This was bound to happen, what’s with various Harvey W. in multiple industries. Why would Architecture and Design be an exception? Recent disgrace of Richard Meier – expulsion from his firm that still carries his name manifested the start of the hunt. Or revenge of the harassed. Whatever is your point of view.
As a young woman in the architecture field, I became acutely aware that my gender and my youth and my looks and charm were instrumental to the development of my career. I became very conscious of flirting in interviews. I remember thinking, I need to let this famous architect hug me. I don’t want him to hug me, but I’m a young woman, and I don’t want to alienate this powerful man. Everything is done by network. So if you get a reputation for being difficult, maybe this powerful man won’t introduce you to another powerful man, and he won’t introduce you to another powerful man, and there goes your career.
But then there is this:
When I graduated from architecture school more than a decade ago, it was understood that we were all going to suffer for the next 15 to 20 years, we’d never sleep, we’d be underpaid, we’d work until midnight … Our professors modeled this for us, and architecture firms reinforced it.
There’s this idea that architecture is a magical, important contribution to the world that is undervalued. We’re trained to view suffering as deeply related to the work. So something like harassment is easy to dismiss as part of the sacrifice. And even when it’s absolutely wrenching and not easy to dismiss, the culture of genius in architecture remains. Many firms are structured around a “Great Man” with a singular vision, which lowly employees are tasked with carrying out. It’s very top-down. This can create power imbalances that make junior employees vulnerable to exploitation, whether it’s harassment, pay inequality, or something else.
Then, if someone gets to the point where they are moderately high up at a firm, and they’re harassed, I can completely understand why they wouldn’t want to say anything, because if they go up against someone that powerful, they could risk everything. I wouldn’t want to take that risk.
By Anonymous as told to Fast Co Design
