ABSTRACT
This chapter takes a broad historical look at the relationship between the task that architecture sets for itself (its design mission) and capitalism’s morphing agenda. It makes the specific case that when capitalism changed from being production focused to being consumption focused at the end of the 19th century, architecture also morphed from being worker (production) focused to being user (consumption focused. In this change to consumption, architecture became obsessed with styles that would appeal to the consumer of choice at any given time. It also argues that today, with the focus on innovation and immaterial labor, the production of architecture is again on the table. While this is good for those of us concerned with architectural workers and architectural production in general, the chapter argues that this new focus on architectural producers must characterize our contemporary work accurately and in a manner that highlights our potential for socially impactful, and not just developer-driven, outcomes.
