US Architects Declare is a network of architects organizing for radical change in the building sector around climate, social justice, and biodiversity. Architects Declare started in the UK in 2019 by inviting architectural firms to sign on as signatories to a joint declaration and has grown into a global network with declarations from 23 countries. Architects Declare places the responsibility and imperative on the architectural community, on architecture firms, and on architecture schools to state and enact change. Through this collective work, which is locally defined but globally connected, we can amplify both our knowledge and our impact toward change.
Efforts in the US have been defined by an intersectional approach to climate, justice, and biodiversity. We believe that these issues must be understood in relation to each other, and that the urgency of the crisis requires immediate transformation in the ways we teach, practice, and build. Further, we believe that this means working collectively, across offices and institutions, to think beyond the boundaries of our roles on individual projects. Incremental approaches will not bring about rapid systemic change. Furthermore, we understand that black, indigenous, and other people of color have been disproportionately impacted by historical and present-day actions that perpetuate societal inequities and preserve white privilege.
We see our work as complementary and supportive of a range of organizations addressing complex climate, social, and ecological challenges. The network is non-hierarchical, decentralized, and democratic. This means that it relies heavily on members’ participation, both as individuals and as workers in their offices and institutions.
US Architects Declare is not looking for a one-size-fits-all solution, recognizing that different firms, institutions, and individuals have different capacities to challenge the status quo. That said, we firmly believe that everyone has a role to play and a next step to take.
US Architects Declare uses its collective power and intersectional understanding to transform the practice and culture of architecture, in order to achieve climate justice, social equity, ecosystem health, and the preservation and enhancement of biodiversity.
US Architects Declare seeks to empower architects to radically decarbonize their projects and to advocate for immediate and sustained decarbonization across the entire building and construction sector. The organization will focus on assembling and developing strategies, tools, and resources that transform practice and are grounded in the intersection between operational carbon, embodied carbon, and broader environmental and social impacts.
Our work is guided by the following principles:
Recognizing that the climate emergency disproportionately impacts disadvantaged communities, US Architects Declare will prompt education and advocacy among architects to disrupt systemic inequalities and work towards social justice. We seek to define an ethical imperative for architectural firms, small and large, to work collectively for the public good, every day, as follows:
Supporting and enhancing biodiversity is critical to the health of ecosystems and to the viability of the planet, and is, therefore, an urgent moral imperative for the design and construction of the built environment. US Architects Declare will accelerate the integration of architects into existing networks working to understand and reverse the built environment’s destructive impact on biodiversity. By advancing our sector’s understanding of biodiversity, we seek to build and normalize a culture of active, effective stewardship of the natural world within our practices through the following actions:
We are building power across scales within the architectural community through a focus on fostering active engagement and solidarity.
We are transforming the culture of practice by working collectively, rather than competitively, to establish priorities and strategies for change.
We are transforming the output of practice by using our collective power to engage with power structures outside our sector.
The Steering Committee is a group of volunteers committed to furthering the mission and direction of US Architects Declare.
The Architects Declare initiative was originally launched in the UK on 30 May 2019. US Architects Declare launched in January 2020.
The Architectural League of New York initiated the formation of the US branch of Architects Declare by sending out invitations to signatories and the initial steering committee members. The League continues to provide some logistical and administrative support.