President’s message

President’s message: “Build Back Better” is a call to action for Citizen Architects

Just a few weeks ago, perhaps the most capable and digitally attuned cohort of architecture students graduated — in both virtual and in-person ceremonies. We’ve all adapted in these transformational months, but perhaps no group has proved more adaptable than the class of 2021. Their victory in receiving those B.Archs. and M.Archs. during an incredibly challenging year is the profession’s victory and an inspiring show of resilience

These graduates are poised to be citizen architects who will help the profession elevate our efforts to live our values – bringing fresh energy to bear on longstanding challenges.

Their bedrock belief in environmental justice isn’t too dissimilar to those of us who lived through the energy crisis 40 years ago or the ongoing civil rights crisis that didn’t just begin in 1968 and certainly hasn’t reached its conclusion.

Their bedrock belief in social equity shouldn’t be so surprising if you’ve been paying attention to the gaps our profession has struggled to close for women, for our colleagues of color, or for differently abled architects who struggle with aspects of our built environment that everyone else seems to take for granted.

This new generation of architects is joining the profession at a pivotal moment. As the world works to recover from a once-in-a-century health crisis, the architecture community’s obligation to protect health, safety, and welfare has new urgency. As the nation enters a new chapter in a racial justice struggle confronted by far too many generations, our mission to build a more sustainable, just, and equitable world has new momentum.

The twin crises that defined 2020 have opened a door for progress in 2021 and beyond. As a society, we’re re-evaluating how we live, work, and learn – shining a bright spotlight on the impact of the built environment. The Biden administration’s recovery motto – “Build Back Better” – says it all. The architecture profession’s opportunity has never been greater, our expertise never more relevant.

For a profession that exists in partnership with clients, government officials, and community leaders, the call to Build Back Better is a clear opportunity for citizen architects to step forward and lead as the innovators we always have been.

To seize this moment, architects must embrace divergent voices and disruptive ideas, and in doing so, create spaces for fairness and justice to exist. We must embrace the multifaceted dimensions of our experience and use this perspective to lead within our sphere of influence and beyond.

I speak often of the importance of architects as First Adapters. My meaning is simple: Our profession’s unique skills, and capacity to envision a better world, can help our communities adapt. When we adapt, our communities are prepared in advance to weather whatever storms and health crises may come. And when we’re prepared, the impacts are less destructive, and recovery is faster and more equitable.

This adaptation doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design. The adaptations we’ve adopted in the past year – finding new efficiencies and accelerating the use of virtual technologies – have made the profession even more advanced and sustainable. We’ve never had a better opportunity to transform the built environment, and we’ve never been better equipped to do so.

By focusing on our values and embracing our diversity, the profession can harness the power of design to be the citizen architects our communities need.

Peter J. Exley, FAIA

Exley is the 2021 AIA President and co-founder of Architecture Is Fun, a Chicago-based architecture, design, and consulting firm. He is an adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.