within both a partnership and a company may be tailored to suit the firm's requirements. By the use of special articles of association and shareholder agreements many of the structural advantages of a partnership can be incorporated into a limited company. It is also possible to write into a partnership agreement many of the advantages claimed for corporate bodies, such as tighter control, more effective decision-making and stricter reward for effort. For each firm there may be one dominant reason for choosing partnership or company; that does not mean that it cannot gather many of the presumed advantages of the other structure. Consider the following: • Job security. It is often alleged against the partnership that it is generally for life and breeds complacency. The answer is to specify a fixed term—say, five years e Career structure. A partnership can offer associateship, salaried partnership, junior equity partnership rising to senior partnership. Profit sharing can be on a 'points system', reflecting the various contributions of partners from time to time • Decision-making. Ray Morley regards companies as at once democratic and autocratic! Like partnerships, they cannot be both at the Al 9 1986 same time—and it depends on your definition of democracy. Conventionally, each partner has one vote on all fundamental matters, but the larger the partnership the more likely that majority voting will prevail on even fundamentals such as admission of new partners, architectural style and profit sharing • Industrial democracy. The corporate form probably has the edge because it is easier to give shares in a company to the employees than shares in a partnership. But participation can be provided in a partnership; the critical factor is the *ill of the parties—both employers and employees e Statutory regulation. It is often alleged that a company is simpler to understand than a partnership but this is another delusion. The Partnership Act 1890, comprising 50 sections and no schedules, is of common law origin and codifies laws governing a group practise. There is very little statutory regulation of partnership. A corporate body is a creature of statute, an 'artificial person'. The Companies Act 1985 comprises 747 sections and 25 schedules. A company must pay a tax of one per cent on all share capital issued. It must maintain registers of shareholders, directors and mortgages; hold shareholders and board meetings; file annual returns and have professionally audited accounts. For a large firm these administrative obligations will be no problem, but for a small firm it can be a tiresome burden. Departure Superficially, the death of a partner may appear to cause more of a problem than that of a director/shareholder. In the latter case the company, being a legal entity, continues under the control of the remaining directors with the deceased's shareholding vesting in his personal representatives. However, the well advised director will wish to ensure that his or her investment in the firm can be realised by the deceased's family, and this can be achieved only by a shareholders' agreement making provisions similar to those in a partnership agreement. While technically death terminates a partnership, most deeds provide for automatic continuation among the surviving partners with payment of the value of the deceased's share to the personal representatives. Much the same applies on resignation or retirement. Conclusions • Corporate and partnership forms are very flexible e Partnership for the professional is a good motivator and is relatively simple. It must be right for most small firms • Capital requirements and pension provision may dictate a corporate structure for a particular firm e Management philosophy may fit one form rather than another e Ownership can be spread more easily through shares in a company e Client and public relations must be considered and the costs of conversion weighed in the balance • Limiting liability should not be a factor. That problem with regard to professional negligence needs legislation. Cordon Jones is the senior partner •f Church, Adams, & Co. Right of reply The AJ contacted Moxley, Manser and Derbyshire for their reactions to Jones' article. Both Moxley and Manser were still satisfied with their decision. Derbyshire did not disagree with Jones but challenged his view of the profession: 'Gordon Jones claims that the advantages of a limited company can be built into a partnership if anybody wants to, and this is true. But the real point is that they don't have to be built into a company. They are there already. This encourages members of a company to take advantage of the flexibility of management structure that is available. 'It is not easy to implant an executive management team into an existing partnership. A company provides freedom to select the appropriate leadership. 'All in all I need no persuasion that there are both advantages and disadvantages in changing to a limited company for the "average UK two.man practice". However, small practices that want to be ready for growth, able to respond quickly to changing needs and provide a better service to the building industry may decide that they will be better equipped for the future if they choose limited liability and multi.skilled diversification.' RIBA Services Ltd is holding a seminar on converting to a company on 8 May at the RIBA. Details on 01-637 8991. ACA Index February 120-39 March 12089 For application see AJ 26.1.83 pp27 and 53. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Architects Journal Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived JA Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 15 January 1986 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/46461c4f7d6695dec040a18fea4e0eba.pdf fe5f661ce46ed8dce53d69324d3d4a76 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Professional Issues Description An account of the resource A cohort of NAM members became engaged with the professional registration body, standing as elected councillors on the Architects Registration Council and its various committees. Hitherto entirely dominated by the RIBA bloc, the Council began to yield to a new dynamic through NAM's involvement, enabling fresh perspectives on such issues as mandatory fee scales, greater lay representation on the body, ethically-based standards of professional conduct, etc. