Rethinking the Labor Processes of Architecture in Turkey

This paper aims to discuss how “the discourse of creative labor” is being reproduced as an apparatus of exploitation in the architectural labor processes of twenty-first-century Turkey through “architect-workers.” The discourse of creative labor has deepened the exploitation of architect-workers, as all workers, and defines the very privileged position of architect-boss in relation to other laborers. This exploitation became visible both in Turkey and worldwide through the comments of architects—who are both bosses of their architecture firms and so-called starchitects—about their own positions and practices. In addition, twenty-first-century architecture in Turkey can be criticized for the increasing precarity that has stemmed from the processes of yapsat？？l？k and mega-projects. To cope with this exploitation, “the discourse of creative labor” can also be reproduced by architect-workers. Consequently, this paper aims to provide ground on which to problematize the architect-worker as a member of the working class, as well as in the context of a discourse on creative labor and its exploitative use in the labor processes of architecture