{"id":697184,"date":"2023-05-10T06:29:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T05:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=697184"},"modified":"2024-01-17T09:27:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T09:27:59","slug":"who-made-you-sheriff-of-ethics-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/who-made-you-sheriff-of-ethics-town","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Who made you sheriff of Ethics Town?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>

More on this topic<\/p>

A truly ethical architect would have turned down a World Cup Stadium<\/a><\/h4><\/div><\/div>\n

Is it possible to separate corporate, personal and political ethics? Indeed, are they even different things? After all, ethics are ethics, aren\u2019t they? As a society, we now expect much more from our corporations, our government and from each other. We question and examine ethics in every guise, which is undoubtedly good. Improving ethical standards has led to a more productive, inclusive and sustainable industry, yet still there is disagreement on where we draw the line separating ethical and commercial responsibility.<\/p>\n

The Oxford English Dictionary defines ethics as \u2018moral principles that govern a person\u2019s behaviour or the conducting of an activity\u2019. In essence, our laws act as custodians of societal ethics and values. But what are our responsibilities as people and corporations outside of the law? Our laws represent an acceptance of collective ethics, but it would be puerile to argue that all that is legal is ethical.<\/p>\n

Architecture has not shrunk from the challenge of balancing ethical and commercial obligations. Architects that demolish existing buildings in favour of grand new schemes are accused of putting ego before the environment. Practices that design buildings for certain regimes are vilified for putting profit ahead of human rights. I agree that we all have a duty to act ethically, but who decides when we have crossed the line?<\/p>\n

Ethics are very personal, so it is unhelpful to try and apply arbitrary ethical codes to people and organisations, especially if you don’t know the specific details of a project. I mean, who made you the sheriff of Ethics Town?<\/p>\n

If a practice refuses a project on ethical grounds, that\u2019s fine, but similarly, if the practice decides to do the work, that\u2019s also fine<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I know architects who have not published completed projects on their websites for fear of an ethical backlash; projects that they were proud of now seem to fall on the wrong side of that ethical\/commercial debate. These projects, which may have improved the lives of those who use the buildings, are now hidden and consigned to exist as draft WordPress pages.<\/p>\n

Are David Adjaye and Peter Cook unethical for working on the Saudi NEOM project, The Line<\/a>? Well, it\u2019s safe to say Adjaye and Cook don\u2019t think so; yet they are still criticised.<\/p>\n

I’m working on a masterplan involving healthcare provision, and OMA\u2019s work on the Al Daayan Health District<\/a> in Doha is inspirational. Now, is OMA unethical for working on this project, which attempts to reinvent how we think of healthcare provision within our built environment? The scheme puts modern methods of construction, low-carbon strategies and, best of all, nature at the heart of the scheme.<\/p>\n

Am I unethical for being inspired by this work? What if the scheme encourages a new way of thinking? Is the seed, the inspiration for schemes that improve healthcare outcomes for people worldwide? What then? Was it still an unethical decision for OMA to take the project?<\/p>\n

<\/a>

More on this topic<\/p>

Ask yourself this: is your practice working for dictators?<\/a><\/h4><\/div><\/div>\n

At its best, architecture uses the built environment to improve lives. It can change how people view the world, interact with each other and encourage people to think differently. In some cases, this can alter the very political structures that we admonish so much.<\/p>\n

Creating a museum, train station or city for a regime is not the same as condoning its political policies. Just as taking tea at the Ritz doesn\u2019t mean that you condone Qatar\u2019s view on LGBTQ rights.<\/p>\n

I encourage debate, even argument, but let\u2019s not forget that we are all entitled to our opinions. If a practice refuses a project on ethical grounds, that\u2019s fine, but similarly, if the practice decides to do the work then that\u2019s also fine.<\/p>\n

I can already feel the fevered annoyance of some at my words but remember, I am not saying that ethical considerations should be ignored. On the contrary, they need to be debated. However, ethical considerations are not binary, far from it. Is it possible to use architecture to encourage, inspire or even dictate better ethics in a society? I think it is.<\/p>\n

We must resist the temptation to blame and cast aspirations on the motivations of architects. We must listen to each other \u2013 debate and question \u2013 for sure, but listen and trust our colleagues, trust that they have considered all of the ethical issues, even if they have reached a different decision to the one we would have made.<\/p>\n

Kunle Barker is a property expert, journalist and broadcaster <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is it possible to separate corporate, personal and political ethics? Indeed, are they even different things? After all, ethics are ethics, aren\u2019t they? As a society, we now expect much more from our corporations, our government and from each other. We question and examine ethics in every guise, which is undoubtedly good. Improving ethical standards …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81429,"featured_media":697191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[745],"tags":[1874,1990,2121],"yoast_head":"\nOpinion: Who made you sheriff of Ethics Town?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ethics are personal and creating\u00a0a museum, train station or city for a regime is not the same as condoning its political policies, argues Kunle Barker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/who-made-you-sheriff-of-ethics-town\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opinion: Who made you 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