by David Akanji

Welcome to AULT, the arts and culture column of The Poor Print, written by David Akanji (me). AULT exists to refocus our minds, re-engaging ourselves with art and cultural understandings. I’ll be focusing on current opinions/events/issues in the art world, but more importantly how we as students, citizens, and humans fit into it. If there are any topics or events you want covered, reach out to me at david.akanji [at] oriel.ox.ac.uk

Reflecting on the future of architecture: Notes on Lesley Lokko’s RIBA Gold Medal, the spectrum of practice, and the Biennale

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about diversity in architecture following Lesley Lokko’s RIBA gold medal win. My sister is a final year BA Architecture student, and first and foremost as a black woman. This raises an important question: is there a strong space for professionals of colour? Lesley talks about the intersectionality of many of the issues architecture might be facing in the contemporary setting. In listening to her interview with Architectural Record editor-in-chief Cathleen McGuigan, Lesley discusses what it means to understand diversity and sustainable practice. Lesley makes 
the argument that a lot of decentralisation is 
needed in order to decolonise the practice of architecture.

The British Pavilion at the Biennale this year to me was a vision, a prophecy into what the spectrum of architectural practice is beginning to look like – it is not only space in plan and section. It is chair, object, artefact – it is Mac Collins’s sculpture; it is Joseph Zeal’s ceramic clay creations. Yet it is also wonderful architectural models by Adjaye Associates and the sounds of architect Yussef Agbo-Ola.
But what does this mean? From my own understanding, I’m not entirely sure that I know what the practice of architecture means- but I sense that Lesley was referring to how architects design, the sentiment, the knowledge that inspires and the attention to the people and cultures for which the architect designs. RIBA describes the practice of architecture as being a vocation of service:
‘We serve our members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment.’

I very much agree with this, and would say that this is how I see and understand what it means to practise architecture. Interestingly an article in Law Insider describes the practice of architecture as the ‘totality of acts, performances of services and provision of advice by an architect in relation to design or construction.’ Here the practice of architecture is understood to be the ‘performance’ of service and in a more corporate understanding, an exchange of goods.

This is not a bad thing. No one ever wants to acknowledge that architecture is a business and people need to make money. Why would they? It’s crude. You spend three years imagining and projecting a better future, diverse spaces and practical, soul-filling design that’s good for you and good for me. But the reality is, you’ll pay a mortgage. Then you’ll buy a car. Then you’ll pay for some school uniform (maybe). But for whatever reason the love of humanness stops with the architect themselves. Endless critique and a general fear of talking about money means that we haven’t been able to face some of these problems head-on because we’re all busy trying to be the revolutionary that doesn’t talk about money, or taxes, or mortgages.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t any issues. Lesley Lokko’s specific reference to decolonisation discusses the legacy of slavery in an epistemological way. She describes how the black body being the first unit of energy has impacted the relationship building has with people. In a similar essence, we see the exploitation of many architects at all levels within the industry in the form of unpaid overtime, unrealistic or unhealthy expectations relation to when one should be working and the general underpayment of staff.

Runout by Mac Collins
at La Biennale di Venezia 2023

Photograph credit: Oliver Wainwright