An Open Letter to AIA Executive Director Robert Ivy.
Common Edge, Jan. 20, 2017.
"For all its humanistic aspirations, architecture is usually perceived as having a particularly needy subservience to power and capital. Architects depend on access to capital to build. The American Institute of Architects seemed to meekly surrender to this condition in its quick post-election conciliatory statement, pledging that its 89,000 members would work with what promises to be an exceptionally corrupt and damaging presidency. The reaction of its members was equally swift, followed by letters of apology and resignation of the media relations director. Some members have called for your resignation, but there is a much better solution. As a professional association dedicated to advancement of the practice through standards, education, and advocacy, the AIA is not a traditional guild or union, otherwise it would be more conscious of its members’ power to collectively withhold their services in order to force change and represent its interests."