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Article for Building Design on ARCUK issues, Dec 1979 Description An account of the resource a boards AkCUK kKetention Fees help subsidize, 4+(2)bemoreopentothepressWUCteoersiae,be/ 64 more accessible to the public, and abandon its 8 | oiticial-secrets-style paranoia (even the papers BUIDINGIDESIGN page issue datell jan writefialtz&murray Catch unattached 6 | | | 4+directorships of firms dealing in property, construction :| or building materials. This while the KIBA Council (sane 6 people switching hats for a mu.ent) was deciding that 8 lye a director of such a firm, tar Lrom Heing disgrace; 0 ene really was quite protessionally Ea ES OG arter all. 5 During the past year, the unattached Councillors | 4+ have also pressed AhCUK to | fay. assert its independence 3 MNERBXXKXresponsibilitiesforSUL educa— oF tion so long abdicated to the KibA, whose Visiting 304 inviting nominations sent out to 4500 architects 24 are boldly erblazoned "Confidential"), | 34(3)aiamoreneedystudentsinsteadofeearchitects' a khetention Fees to fund pet E York Centre, 04 (4) stop tolerating advertising KIBA Feeeeie like the | by i1BA frembers which it goes not tolerate among unattached | architects and cevelop an approach to the | question of gavertising and reassune ate statutory | speed up the nailing of ballots in AKCUK" s elections to minimise disenfranchisement At the same time, the elected Couned llors have of unattached voters. ' redcepaeiene which treats all architects equally, ait ——t-—bt ae nm also become concerned by what appears to peldbereeard 4 ooQ)ae) “~~ ul a <csbyAKCUKfortheproperapportioningWNotre onthe 44Council, as called for by Schedule Une ot the hegistratiagn || = 6tact. Although widely reported figures indicate that the | || B{kina's U.K. architect menbership, even including all | | 124year or at best remained stable, AKCUK has hevertheless | || }deciaed that it has risen by just enough tolgive kIBA | ® i6-jan extra seat on AKCUK at the expense of elécted repre- sentation. While the elected Councillors have PELOnE accustomed Sood : |i . Se Near | shown by their constituents in past quests ones res o1L | assistance 23 cousiderable xxnkxexkxk and Support and thus hope that fotjthese in long-term arrears, either declined! further this| ] } to obstruction, harassment and abuse iron most of the | I ee members on AkCUK, they have found the interest how : | mY. i.. .i SO XNUSXNERK NS tiany more of them will take aavantage of | ad : ye : ; peene reply-paia iacility proviued by Bu and answer the | 8 344iive questions they are asking this year. They would xx }| = 35-at the same time be happy to hear the views|ot those . i i| ae aercaderswhoarenot"unattachedarchitects!|"andhope aa,Re: .,: ‘O-they too will fill in and post the questionnaire, which such as | }2-considers issues X#NXXxxXxXxkxENM directorships; kIBA contol || 4-jof AKCUK, enployee and lay representation oy the kegistra caAbite : | 6>tion Council, and AKCUK's suppression of the electeu i,::| “8-Counciliors' report and questionnaire, | 0 The Councillors welcome also —4 2j0r suggestions concerning any adai{ibnal connents issues which ought to be raised be kept in contiuerce. ‘the } 4-on AKCUK. All names will | | Y LONG HSEN page issue date 11 jan writermaltz&murray catchunattached 7 | | | ———— issue date]] jan writer naitz&murrayCatChynattached & | | elected Councillors can be reached on any matter of | } | concern by writing to John Murray, c/o AKCUK, 73 Hallam Street, London Wl. BUD INGIDESIGH 3/3 élp end | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ie ; | | Yes: No: Unaecided: 172 (650) 64 (2440) 29 I%»( 110) | f" | | | | option of not using | | | | | permit architects the Conditions ot Engagement?" the KIBA Yes: No: 170 (64%) 79 (30%) Undecided: 16 (6%) || Yes: 295 (96%) No: Undecided: 5 (2) 2 5 (2%) | | | |j | | | | | } | | | BUD INGIDESIGN ‘hesults of last questionvaire o “should AKCUK change its Code to permit architects to “Should AKCUK follow the recomuendations|oi the Monopélies Comiission by changing its Code to | “Should AKCUK take stronger measures to h discrimination in enploynent against arctriitects who page issue datell jan writer Maltz&murray catchunattached 9 practice as linited liability companies are not menbers of the kiBA?" mMoOQa=NM ‘r >?) N eeeones Sete eee tee Katee | | | 1j } ; © la. bo you think that control of ARCUK by wc RIBA Source is in the best interests of | 26 2 B. give employee architects representation on AKCUK in proportion to their present nuneri¢al streneth in the protession? Yes | 30-4 page issue date 11 jan writerMaltz&murray catchunattached 10 | | 24New questionnaire: QUESTIONS 4jn. bo you think AKCUK should continue to ice the 5 | 2 012. elected Councillors to insert a report ana question- naire in AkCUK's annual mailing to tnediiconertnentey Should AKCUK amend its Code to allow architects to be| 42 | owners or directors of firms dealing in property, 44- construction or building materials? | = 1645. Uo you think the Architects hegistration ict 1931 | —18- Should be retormed to 20-4 their A. allow all architects airectly to elect ,representa- 22 24 tives on AkCUK ? Yes | No | 24 No| || S| A. the public? Yes | io No| A Bb. the protession? Yes 4| No| 645. SNSNIMXAKEHRXARSNMALESANONEXLKD | Although the architects Kegistratiou Act 1901 allows 85 for anple lay representation on aAlCUX, those bodies 0 tree to appoint lay members invariably rétise to do So. bo you think that the act should be reformed to | UIUDINGIDESIGN require a lay presence on ARCUK? LiaVe SPACE ON FUKM FOR "COMMENTS & SUGGESTIONS"”........ ||| | 2 New_questionnaire: BACKGROUND INFO TO APPEAR ON FORM | ete Name 6/2. Address go. AKCUK status | | | 10+ a. "unattachea" architect | | | b. architect member ot 144 ¢. architect, not member a. under 5 b. 35-44 the KiBA | || of hIBA, but meiber of AA, | || |) (check one): | | 5 Cc. 45654 | } d. 55 or over ) sex (check one): | || a. tenale b. nale 38 a. employee, public | | sector | 04 b. employee, 421 c. employer private sector | ! | | | |: A | d. seli-enployed = e. unemployed 84 f. retired 94 g- other | 14 KIBA, does your with no employees enployer | | for == page issue date 11 jan writermaltz&murray catchunattached 11 g | FAS, LAAS or STAMP | |' 1 d. not on Kegister of Architects | 44. age group (check one): | ; roma GOT —— )6. employment status (check one): - It you are an employee architect and a metiber of the 2 A. require you to be a member Yes | | ot the KIBA? :| B. pay your RIBA suhscription? Yes | 12+ No| | 14-8. if you are an architect and do not consider yourself wn a 16 | a nenber in good standing of the hibaA, Ad, ITAAS, FAS or STAMP, Gid you recieve otiicial “nomination papers" 20+ fron AKCUK in November 1979? No | | SUD ESTER age issue date 1) jan writemaltz&murray CatChinnattacheda 12 Oo a eee ieeanpitanendornesiamsants Hugh Pearman Building vesign 5U Caluerwood Street London SE 18 6QH bear iiugh, 14 Holudale koad London Nw 6 19 december 1979 tHlere is the article (2000 words) on the elected Ai.CUK Councillors' report and questionnaire, tozether with the new questionuaire and initio. on the last one which your studio can vraw into bar graphs. Although the questiennaires aire a product o1 the repre- resentutives of the “unattached” architects acting as 2 sroup, the article itselt shoulu he creuited to John hurray and myself, who have written it on behalf ot the gnoup. He and I can be described in the byeline as "“nembers of ANCUK elected by unattached architects." Following our recent telephone conversations, I confirm our agreement as Ltollows, upon which terms the article and questionnaire is submitted: 1. BU to publish article with questionnaire in issue of 1] January ISt. 2. jWuestionnaire to be on reply-paid facility provided by GBD 3. Jobu Murray and myself, as authors, to be paid the standard Buy journelists rate for teatures plus £15 to help cover expenses incurred in article anda questionndire. 4. bv may open ana tally the auswers to the questionnaire but all questionnairs received by BLD will be turned over to john Murray and niyself (on behslt ot the elected Councillors) who will write any Lollow-up report in Bu on the results. Such a Lollow-up article @r articles) is to be cone on the sane terns as the present article. 5. All names anu addresses ol; guestionnairs to retain confidential to the elected Councillors. 6. ‘Ihe article and questionnaire are consioerea to be in the conmon interests of the elected Councillors, bu and the profession. 7. While aimed prinarily at “unattached" architects, all interested Hv readers wiil he invited to reply. A space will also be provided for conrents. &. As the article and questionnaire are on a “sensitive" subject and was written on behalf of and with the consent of the group of representatives, Bb wili clear with the authors any alterations or celetions tt night wish to make. (iif one of the Live questions needs to be aeletea, it should be no. 5.) AS I Shall be away trom 2U/12 to G/1, please contact John \.urray at O40-6651 (work) or 540-4055 (home) if such consultation is necessary. Yoursa2siHnpk‘ely cc;: John hiurray PA Y Hob Malt (4 BUIDINGIES|GN page issue date 11 jan writermaltz & murragatchunattached | | "Unattached" architects by now accustomed to recei :| the expense of their elected AkCUK Counciliors may have | been disappointed when they opened the envelope enclosing the official “nomination papers" sent to them by the : hegistration Council this past November. inia caretully— : i4- orchestrated nove ot unprecedented vindictiveness, and 1 in violation of even AKCUK's own Standing Orders, the | || kKiPA Council nominees who still control AkCUK pushed a 20-wotion through the kegistration Council's October meeting! >Jthanning further reports and questionnaires.| ;a3 | | vespite angspnxkxxuxxe unassailable majority on || e6441.CUK, the Portland Place delegation apparently seens : junable to cone to terms with the continuing |support which sO/the unattached electorate has shown tor those New archi- | 32-1ecture Movement members representing them and with | these Councillors forthright defenge both of the rights of unattached architects and of the public interest. .8ihe KlséA spokesmen said they believed the enone and o4questionnaixe drawn up by the elected Councillors were | 124no longer needed now that, in the event of ne election, _| ae ee Fecaeklae S-personai statenent with their election iniarmation. 84No rnatter that Councillors and candivgates might not be | ithe sume people, that such an electiog the folowing ‘year might not xxkexyinge be required, or tiat the t }“unattached representatives—--the only elected Councillors al s ; bail : 44candidates would have the opportunity oi iugluding a ! ee ores {-ing a brief report and questionnaire prepared by and at o page issue date 1) jan writemaltz & murrayatch unattached 2 | | on AKCUK---found such a report and questionnaire useful ‘ in carrying out their responsibilities on AKCUK. Iron- |}ically, it was a suggestion in response to jone of their :| previous questionnaires that Lea the unattached repre- | sentatives to press AhCUK to change its hegulatibns to aliow candidates to include such a personal statenent! | It was only at the recent December meeting of | the Council that the RIBA'S strategy of attlempting to silence the representatives of the unattached becane CU ceeast —S more obvious. ,ihey retused even to allow unattached Councillors to speak in opposition to majority policies, | to raise the question of the apportionment of seats on | ARCUK, to put relevant motions or to record! opposition ;| votes. | | The nine elected Councillors whohave| been repre- | ' senting unattached architects during the 1979-80 session |---John Allan, Freter Cutmore, sue Jackson, Marion koberts | || |}lan tod, Lddie walker, Tom woolley and the authors——-- i jare theretore gratetul tor the opportunity Building |Design is now ofiering to thank jreplied to last yeay’s questionnaire, to report back on | the results and on their activities } of