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BACKGROUND I have been taught by the communities in which I have worked over the years. One of those lessons is that human rights are not solely a legal issue. What architects, planners and engineers do supports or obstructs human rights just as surely as the law. We designers of the built environment seem to take a certain perverse pride, though, in being oblivious to the political implications of our work. The venerable star of Post-Modern architecture, Robert Venturi, made this point in his persuasive ‘gentle manifesto’, Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture: "The architect's ever diminishing power and his growing ineffectualness in shaping the whole environment can perhaps be reversed, ironically, by narrowing his concerns and concentrating on his own job. Perhaps then relationships and power will take care of themselves." (Venturi, 1966:20)It seems to me self-evident that when power takes care of itself, it does so at the expense of the powerless. Our buildings, our cities and our environment are hard testaments to the flaw in Venturi’s speculations. Unfortunately, it is an approach that seems to pervade the work of all too many architects and engineers – an arrogant oblivion that professionals can ill afford in the face of the statistics on urbanization that the UN and other bodies pour upon us annually. It is the poor now that are building our cities, as slum-dwellers now form more than 40% of the population of cities in the developing world. If architects, planners and engineers are to work towards the human rights of all, they will have to respond to these facts rather than simply ‘concentrating on their own jobs’. I believe that response begins with education and thrives with a commitment to bringing human rights into all our design activity. There were two factors motivating the development of this centre: · To expand the responsibilities and relevance of architecture – the profession’s increasing focus on the formal issues of architecture has been at the expense of its responsibilities to the broader issues of society. · The Fair Housing Act of 1988 in the United States is a clear example of the conjunction of these two areas of development. This Act expands non-discrimination provisions to include disabled people and families having children. Under it, the provider of housing "may not treat handicapped applicants or tenants less favourably than other applicants or tenants." (Federal Register 1989:3245) This means that, if the design of the housing unit is such that it restricts its use by the handicapped, the building owner (and its designer) is as much as saying, "You can't live here because you're handicapped (or black, or Jewish, or Asian, or female, single, etc.)." This kind of discrimination is outlawed because it infringes on the civil rights of people. In the case of the handicapped, it infringes on those rights by acts of design. Architects, then, have the opportunity to act for or against equity and civil rights through acts of design. Their knowledge and the use of it can dramatically affect people's access to civil rights. · To expand the tools of human rights – the traditional means to protect and promote human rights are through legal instruments – laws, constitutions, declarations, treaties, covenants, conventions. Clearly, though, we don’t have to restrict our struggles for rights to courtrooms and parliaments. That struggle occurs equally on the streets (and steps) of the city. It also needs to be brought into the undisturbed environment of the office of professionals. This involves both the access to knowledge and the way in which professionals choose to use their skills. VENTURI, Robert. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. New York: The Museum of Modernn Art, 1966. (pp20—1)
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CURRENT ACTIVITIES: |
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COURSES: |
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BUILDING: |
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· Unfolding School (upcoming) · Portable School (operating) |
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WRITING: |
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Just completed: · “Surviving the Second Tsunami: land rights in the face of buffer zones, land grabs, and development” (2010), in Lizarralde, G., Davidson, C., and Johnson, C. (eds.), Rebuilding after disasters: From emergency to sustainability, Taylor & Francis. · “Rendered Invisible: Urban Planning, Cultural Heritage, and Human Rights” (forthcoming), in Logan, W., Nic Craith, M., and Langfield, M. (eds.)Cultural Diversity, Heritage and Human Rights, Routledge. For April 2010: · "Architecture & Human Rights" (forthcoming) in Cushman, Thomas (ed.), Handbook of Human Rights, Routledge. |
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TEACHING |
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Professional Degree Programme (with KMUTT) · Studio – Community Design · Architecture and Human Rights · Ethics for Design Professionals · Housing · Professional Practice · Environmental Psychology · Human Impacts on the Environment
Continuing Professional Development: · Architecture and Human Rights (AIBC, for May 2010) · Migrant Construction Workers: Architectural Responses in the International Arena (AIBC, 2009) · The Portable School (MADE, 2009) · Right to the City (RAIC, 2006) · The Role of Architecture in Post-Disaster Development (RAIC, 2005) |
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CAHR 2010: |
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10 KEY PROJECTS: |
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· International Studio (Phnom Penh) · Kids & the Built Environment 1 · Kids & the Built Environment 2 · Portable School · Training Programmes · Continuing Professional Development · Migrant Construction Workers study · Symposium 2010 · Urban Codes & Human Rights · Construction contracts and Human Rights |
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CONTACT: |
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CAHR International 464 Stannard Avenue,
CAHR in Thailand 231/2 South Sathorn Road, |
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IN THE NEWS: |
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· Executive Director, Graeme Bristol interviewed in architectureBC, January 2010 · Executive Director, Graeme Bristol interviewed by Bangkok Post, August 2009 · Portable School on Thai Channel 9 and Executive Director Graeme Bristol interviewed. · Executive Director, Graeme Bristol interviewed by Radio Nederlands |
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· March— Bangkok: The homeless of Sanam Luang (with KMUTT) · May—Vancouver : Lecture at AGM of AIBC · Jun—Completion of Draft, ‘Architecture and Human Rights’ · October—Bangkok |