Design Construction Networks

Abstract

This visual essay diagrams a global design construction network that connects architects to migrant construction workers in a direct line. A hypothetical stadium construction site lies in the center; one side maps the movement of a steel truss from design to fabrication to a building site; the other side charts the path of migrant workers as they travel from villages to this construction site. Detailed scenarios outline the work of different actors on both sides, and additionally highlight challenges faced by migrant construction workers and where solutions might intervene. By connecting architects and workers the essay points to visible as well as sometimes hidden economies of architecture, and asks: What are the architects’ ethical responsibilities towards those who erect their buildings around the world? The essay further opens up a theoretical trajectory that seeks to understand the underlying and often unequal systems that structure today’s architecture and construction.