ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the Green New Deal and the link between ecological sustainability, labour sustainability, and the value and relevance of architectural work. It considers “principles, processes, and practices” that build economic and political power to shift away from an extractive economy noting that architects have been too passive in attending to our professional role and considering how we can contribute to this discussion with our particular experience and expertise. We ignore issues of environmental concern when we prioritize aesthetic innovation, cater uncritically to our client’s bottom line, and turn a blind eye to the unjust and unsustainable practices within their own industry. We need to lobby for a more activist architectural association and for an education that points students to the interconnectedness of their formal choices within a system of labour, procurement, and politics. We need to wake up to new, radically different disciplinary horizons.
