As we enter an era of unprecedented crises - environmental, societal, and financial -
collaboration and the exchange of knowledge within the architecture &
construction sectors seems an inevitable step towards neutralizing (if not overturning) the pessimistic predictions of our collective futures.

Both the problems we are facing, as well as the solutions proposed in this manifesto,
are three-fold:

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1. Technological advances and material inventions that strive to benefit the environment (both natural and societal) are oftentimes presented as unconnected Dezeen article-worthy one-trick-ponies that face disproportionate backlash when they fail to integrate into common practice - either due to budget, scale, or physical constraints. Additionally, those methods that do manage to break into the everyday work of the average architect are oftentimes patented, trademarked or copyrighted, their authors choosing individual profit over the dissemination of knowledge to those eager to use it.

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We must adopt a collective mindset that emphasizes the importance of knowledge sharing and exchange through a globally accessible platform.

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2. The profession of the architect is inherently a selfish one - to leave something behind, to build something tangible that will remain on this Earth long after its author has died, to create a component of the urban fabric that surrounds and engulfs us all - to create a name for oneself (ideally one associated with the newly coined term ‘starchitect’) has become the predominant drive in the way we consume and construct our built environment. This fire has only been fueled by the digital era we have found ourselves in, where the notion of value is only established through the lens of ‘Instagramability’ and counted through the number of likes, leaving the age-old parameters of form and function far behind on the hierarchical scale of priority in the way we approach the design process.

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We must suppress the architect’s ego in order to surrender priority to a greater good, one that will respect our individual methodologies but last longer than the five minutes of fame we seek, and seldom find.

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3. In most countries, architects’ Codes of Professional Conduct set out regulations relating to the longer-lasting effects of our work that bind architects to “..consider the environmental impact of our professional activities, promote sustainable design and development principles in our professional activities, and have concern for the effect that their professional activities and completed projects may have on users, the local community and society as a whole.” Regrettably, these notions have also fallen far down the list of priorities, having surrendered their places to profit, commercial success, and professional notability. Even outside the architect's scope of work, in the realms of construction and engineering, a series of reports and analyses (see Latham’s 1994 ‘Constructing The Team’ and Eagan’s 1998 ‘Rethinking Construction) highlights that the real causes of our sectors’ inefficiency lie in bespoke contracts, team disintegration, and lack of cooperation between different sub-professions. Despite numerous individual and government-led initiatives, the public, private commercial, and domestic sectors still suffer from inefficiencies caused by a single underlying issue: the absence of a structured plan for collaboration.

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We must create and constantly revise a strategy that will prioritize alliance as a
modus operandi inherent in the design and construction process.

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+ Exchange + Methodology + Alliance

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+ EMA