the past year, ,.and their successors in the coning year. | | Last year, without the benefit of a r¢pily-paid -2.3|° 4-who 1eceived the questionnaire replied to three questions those architects who BUIDINGD ESIGN AS nN & TM ©© 5 and to present a new questionnaire to help buide them j{envelope, 265 ot the nearly 4500 unattached! architects ; age issue date 11 jan writemaltz & nurragatchinattached & |’ | concerning linited liability companies, AhCUK's support z| tor the kiBA fee scale and AkKCUK action (or lack thereof)) to aiscourage discrimination in enployment lagainst the || + growing number of architects---now acknowlédged by even| |i the kibA-controlled AKCUK to be over 22% of those on | the Kegister---who choose not to be members of the KkIBA. ! | The previous year's more open-ended survey had, as reported in BD (16 June 1978), concentrated on tinding 'i out who were the unattached (literally, those people on the Kkegister of Architects who are not members of one or more of the six organisations, including the RIBA, | ; 24- enshrinea in Schedule I of the Architects Hegistration 26-1 act 1951) 4nd -whoLare Mrs onlit Tea to pled represen | 284 xabix-ts Use » Why they were unattached, | >whether and how they would like AhCUK's Code of Protes- | San=~. ‘. e| sional Conduct retormed, and what further action they é 344 would like their representatives on AKCUK to take. It | 36+ also showea a six to one majority in Favout of amending | }' 35> the Kkgistration Acts to take account of the present | me composition of the protessionnx (by now 8% jemployees) i and an even split on the issue of increased lay repre- | 4 sentation on AnCUK. The RIBA Council, which is permitted | by the 1931 Act to appoint lay people to ARCUK neverthe- less appoints exclusively architect menbers o1 the hiBA. Last year, while the unattached electea Bury employees, the KitA Council was appointing management larchitects to fill 90% of its forty seats on ACUK. | HUROE OESIEL wal Nh ' ‘t rn rennarendriesennen cc c cw oO) hohm=k 4 is00oBbN Nm2 —D> c2@UO}aeN peereesmeaiearanaeanan jeleechaasmans o rece ed nce eOEEE OD | NM 2 BUIOINGIDESIGN page issue date 11 jan writemaltz & murrayatch unattached 4 | : This past year, unattached architects |responding 44 to the questionnaire came out solidly in favour, by 6 | a nearly three to one margin, of changing AKCUK'S Code g4 to permit architects to practice as limited| liability }| }°..=| 404 companies. As Johu Parris recently noteu 10 bv (7 vccenber (2-1 1979), Section 17 of the Kegistration Act would appear i} ne : : | 144 to allow linited companies and since AhCUKSs Code has no| 46-1 iorce in law architects are in tact alreauy free to ; |1 18+ practice as limited companies, though the presence ot | 29-4 the Code ban obviously serves to coiutuse and intimidate ’! | | 22 people. kven the Code, oi course, has never prohibited :| 244 architects irom practicing with linited lidbility in | 254 the form of a co-op under the Industrial and Provident .| Societies Act rather than the Companics Act. The elected Couucillors also took note ot the 30-4 324 364 ing to force architects to use the k1iBA Conditions ot | 384 ungagement, which incluaes the KiBbA Fee Scale. 64% were :;| 40-4 in iavour of changing the Code, SU were opposed and Aor 121 144 were undecided. | | | |' clear majority in iavour of AKCUK tollowing the reconmen-— dations ot the Nonopolies Comiission sressh no longer try—|} On the third guestion, whether AkCUK ,ought to take | 65 stronger measures to help end discrimination in employ—- j 8 rent against architects who choose not to be members of :C}. ! 04{ the KIBA, the elected Councillors received /a‘ near-unani- af nous response, with 96% in itavour ot stronger action, 44 2% opposed and 2) undecttiea. Although the Architects | :u} i) o Sieealateneresans UU Deol oage issue date 11 jan writermaltz&murray Catchunattached 5 | | registration ‘ses: ; lee the ofticially recognised quuliiication tor an archi- Sjtect, although KIbA membership represents nd bighber 8 /qualitication Gnkect, many corporate marvels of the RIBA i0Jare not even architects) and although Portland Place — 319 4 propaganda claims that the RIBA is a voluntary hody, 12 46 promotion to be menbers of the RIDA. kule 2's of the jAKCUK Code, enjoining each architect not to|"act in 20>disregard of the professional qualitications of those to <2\whon he gives authority, responsibility or employment" <47seems to be one of those parts of the Code Which the 26 7ik1BA-dominatea ALCUK preiters not to enLorce, ‘the unattached Councillors have becond increasingly concerned during the past year by AKCUK'S very selective 2 japproseh to enforcement of its Code and inté¢rpretation lot "Gissraceful conduct" for which it may strike an ji| sO4architect off the Kegister. The present rulérs of ARCUK || 384seen to concentrate on enforcing those manele ot the jwwode which establish a commercial cartel anOe private |khegistration Acts 19351 and 1958 established sone employers still require applicants tor!posts or 2architectural firms while ignoring those saydees nxwhich protect the public. For exaiiple, while AKcud has thus fe | i > | o>>Df ar taken no action against architects SO acd in joiticial enquiries into buiiuing disasters Led have j cee thelivesofwanypeople,ithasindiqatedits 2intention to strike off for "disgraceiul conauct" an sad : , | Syav ~ architect who intringed Rule 2.1 of the Code, forbidding Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bob Maltz Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1979 Subject The topic of the resource Article for Building Design on ARCUK issues, Dec 1979 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/c72c1f2de394362452f511677ff5603a.pdf 70df5afd00e542a87919d44ae9f15dfa Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Professional Issues Description An account of the resource A cohort of NAM members became engaged with the professional registration body, standing as elected councillors on the Architects Registration Council and its various committees. Hitherto entirely dominated by the RIBA bloc, the Council began to yield to a new dynamic through NAM's involvement, enabling fresh perspectives on such issues as mandatory fee scales, greater lay representation on the body, ethically-based standards of professional conduct, etc. