The American Institute of Architects said Friday that it had approved new ethics rules prohibiting members from knowingly designing spaces intended for execution or torture, including for prolonged periods of solitary confinement. Such a rule has been championed by architecture professionals for several years, but the organization had resisted making the declaration until now, saying that architects were not responsible for torture policies and procedures that took place in the spaces that they designed. In recent months, as the institute has responded to the calls for equality that followed George Floyd’s killing, the group has re-evaluated its stance. “We are committed to promoting the design of a more equitable and just built world that dismantles racial injustice and upholds human rights,” the group’s president, Jane Frederick, said in a news release. Members of the institute are required to “uphold the health, safety and welfare of the public” in their work, Ms. Frederick said, and the board of directors had determined that spaces meant for execution and torture “contradict those values.”

Source: New York Times December 11, 2020 23:44 UTC