Why Now: The Ethical Act of Architectural Declaration

Abstract 2019 was the year of the declaration – from Culture Declares to Architects Declare to Architecture Education Declares – a landmark moment when architects pledged to confront climate emergency. In this paper I step back to reflect on the ethical dimensions of public declarations in architecture, from the institutional to individual, to consider their role in negotiating ethical concerns. This is explored through three paths: reviewing the ethical know-what of contemporary codes of conduct of built environment professional bodies, examining the ethical know-how required to negotiate ethical dilemmas in practice, and reconsidering the history of architectural manifestoes that explicate an ethical why-now. I draw from the work of Jane Rendell’s Bartlett Ethics Commission and draw inspiration from Sumayya Vally and Huda Tayob et al.’s An Inventory of Feminist Upheaval to illustrate how, at a time of climate breakdown and systemic social injustices, architects must practice collectivity and intersectionality to unsettle conventions and complacencies.