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Article for The Architects’ Journal re results of Elected Councillors Questionnaire, March 1980 Description An account of the resource Dan Cruikshank The architects' Journal 9 Queen Anne's Gate London SWIH SBY Dear Dan, 14 Holmdale Road London NW 6 31 march 1980 Yours sincerely, Yee rN Pm 72 1,N¢4 Vine C \ Bob Maltz Here is the 1000-word article on the etestem results of the elected AKCUK Councillors' questionnaire, together with the necessary information tor bar graphs which your studio can araw (see examples of Figures 1 and 2). Like the previous article, this one is written on behalf of the elected Councillors acting us a group, though the article should be credited to the authors, John Murray and myself. Following my letter of 16 January ana our telephone conversation of 18 Siarch, I coniirw our agreement as follows, upon wnich terms the article and intormation are submitted: 1. The AJ to publish article in issue of 9 April 1980. 2. John murray and tiyself, as authors, to be paid the fee of One Hundred Pounds. S. As the article is on a "sensitive" subject and has been written on hehalf of ane with the consent of the group oi elected representatives, the AJ will clear with the authors any alterations, aduitions or deletions it wight wish to make. (if such con- Sultation is neces~ary after 3 April, when i shall be away, please contact John Murray: work 34U-8U31, home 340-4559.) of the RIBA. 61 per cent of employee architects responding maltz & murray AJ 9 april results 1 End ARCUK's “ban” on directorships, end the RIBA Council's control of ARCUK and give all architects the right to elect their representatives on ARCUK, with employee architects given These are some of the conclusions to emerge from the over 500 responses to the recent questionnaire drawn up by the elected architect members of AhCUK and pub- lished in the AJ of January SO. Despite the seemingly controversiel seven tuents. Where marked differences of attitude did emerge, employee and self-employed these were more often between architects on the one hand other hand, rather than and architect members of the RIBA. Of the total of 524 cent came from people working, responses received, 94 per m@ or employers, in the protession. were employees, 18 per cent without employees. 70 per cent of these employers and 12 self-employed Among architects responding,y(again, the total), 32 per cent were 94 per cent of "unattached" and 67%,members their fair share of seats. nature of most of the, questions, the results on all but one were unequivocal. Only on the Architects Kegistration on ARCUK was the response other hand, a whopping 91% to allow the elected Councillors questionnaire in AKCUK's question of reforming the Acts to require a lay presence tairly evenly divided. On thought AKCUK should continue to insert a report and annual mailing to their consti- and employer architects between "unattached" architects the on the insert Fig. 1 insert Fig. 2 were RIBA members and 29 per cent of these said their employer required them (contrary to employment legisla- tion) to join the kKIBA. 99 per cent of employer architects responding were kIBA members. OL the self-employed, 70 per cent were RIBA members. Of all the respondents, 70% were under 45 years old. Only 5 per cent were women. These were the results, question by question: 1. "Do you think ARCUK should continue to allow the elected Councillors to insert a report and question- naire in ARCUK's annual mailing to their constituents?” (Last year, the RIBA Council's appointees who control ARCUK forced through a ban on further reports and ques— tionnaires.) Not only did $7 per cent ot "unattached" architects answer "yes," but even 87 per cent of KIBA members did. 2. "Should ARCUK amend its Code to allow architects to be owners or directors of firms dealing in property, construction or building materials?” 57 per cent answered "yes," with "unattached" archi- (65 per cent) tects more enthusiastically in favour of the change than RIBA members (53 per cent). On this issue there was little difference of opinion between employees, employers and self-employed. 3. "Do you think the Architects Kegistration Act 1931 should be reformed to: A: allow all architects directly to elect their represen- tfLAP PDOL2!OUPem maltz & murray AJ 9 april results 2 insert Fig. 3A tatives on ARCUK? B: give employee architects representation on AKCUK in proportion to their nunerical strength in the profession?" {At present, only those considered "unattached" may elect ARCUK Counciliors and “constituencies” are drawn on the basis of organisational membership rather than employment status.) 86 per cent favoured extending the franchise to all architects, with a strong vote of confidence in democracy coming from the "unattached": 99 per cent! 79% of all architect members of the RIBA who responded favoured elections. Among them, 85 per cent of employees, and even 64 per cent of employers, WEKEXxNX<HxXBUEX answered "yes." Likewise, 70 per cent said “yes" to giving employee architects their fair share of the profession's seats on ARCUK. Only the employers (36 per cent) opposed the idea. 80 per cent of employees were in tavour, as were 57 per cent of self-employed. 4. "Do you think that control of ARCUK by the PIBA Council is in the best interests of: A: the public? B. the profession?" (Ever since Parliament, refusing to give the RIBA a monopoly on the use of the term "architect" for its own members, set up ARCUK and kegistration, the RIBA Council has stopped at nothing to keep ARCUK a puppet of Portland Place. Through its control of ARCUK, the RIBA Council gave insert Fig. 3B maltz & murray AJ 9 april results 3 insert Fig. 4A itself nomination rights to 41 ot the 68 seats on ARCUK this year.) Not only did a massive 80 per cent reply that control of ARCUK by the RIBA Council was not in the public interest, but even 70 per cent of RIBA members agreed! Employees (87 per cent) and self-employed (84 per cent) were most strongly opposed to RIBA control of ARCUK; only the employers (49 per cent) had their doubts. Even more surprisingly, nearly as many respondents, 76 per cent, said that control of AkCUK by the R1BA Council was not even in the best interests of the profession, and this included 66 per cent ot responses from architect members oi the RIBA itself! Both employees (83 per cent) and selt-employed (78 per cent) favoured an independent AFKCUK. As many as 47 per cent of the employers responding thought control of ARCUK by "their" Council was not in the best interests of the profession. The views of “unattached” architects who responded were nearly unanimous on these issues. 