As campaign group FAF calls on RIBA to address the mistreatment of architectural assistants, architects should focus on changing toxic practice culture, says Sylvia Aehle.

I have been tempted to glorify the idea of the architect as a tragic hero, perhaps because I loftily draw parallels between the juxtaposing (and sometimes tragic) traits within me and those of the architect I want to be.
Like me, the architect ? especially during those endless, endless, endless years of education ? is a recluse, draped in black, working autonomously into the early hours, disappearing into a black hole of self-pity. And despite the self-contained world we make for ourselves, we are also a force that presents fantastical, proud ideas, ideas designed to reimagine and uplift society. Is the system we are part of equipped to support aspiring architects to make meaningful architecture"
Once indoctrinated into our discipline when we are outside the walls of the studio, the latter part of the diligent student's process is too often buried. We become painstakingly aware of the years it takes to have an impact and make a living worthy of all the hours we put in. But how many architects reach a place of influence where they can make change or create structures that speak to our culture"
A better question might be: Is the system we are part of equipped to support aspiring architects to make meaningful architecture" In the eyes of the recently formed campaign group, Future Architects F...