Instagram posts tagged #archislavery are documenting unpaid internships offered by architecture firms around the globe.
Across social media, there?s been an uproar lately over unpaid internships in architecture. It started in the wake of a job posting for Tokyo firm Junya Ishigami and Associates, designers of the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion in London, England. An applicant revealed that the firm expected interns to work 13-hour days, six days a week, for free?supplying their own computers, software, and work visas?a common arrangement in high-profile Japanese firms. The Serpentine Gallery has since told the firm that it must pay anyone working on its project.
The news has led to revelations of other studios that host unpaid internships. Designer Adam Nathaniel Furman has led the charge by posting screenshots of unpaid job proposals on his #Archislavery Instagram feed. Firms that have been outed so far include Sou Foujimoto Architects, SANAA, Studio Miralles Tagliabue, Studio Mumbai, LOT-EK, and Karim Rashid. Some of the world?s most prestigious firms are among those offering unpaid internships?notably Pritzker prize winners Shigeru Ban Architects and Alejandro Aravena?s firm Elemental. Elemental was among the first firms named by Furman, and in the wake of the news, the firm ended their internship positions entirely, writing that they ?could not afford to pay the interns.? In an email to Dezeen, Elemental defended its internships as a fair exchange of ?time for experience,? an...