After Redundancy: Living In and Out of Architecture

Uploaded by:	JamesWhitaker
Country:	United Kingdom
Website:	http://www.whitakerstudio.co.uk

Exhibition at the Royal Institute of British Architects, 66 Portland Place, London

3-22 February 2010


On 20th March 2009 the Guardian reported that the Royal Institute of British Architects’ president, Sunand Prasad, estimated that 30% of architects were unemployed or under-employed.

Two weeks later, on 1st April 2009, I was made redundant from one of the UK’s leading design studios and set out to pursue a long standing ambition of working as a freelance photographer. I quickly discovered that I was not alone in finding redundancy a life changing event. Ranging from chefs to cake shop owners, lighting designers to journalists, and even back to architects, After Redundancy documents the directions taken by twenty-four individuals from the architectural profession after being made redundant during the 2008-2009 recession.

The series will be featured on the BBC Culture Show on 4 February.

James now works as a freelance photographer, specialising in architectural and reportage work.



Leisa Tough BA ARCH UNSW

“I discovered I was to be made redundant on the darkest day of the year, there was ice on the canal and I walked and walked until my hands ached with the cold. Within a week I was a waitress around the corner from my former studio and being yelled at by young chefs. It wasn’t anywhere I’d ever imagined I’d be at this age, with a university degree and years of hard won experience. Needless to say there was no architecture work to be had.

I came to Wapping Project with a guest, it is a favourite place in London, and flippantly over a meal asked for a waitressing position which, incredibly, led to architecture work. It was as though I’d been washed ashore. I’m inspired by this place and these people to pursue broader ambitions; to curate architectural events, to return to sculpting and teaching. Architecture alone no longer seems like the wise and safe path.”