Architects View Unemployment as Stigma?
We are aware of the fact that architecture is a profession hit hardest by recession (not only) in Croatia. We have thus featured articles on this matter, starting from mid 2009 (for example here, here and here). Picking up on this trend, the Croatian weekly Globus featured a four-page spread titled “Architects’ March to the Unemployment Office”. Everything Globus states is a well-known fact to individuals from the profession itself, but what stands out as particularly interesting is the fact that architects who got laid off or are barely making ends meet, and who are quoted in the text as such, are not listed by their name and surname. It’s even unequivocally stated in the text itself: “Many of the interviewed architects consented to talk to Globus’ journalists about the extent of the crisis in their profession, the sole condition being anonymity.” Why the request for anonymity? We encounter daily accounts of people, accompanied by both their name and picture in the media, people of various professions who have been laid off due to the recession. According to the Croatian Employment Service data from June 2010, these architects are but a statistic among the other 285.840 unemployed. The Croatian theatre group Montažstroj (The Assembly Line) produced an excellent play “My Heart Beats for Her” where 11 real women from the unemployment office talk out about their experiences on stage, and under their own identity to boot. Among them a doctor of science, who got laid off in a once leading Croatian research company, and a professor who collects plastic bottles from dumpsters, just barely hanging on by the skin of her teeth. Why then can’t architects follow suit and speak out publicly about their position? Is it such a big disgrace to get laid off due to recession? Is it about maintaining a false image of social standing? What type of dignity is being upheld by anonymity? Can we debate on the significance this issue of remaining anonymous raises?
Despite the conservative and prejudiced Croatian society many members of its marginalized, discriminated against and minorities have spoken out publicly and thus put themselves at a greater risk. Is this a matter of business failure becoming a silent stigma, as if it’s some kind of disease? The latest taboo in a capitalist, consumerist society where failure is not an option?
The only ones to be named in Globus’ text are the leaders of larger Croatian offices such as 3LHD, UPI2M or Urbane tehnike (Urban Techniques), who mostly complain about encountering various collections issues.
However, to list data from Globus’ feature: 112 architects and 113 architecture engineers have registered with the Croatian Employment Service in the first half of 2010. In the first seven months of 2010 the Chamber received 35 membership suspension requests and 22 business discontinuation notices. The Chamber counts 2800 members of which 2200 are currently active.