9&8 per cent thought RIBA control of AkKCUK was not in the best interests of the public and 95 per cent, ot the profession. 5. "A?though the Architects Registration Act 1931 allows for ample lay representation on AKCUK, those bodies free to appoint lay members invariably refuse to do so. Do you think that the Act shoula be reformed to require a lay presence on AkCUK?" insert Fig. 4B maltz & murray AJ 9 april results 4 insert Fig. 4A itself nomination rights to 41 ot the 68 seats on ARCUK this year.) Not only did a massive 80 per cent reply that control of ARCUK by the RIBA Council was not in the public interest, but even 70 per cent of RIBA members agreed! Employees (87 per cent) and self-employed (84 per cent) were most strongly opposed to RIBA control of ARCUK; only the employers (49 per cent) had their doubts. Even more surprisingly, nearly as many respondents, 76 per cent, said that control of AkKCUK by the R1BA Council was not even in the best interests of the profession, and this included 66 per cent of responses from architect members oi the RIBA itself! Both employees (83 per cent) and selt-employed (78 per cent) favoured an independent AKCUK. As many as 47 per cent of the employers responding thought control of ARCUK by "their" Council was not in the best interests of the profession. The views of “unattached” architects who responded were nearly unanimous on these issues. 98 per cent thought RIBA control of AkCUK was not in the best interests of the public and 95 per cent, ot the profession. 5. "A?though the Architects Registration Act 1931 allows for ample lay representation on AKRCUK, those bodies free to appoint lay members invariably refuse to do so. Do you think that the Act should be reformed to require a lay presence on AkCUK?" insert Fig. 4B maltz & murray AJ 9 april results 4 insert Fig. 5 52 per cent of those responding said "yes," but there was a clear difierence of opinion between the "unattached," strongly in fuvour (64 per cent), and RIBA members (44 per cent), as well as between the employers who were opposed (43 per cent) and employees (v3 per cent) and self-employed (55 per cent) in favour. Ihe questionnaire also asked those architects who did not consider thenselves members in good standing ot the RIBA, AA, IAAS, FAS or STAMP whether they received official nomination papers trom ARCUK in November 1979, as all “unattached" architects, theoretically, should. Inexplicably, only 57 per cent replied that they had; 43 per cent said they had not. Many people who responded also took the trouble to include comments and suggestions. For example, although not a subject covered by the questionnaire, quite a few respondenots, many of whom were RIBA members, wished to see control of architectural education and entry into the protessioen taken out of the RIBA's hands. The following comments give some idea ot the very broad range of those received. maltz & murray AJ 9 april results 5 y maltz & murray AJ 9 april results 6 HOARE ---a non-architect, under S5 years old, public sector "The N.A.M. cannot be considered representative of the "unattached." ---an architect member of the RIBA, over 54 years old, private sector &-nIn theory AXCUK should have been the body which not only democratised British architecture, out also reformed professionalism in Britain across a bveaad front. In practice the RIBA"sS control and domination was an act of hypocritical compromise which denied both the publics’ interest in Scrutinising the affairs: of the profession, and the Deofession’s own interests in organising its own affairs representatively. Fifty years after the Rezistration Acts ve still have the same problems and the same legal structure. It works for no ones fre Registration Acts should be reformed to constitute ARCUK as it was originally intended. The problem is, thouzh, tecl(ororession is in too much. disarray to even consider that its public responsibilities are not being © Met, and the pudlic has no r2al notion of how its professions Should be brought to heel." Bal aes => ‘ tfa — Carnplouec! ~ a AY oO) —————/ ~——/ See ee malrz a Conga Sea Cs eCVenwy Mm eu) iw _ ri y| & wv Ue IeO 5 Jey oe gO 20 ec eciwe \|- eeeNe eres e SS FSeune & wa) (O) (a) ese i 1 eer = | mi) Lj it met ee - . ) \ D \ ' seSSSSa SAEEROPct “| al oa maltz - mn SAU AY SNao-l +P 49 COFiHOR Coal iSBAS :Or. ‘ue 9Voy We rrr | Seen Es |12 Pee)Oserieceeeegee \ to | in dQ EN) GAS CaylO ar HG)|eeLiG)e eae CON eS) a c ND ri ND tite) 2 so oe {lo pone nf Sa) eo ap Sa) OP CON cay aes Oe (Vy a Co) (ae ace Se)58) =sO RM SS ep 9 GS) @ Ue oa ——ee: |! |e aman VA \! bef eeeee- ha Fas If i) eal [Salen tees iat ae, } oh) Im iV) {a Li Yim Dey, Aaa > S&S Wee N of ra La Pee Sees ez Sw es SI <= Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bob Maltz Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1980 Subject The topic of the resource Article for The Architects’ Journal re results of Elected Councillors Questionnaire, March 1980 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/7413e7d83382f3c9ef6dcc70af396cde.pdf 36996f13d5762201ce0abfa00ec164ec Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Trade Unions and Architecture Description An account of the resource Themes included action on asbestos and Health &amp; Safety, and involvement with Direct Labour Organisations and Building Unions. Following comparative research of possible options, NAM encouraged unionisation of building design staffs within the private sector, negotiating the establishment of a dedicated section within TASS. Though recruitment was modest the campaign identified many of the issues around terms of employment and industrial relations that underpin the processes of architectural production. