C. G. Beck is an architect and activist based in Brooklyn, New York. He is the author of The Labor of Architecture: Creativity, Design, and the Building of a New Class Consciousness and writes the newsletter The Worst Architect, which explores issues at the intersection of design and society.
When architects and designers understand themselves as workers in need of unions, they can take advantage of political breakthroughs like Zohran Mamdani’s recent mayoral win to use their skills to advance a vision of the built environment for the many.
Though architects have long been seen as privileged creative professionals, they are finding themselves in increasingly de-skilled and exploitative work environments. It’s no wonder that they’re starting to unionize.