Dismantling the system of slave and child labor in the architecture and construction industry does not seem like a simple task, especially on a global scale. However, this is precisely the mission of the Design for Freedom (DFF) initiative, created by CEO and founder of the Grace Farms Foundation, Sharon Prince, along with Bill Menking, professor and editor-in-chief of The Architect's Newspaper.
Through events and freely available tools, Design for Freedom seeks to "raise awareness and inspire responses to halt forced labor in the construction materials supply chain," offering paths to ensure transparency and ethics in the architectural production process.
In an interview with architectural photographer Paul Clemence, Sharon Prince discusses the launch of the initiative, how architects can contribute, and what she has learned since Design for Freedom began.
Paul Clemence: Where did your interest in the relationship between architecture and social justice come from?
Sharon Prince: I have always been fascinated by places and how architecture shapes us. Space has the power to communicate, and that notion became the genesis of the Grace Farms Foundation (GFF). When I started thinking about the foundation concept, Grace Farms would be a space where we could invite people from different backgrounds - locally and globally - to break down barriers between people, sectors, and ideas. Grace Farms facilitates this meeting - it is a place of hope.
Architecture has the power to promote goodness in the world and can also create new humanitarian outcomes, such as Design for Freedom, our new movement to eliminate forced labor from the construction materials chain.
PC: Tell us more about the Design for Freedom movement, please.
SP: The construction sector represents the largest individual contribution to climate change. It is also the industrial sector with the highest risk of forced and child labor in the world. It is also the most disaggregated and least technologically advanced while accounting for over 13% of global GDP.
Design for Freedom (DFF) is a movement seeking a radical paradigm shift to end forced and child labor in the construction material supply chain. We mobilize industry leaders and professionals from all sectors to raise awareness in the market and build a more equal and humane future. Grace Farms launched an ethical materials transparency initiative in the supply chain with the first DFF report in 2020, as well as a toolkit for the industry last March. Pilot projects are underway on three continents.
However, dismantling the vast criminal industry of forced labor and human trafficking is a complex and gigantic task that requires action at all points in the supply chain. Leveraging GFF experience, we work globally to implement policies and training. We believe the construction sector is uniquely positioned to create an ethical shift in the market. This is mainly due to the scale and number of people and organizations involved in each project. Important humanitarian outcomes can begin with the simple question: "Where are our materials made and by whom?"
PC: How does the Design for Freedom movement relate to justice in architecture?
SP: Design for Freedom takes the green movement a step further by asking, "Is your building designed sustainably and ethically?" It is a natural progression - people care about the origin of their food and clothing. They press industries and ask for more transparency. First came the food industry, then the clothing industry. Now, we propose a questioning shelter. Nearly 28 million men, women, and children work in inhumane conditions daily - millions of them who extract, manufacture, and transport building materials such as wood, steel, copper, and textiles. People in these conditions are often among the most vulnerable, coming from impoverished communities, conflict areas, or regions affected by natural disasters.
PC: What is the role of architects, designers and students in this movement?
SP: All of us are part of the built environment and therefore we all need to be aware of this issue and understand the role we can play in solving it. The main difference between the green building movement and DFF is that the former is essentially voluntary, while the ethical supply of materials is a legal imperative, as well as a moral obligation.
The Design for Freedom Working Group is composed of leaders from various sectors - from architecture, engineering and construction firms, colleges and universities, media outlets, manufacturers, and the corporate sector - and involves us all. We have partnerships with over a dozen universities across the U.S., such as the Illinois Institute of Technology and Yale, which have created courses on Design for Freedom. We are educating professionals and the next generation of leaders to understand the scope of the problem, and current means and methods for creating transparency. This includes our Design for Freedom Toolkit with ethical specification documents to offer institutional responses.
We also bring together hundreds of people every year, either in our Design for Freedom Summit, which will be held this year on March 30th, or at the Landscape Forum on May 10th.
PC: Can you tell us a little about the Toolkit?
SP: Sure! We launched the Design for Freedom Toolkit during last year's Design for Freedom Summit. It is a new and comprehensive resource that design and construction professionals can use to help implement ethical supply chain strategies that prevent forced labor in their own practices. The kit delves deeply into over a dozen materials, such as wood, steel, copper, rubber, and polysilicon, that have higher incidences of forced labor, while also providing relevant certifications and standards that support ethical material choices.
Additionally, it offers a questionnaire to be applied to suppliers and sample specifications that can help AEC industry professionals select and acquire low-risk materials, without forced or child labor. The kit is free and available on the DFF website.
PC: How are the pilot projects being developed and why are they important?
SP: Pilot projects are the next step in the Design for Freedom movement. They demonstrate the principles of the initiative in action, showing that it is possible to use materials with less risk of forced labor. They also show how to create transparent supply chains, offering new references to our limited knowledge.
We announced five Design for Freedom pilot projects in the US, UK, and India, including Theaster Gates' Black Chapel. As material consultants, we worked with the Serpentine Pavilion design team to increase material transparency and prioritize ethical sourcing. The pavilion was open in London from June to October last year. We are also working with designer Nina Cooke John on her monument to abolitionist and activist Harriet Tubman in Newark, New Jersey. The two-story monument, titled Shadow of a Face, draws the line between historical and contemporary slavery.
Another project was artist Alyson Shotz's Temporal Shift, a responsive sculpture installed at Grace Farms last year. We worked with Joe Mizzi and Jay Gorman from Sciame to track the stainless steel and concrete used in the sculpture. The process of applying an ethical structure to material sourcing made it clear that it is possible - 100% of the steel and concrete used in Temporal Shift was obtained ethically.
PC: Tell us a little about the Design for Freedom Summit, which will take place on March 30th.
SP: In 2022, we launched our first Design for Freedom Summit, bringing together 300 leaders from the construction industry. Building on last year's engagement, the second edition will be held on March 30th. This year, we expect over 400 global leaders and experts to join us at Grace Farms for a day of awareness and action. The list of speakers is amazing, and there will be three panels and six roundtables going on simultaneously.
Our difference is that we are not holding a conference, but rather convening those who have said "yes" before everything is resolved, to accelerate a humanitarian movement in a fragmented industry. Those who have been leading the Design for Freedom movement with us for a few years, such as Chris Sharples from SHoP, are joined by leading builders and developers such as Turner and Lendlease, government agencies such as the US State Department's OBO, and students who are coming to accelerate transformation.
PC: What have you learned since DFF started?
SP: Many things, and each day more. More importantly, I have learned that once leaders become aware of the problem, they want to do something about it. Since the DFF Working Group was formed, leaders have said "yes" to joining and "yes" to using their influence and experience to promote Design for Freedom within the industry and their organizations.
Someone once asked me if ending slavery in our industry is impossible. I replied, "What if you were the enslaved one?" The answer is clear. Slavery or forced labor is wrong, legally and morally. It is one of the few areas where people agree. The only way to eliminate it is to intervene and do whatever it takes to address this issue. And so I learned that people want to tackle this problem, even if it seems impossible.
The more people know, the more they want to get involved and do something. Once you know, there is no way not to know, and you see every material and element of architecture with different eyes.