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Asbestos - The Killer Dust Subject The topic of the resource Warning Leaflet Description An account of the resource A Rank and File Factsheet ASBESTOS : The Killer Dust Howwidespread iscontact with asbe: stos’ reverytinyinded.Inoneinch,youcanfitside Butisn'ttheasbestoshazardmainly athing of the past? rehavenot,of course,beenanycourtcases agaistihepersonsresponsibleforthisslaughter, insulationisapureafterthought. Youflingupa building and then after you've done it you hire someone to fling on some asbestos. The purposeis not toprotect people butpi nd itmatters littleapparently. that this"protection’ exposes millions upon millions of people to disease. remember, wheneveryoucomeacrosssomething unsafe at work, don’t work on it or near it. h But people in important positions are saying that asbestos, even blue asbestos,isalrightin‘residential bought and paid People keep saying that white asbestos is safer than blue. Is this true? mite know about what's going o Your life is in your hands! Noir re Whit bys »)human hairs.Hat10th sameinchyou Nothing could be further from the truth. Asbesitsoevserywhere, ininsulation, pipelagging, in acoustic ceilings, in screwlix, brake linings, corrugated sheting, lino backing. And although stofurther companies’ profits, notto Asbe it should be banned and placed with alternatives, But the mn kent, ever anxiousto protectth refuses even to consider Hinder them: asbestos companies’ slaughter isofcourse Sectorcutsmeannvenleseffectiveinspectorate and les and les inspectors fandwomen{0 safet id that hildren.[tisuptotennea scandal:ofasbestosisbecomingsowidespread, anywhereandeverywher: Iiguecandiightlkosbellé-forthetiteefaub= RI) showed, the Health and Safety and file workersofigtohcomtpel thegovernm tochange tack Nowthatthey'remectingtroubleinBritaiand stitutes. Thesesubstitutes, Executive ind the rest arecontinuing with the Organisations such astheAsbestos Information Committee keep talking pout safelimits.Are there any? asbestos for road signs, airplane parts and a thousandandoneotherthings. hazards of asbestos and cynically murdered people? Safety Executive and the Factory Inspectorate?Aren'tthey incontrol of the situation now? Theappallingscandalofasbestosshows just what theywill doif they get even half a chancenottoaffordsafety concentra replied: cannotp Motmaethatstatement,1wishIcould, Huge. Morethanthat,it’sdificulttosay, though the foremost American researcher Dr IrvingSelikoffestimatesthatonemillionpeople wil die from asbestos induced disease in that country by the end of the centu OK. So what can we do about the hazard? The only therefore And anyone who tels u,Sometimesthe TntheGlasgowlaggersbranchoftheTransport What'smore, thisslaughter forprofit, involving flagrantbreachesofthesafetyregulations,went on with the ful knowledge of the Factory Inspectorate. 40relyonyourown strengthandorganisat Make linkswithyourfelowworkers nd ByDlckingasbestos,buildingworkerswillnot yotouthec Union, at least 10 union members have met a tragic and premature death from asbestos in the last nine years! one-tenth of the branch membership and there's many more members who wildieinthefuture. only be defending their own health. be defendingthehealthandsafetyofeae occupant of the houses and buildings they put up, of every person who chances to walk past a site where asbestos shets used to be Cut up wate them mast o forfrontsoftheasbestosemployers At Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, Cape Asbestos have murdered 50 people so far, with another 20 estimated asfuture deaths. Are there ready substitutes for asbestos? rank and file workers gcta massiveapowball itsofany kind What's the scale of death and dis- ease’ word—yes, They most certainly did know how hazardous asbestos was in theearly years of this century. By 1931 laws regulating the process- ingofasbestoswerebrought for40years after this, the asbestos employers cynicaly exposedworkersatHebdenBridge,Barkingand many otherplacestothedangersofasbestos Mostdefinitelynot.Thaerer80e,000 policemen in Britain for protecting the outside of factories, on picket lines etc. There are only 800 inspectors foralthefactorainedsworkplacesinthelan ed urd) to rely on the ugh if you'rfrcwelloMoemepniageatwtCocdelsfron Rank and file workers who come into contact withasbestosshouldstopdoingso,Theyshould blackthesul. Theonlysafeasbestosis‘blacked asbest truly world-wide, Thousands upon thousands of lack miners inSouth Africa and Rhod the long term we must fight for a society thebigasbestoscompaniesareswitchingto teenslaughteredbytheirlustforprofit.Peo oesighsproperyivewaytotherights hat’smore astheRankandFileOrganising Committee'sprevioussafetypamphletonthe yworking diferentformsofinsulationmaterialnowthatthe havediedinIreland,France,Belgium,Germany, ofhuman intheshorttermweshould Health‘andl Safety at Work Act, ACAUSE FOR alsopushingfornewusesofa atKinnersly,authorofthebest-sellingbook theUSthey'removitoncgount hazardous. Thereforethey ionofpersuading employertso afordsafety ardsofWork,hasstresedthisintworecentieiodasePoeatEneaKCraREeneceoncdWiththesameprecautionsasthelawissupposedAexperienceshowsthatoertimeand leterstoTheGuardiannewspaper.TheGuardian Taiwan toinsistonforasbestos, timeagain, havetobeforcedtoaffordsafety refuses to print his leters although it does of forced by the endeavours of good stewards and courseprintpaidsupplanedmadverntistemsents Are you saying that the asbestos But what about the Health and activists, forced by the rank and file. fortheasbestosindustrywhichextolthevirtueosf companies knew about the health There are substitutes such as fibreglas, rockwool and foam. But the truth isthat most jelagers ani workers who've been fighting the asbestos monopolies for years. know of various groups of workers in your area who are concerned about conditions in theirworkplaces, inhospsichotolsaanldesta,tes, informal