The Need for a Robust Code of Ethics for Architects

Introduction

Architects Talking Ethics is an advice column that seeks to explore the ethical values that architects should embody. The column, authored by Victoria Beach, Peggy Deamer, and Tom Fisher, aims to answer real-world ethical questions posed by architects, designers, students, and professors.

The Current State of Ethics in Architecture

According to the authors, the architectural profession is lagging behind in how it addresses ethics. Although the profession has experienced an ethical turn with a focus on equity and environmental responsibility, the amount of attention given to ethics in schools and the profession does not align with its importance. For example, a typical curriculum may only include one lecture on ethics in the pro-practice course.

The Shortcomings of the AIA Code of Ethics

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) regulates only those architects volunteering to be members of its organization. The AIA’s code of ethics, updated in April 2024, spends more time on business-related responsibilities instead of the profession’s responsibilities to the public. Furthermore, the code does not clearly articulate the order of an architect’s obligations; their duty to the public is often ambiguous.

Focusing on Welfare

Architectural practitioners often confuse ordinary ethics or business ethics with professional ethics. While these two areas are important, in professional ethics, the first consideration should always be the architect’s duty to the public. Architects have fiduciary responsibilities, professional obligations, and an overriding responsibility to the public.

However, according to the authors, architects’ responsibilities to the public’s health, safety, and welfare are often ambiguous. The profession traditionally focused more on engineering-related areas of safety (structural integrity, fire or shock prevention) and health (air flow and temperature, clean water, and sewage disposal), with relatively little attention on welfare.

What is Welfare?

The term “welfare” has become such a politicized term that architects tend to avoid it. However, the authors argue that talking about welfare is critical to developing a clearer argument for the value of their work, which goes beyond the building’s aesthetic value.

In considering welfare, authors raise questions about who benefits from an architect’s work. The assumption that the occupants of a building are the sole client has grave classist implications. An architect’s sense of welfare should extend beyond those who occupy or own the buildings to those indirectly affected by their work, such as people generations ahead or those among us whose true need for shelter is continually de-prioritized.

A New Model of Practice?

The authors suggest that the architectural profession needs a new model of practice that would give the public as much access to an architect as people have to a doctor or lawyer. One possible solution could be an Office of the Public Architect that would provide access to a small but legally mandated service if economic and legal pressure converge.

Architects as Professionals or Tradespeople?

Finally, the authors raise a critical issue: the nature of the profession itself. If architects want legitimacy as a profession, they must have a clear social purpose. Currently, architects provide services deemed essential not only by their clients but also by the broader public, such as the welfare of people and the well-being of the planet. Therefore, it is crucial to consider whether architecture is more like a profession or a trade.

Conclusion

The authors conclude by stating that the current Code of Ethics for architects deserves another update. They argue that the profession’s ethical thinking needs to be further developed, especially compared to other fields such as medicine and law, which have specific moral actions. A robust Code of Ethics for architects would not only help protect the public’s interest but also give architects a clear social purpose and legitimacy as a profession.

Originally Post From https://www.archpaper.com/2024/06/answers-ethical-questions-come-up-my-practice/

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