President Donald Trump and his enablers have been cancelling diversity, equality and inclusion programmes in the United States, and Zaha Hadid Architects principal Patrik Schumacher is saying architects have lost their focus on architecture and are instead engaged in “impotent virtue signalling” and with “do-good-themes”.
So here comes our push back. When they go low, we go high.
We’re putting our money where our mouth is to ensure inclusion and doing good is anchored in how our member practices act.
The London Practice Forum is supporting three organisations working at the leading edge of diversity, equality and inclusion action in the built environment in the UK. We are providing both financial and in-kind support to actively promote diversity and inclusion by encouraging people from different backgrounds to enter the profession, helping to encourage reform within the wider built environment industry. We encourage others to do the same.
Part W
Part W is an action group calling for gender equity in the built environment. The group campaigns to highlight the contribution of women to the built environment and call out discrimination in an industry that continues to inhibit opportunities on the basis of gender.
New Architecture Writers
New Architecture Writers is a free programme for emerging design writers, developing the journalistic skill, editorial connections and critical voice of its participants. N.A.W. focuses on people of colour who are under-represented across design journalism and curation.
Accelerate
Open City’s ‘Accelerate’ programme spans an academic year and is for individual students aged between 16-18 who are keen to explore whether a career in the built environment sector would be right for them. They benefit from mentoring, workshops and visits.