asbestos action group with a phone number for people to ring to get informa- Mion and advice. Publicise it widely in the local tradeunionmovement andinthelocalpress and please let the Rank and File Organising Com- The Rank and File Organising Com- mittee has organised dozens of safety schools with expert technical and trade union speakers. Ifyou are TION OR ADVICE ON HEALTH AND SAFETY, contact: ROGER COX, 214 Roundwood Road, London, NWI0. TELEPHONE: 01-451 7039. a OW TOFIGHT THE KILLER DUST FIBREGLASS me vend3¥58° wherever posible asbestos 14) dustproducing,workshouldbe Inadition, you should have plastics. But hisstu canTcherpleura istheoutercasing of Convince the American medical the lungs, Asbestos causes Community thatfibreglasitselfwas mesothelioma, which iscancerin a problem the pleura of people, so evidence of = rePrice10p Grose, Postage More post tr pagesof injee ak h1oOWweto,eiadeas’on Blue asbestos dust has long ben recognisedasparticularly lethal inany quantity. Itshould be banned. As itis, although it’s pecpleraturaliyoe anwonderingl If asbestor produces canect in Htcould hurt ople its chemical ® ned about a PcoP F Bothersome. itching, a burning TMake-up. the towear. They usehasdeclined,itisoftenfoun in de-lagging operations, or in: Tests on laboratory animals and examination of workers, however yielded) no conclusive evidence of ticles that causesthe cancers, cationcanbe. tndthayiarenota6¢ sly’sbok,ait-fedhoodswhichtakeyoucutThelawdemandsonlythat Even very rect lesmay frequently bein hesam trasdescribedinmedicallit uresin snbestosparticles,and of the atmosphere altogethe blue asbestos should be storedin special air-tight contain as ‘biologicaly inert are similarly persistent. In 1961 acase was reported ofa But wherever you use one, you that employers give 8 days make su your hi orfits,thatyoucanwear Inspec s F in 1969, Dr MearlF Stanton at problems from fibreglas. His job the National Cancer Institute porary removal of the respirator ina safe part ofthe factory. jone’ in isolation from other proper showers and airpressure workers. Ifasbestos orasbestos decontamination, You “should products are dampened before ecnuriaad work is caried out, much les Pesratle daly, froeot charge: Tathemid-1950s,aphysicianin In1972,speakiasnymgpoasitum. Saranac Lake, New’ York—the famous tuberculosis inLyons, France,Stantonrevealed Devonport dockyard’s prac: ti roviding air-tight space suits with air-fed hoods should be used as a guide, but never eguiation 7 forgetthatexhaustequipment town-—reported serious lung his findings. He said: eis carta that inthe he equipment must be installed tfaoseaincomlbajbnoratiorny oafnifmiablrsegleaxsposaend plas of smal diameter isa potent deed where lagging has roted On the other hand, if it is the physical character of asbestos par- premisesand al plant andequip- process (likely, tol crest whichc dustin oy process. (Regulations are an absolute necessi and rust be used forthe sskeof your ‘own health and that of your family. Do not do anything which could mean you could take the dust home with you. You should have @ proper changing room designedsoasto preventtherisk of asbestos dust contaminating your own clothes. (Regulation fold hot water heaters, and Gloudyoffibreglassurroundedhi1970and1971, 3 OSCE aCe ing! snd "washing facilitiesarenat@luxury. Th ever miled some. fibreglas. p Seea oaloet McFactor downtosmallersizesandimplanted hadtoremovepart‘foneJung. theminlaboratoryanimals ment clean and fre {rom asbestos dust ofa asbestos waste and dust factory where dust couldiget in cently. several researchers The only conclusion you can haveconcludedthatshetmetal sonablydrawisthatfibreglasis workers.and.insulationworkersdangerous,Ifitisoffetroeyoduasa Sulfer‘long-termuperrespiratory Al loose asbestos and NOT INCONTANERS... estoswastemustbestored anywhereasbestosdustislikely ‘andmovedinclosedcontainers, tobeproducedorfound.These air-tight plastic sacks, which shouldmakeclearthatnoquanti iritation’fromhandlingfibreglas replacementforasbestosyoumust insistthatyouareaffordedalthe protection the law ix supposed to Bnd protective clothing provided prevent the escape of dust ty of asbestos dust, however Regulations15and16).Workers smal,canbesaidtobesateand insistonforasbesto: tromFiberGlasbyi Cover shows MrBobSmith,46(foreground),withhis. MrSmithworkedfortheCentralAsbestofastheCro,mp2a3iyearsolder. The Killer Dust shouldrefusetohandleasbestos orasbestosproductswhichare in such containers and should insist that this standing risktohealthshouldnotbelefton thepremisesoranywhereelse. that al workers who risk breathingthedustarerisking their health, Montague than ny, Bermondsey,foreightyears.‘Ihadneverheardof4isbestosis Inaddition, workers under 18 pgested that chronic ‘bronchitis TENbeafictingsomeives AsStanfonresent)ad Cx wo ‘considered tainlythissemstrueforthepleura must not by law be employed on yoeveitie.andibreglasewasstill_ oftherat, anditisunlikelythat Considered safeoralltobreathein_sliferent mechanisms areoperative moderate amoutnts. mi HIcomplaintstomanagement shouldbeinwritingandminuted bytheunioncommittee. inpeople. Intact,asbestos1snow considered the most dangerous Meter Asso buildingmaterialinusetoday, {nmEnvironment’Vo16lNo7.1973 unti1wlas told Ihadit, he says. Thickenoifntghe} ofthesymptomsofthedisease. Jingersisone BEWARE nfibreglasbegancoming becauseolsremarkablecapacity intocommereis usearound1940, toproducecancers sensation in their eyes, and vTeOry Tidaengersou tion of fibreglas nger, and. fibreglass fibreglasmaybeayeryhazardous retlabeledrolepeaymfustanceindeed.Fibreplass_par- ee eesaah chemicalcompositionoffibregla isquite diferent from asbestos. Evenwhenastudyoffibreglas cancerinthepleuraofratsisof workersuncoveredevidencewhich interestalso Printed by SW Litho (TU alDepts) London E2 IF YOU can't compel your ticable This is not good enough s respirators can wastoearthefibrelassinsulation reportedthatlarge-sizedibreelas roduce Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rank & File Committee Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Allan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated