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Professional Ethics in Architecture and Responsibilities of Architects towards

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Professional Ethics in Architecture and
Responsibilities of Architects towards
Humanity*

Hossein Sadri**

Abstract: In the process of the production of space, architects are representatives of

institutional knowledge. They have power and control over production of space either
directly by taking part in this process via their personal practices or indirectly by affecting
it through their professional organizations. The role of professional ethics in architecture
should be limiting and leading this power through describing architect’s responsibili-
ties and also should be preventing unethical attitudes in all kinds of spatial practices by
using this power and knowledge. However the professional codes prepared by architects’
organizations generally frame personal responsibilities of architects, tend to protect the
professional interests and ignore collective responsibilities of architects. This article is
an attempt to criticize professional ethics in general and codes of architectural ethics
particularly within the framework of responsibilities of architecture towards humanity.
For this purpose, the draft document on ethical conduct prepared by Ankara Chamber
of Architects, Code of Professional Conduct of Royal Institute of British Architects – RIBA
and Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct of American Institute of Architects – AIA will
be investigated as case studies.
Key Words: Professional Ethics, Architectural Profession, Architectural Ethics, Codes of
Professional Ethics.

Professionalism has been an identified and established fact in social struc-

tures. Magali Sarfatti Larson, in her book The Rise of Professionalism (1977)
describes professions as a systematic attempt to delimitate a non-competi-
tive area and protect it ​​from market forces. She also adds that the rules and
regulations of a profession protect the privileged status of the profession
and prevent outsiders from penetration. Larson, with an emphasis on the
internal dynamics of professions, states that people who have particular
titles get organized in order to prevent others from getting involved in
these professions. However, the reasons for the emergence of professions

* This article has been developed from the Ph.D. thesis of Hossein Sadri entitled “Architecture &
Human Rights” submitted to Gazi University Graduate School of Natural and Applied Science in
2010.
** Hossein Sadri, Ph.D., is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Architecture in Girne
American University. His research interests include architectural ethics and human rights, architectural
theory and philosophy, socio-spatial studies. Correspondence: Assist. Prof. Dr. Hossein Sadri, Girne
American University, Faculty of Architecture, Design & Fine Arts, Girne/North Cyprus via Mersin 10
Turkey. Email: [email protected] phone: +90 392 650 2000/1366.

İş Ahlakı Dergisi Turkish Journal of Business Ethics, Mayıs May 2012, Cilt Volume 5, Sayı Issue 9, s. pp. 86-96, ©İGİAD
 Hossein Sadri / Professional Ethics in Architecture and Responsibilities of Architects towards Humanity

cannot only be explained by personal or collective purposes of profession-

als. Looking at a larger scale, professions are also important mechanisms in
social structures that can control the balance of power.
Hence, the transformation of a discipline into a profession, in Larson’s
words (1977) has four major stages. The first of these is the union of pro-
fessionals, which is followed by defining a knowledge field and securing it
through schools. The next stage is identifying the norms of practice in this
field, and thus guaranteeing the protection of the state, and finally getting
the approval of the public for their restrictive practices.
Different from universities where thoughts are freely and critically dis-
cussed, vocational schools aim at passing on professional knowledge from
generation to generation. These schools restrict questioning and focus on
training mechanical individuals who are isolated from society and human-
ity, and are equipped with knowledge and skills limited to the professional
field only. Professional organizations of such individuals, in many areas and
countries, have monopolistic and anti-democratic forms of organization,
and often ignore the public interest. They tend to be structured to ensure
the interests of the guild, and even more dangerously to be pursuing the
interests of capital owners or the state. The approval they get from voca-
tional schools, the power they gain through professional organizations and
having the state and the capital on their side give them the ability to guide
the society and have extensive ‘capabilities’ to impose all kinds of social
agreement within the context of maintenance of the social order.
Harun Tepe makes a reference to this ‘capability’ and explains the relation-
ship between scientific advances and professional activities and ethics. He
discusses whether ‘being capable’ should allow or constitute an excuse for
“doing” in professional ethics. Noting an increase in “doing”, Tepe expresses
a concern for the increase in ethical issues and the number of people
affected by these issues, arising from the use of this power (Tepe, 2000, p.
1). Concerns that emerge from an increase in the ethical issues in many pro-
fessions help shaping professional ethics that focus on the potential effects
of professions on the future of humanity. Professional ethics of various
professions have some similarities as well as differences, and in all occupa-
tions there is a concern for personal and interpersonal relationships. For
this reason, Tepe says “ethical issues arising in personal or interpersonal
situations will not differ too much in different professions, yet in many
cases, these issues will be similar” (Tepe, p. 2).
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According to Kuçuradi, “commonness in ethical problems is more funda-

mental and decisive than the differences resulting from the features of
professions and uniqueness of ethical issues” (cited in Tepe, 2000, p. 3).
Kuçuradi describes the most significant similarity of professional ethics as
their pursuit of common norms. The boom in professional ethics in recent
years could be explained with the quest to find common norms along with
the dominance of meta-ethics in philosophy (Kuçuradi, 2000, p. 22-23).
Within the framework of common norms, ethical documents prepared for
different professions in particular by UNESCO and several international
and professional organizations identify various norms and principles for
the prevention of unethical attitudes and behaviors in these professionals
(Tepe, p. 1-2).
These norms and principles should declare not only the rules to be respect-
ed by professionals while performing their professional actions but also the
responsibilities of these professions towards humanity. Unfortunately, as
claimed by Larson, many of today’s professional ethics documents comprise
only the personal responsibilities of a segment of professionals. These docu-
ments generally describe “noble” forms of behavior that the professionals
at the top of the organizations’ hierarchy rank expect from the lower ranks
to exhibit (Larson, 1977).
Today’s codes of professional ethics focus on personal responsibilities of
professionals rather than cover all the mechanisms involved in the emer-
gence of the profession, and ethical problems in these mechanisms. Thus,
they ignore the risks that arise on a larger scale caused by the accumulation
of power and authority. As underlined by Spector, the codes of ethics prove
that the profession is committed to higher forms of behavior, and strive to
sustain the market of the profession. However, they seem to be superficial
when explored more deeply (Spector, 2005).
In his article titled Professional Ethics and Beyond, Peter Marcuse con-
nects this to the historic role of professionalism, i.e., the social agreement
between society and the members of the profession. According to this
agreement, in return for some privileges including social status and restric-
tions in competition, the profession has agreed to a certain measure of self-
policing, and these measures are an important part of professional ethics.
Marcuse thinks this agreement is the one made within the existing struc-
ture of society and helps a more efficient functioning of this structure. In
other words, rather than restricting the system, professional ethics exist to
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 Hossein Sadri / Professional Ethics in Architecture and Responsibilities of Architects towards Humanity

maintain the system. For this reason, codes of professional ethics and self-
policing mechanism, do not allow any challenge against these structures,
nor make such a demand. However, Marcuse believes that the professional
ethics could go beyond their present client-serving and guild-related roles
in order to analyze the real effects of social, economic and political systems
that the ethical issues are taking place in. Professional ethics can develop an
interest in the subject of power, and can take action to promote values ​​such
as equality and democracy. Furthermore, professional ethics can and should
support the change of the system and the movements in the direction of
new power relationships (Marcuse, 1976, pp. 272-273).

Ethics of Architecture
Architectural professional practices that are carried out by those who are
entitled to use the title of “Architect”, in Weisman’s definition, are the
records of the works that have been done by those who have the power and
capability to build (Weisman, 1992, p. 2). In the profession of architecture,
the accumulation of the power and capability to build, or the capability that
comes through the cooperation with capital and power and the interaction
of this power with social, political, economic, and cultural factors has been
causing concerns. Precisely for this reason, it is necessary to establish ethi-
cal frameworks that will limit and guide this power (Sadri, 2010).
Spector (2001) says that the moral mission of architecture was questioned
in the 1970s with Jane Jacobs’ and Robert Venturi’s criticisms against the
movement of modernism, and points out the recent collapse of the social
responsibility concept in the profession. According to Spector, other fac-
tors in the process of moral degradation and demoralization of architecture
are social scientists’ questioning the legitimacy of professional ethics and
deconstruction’s denial of the relationship between design and moral val-
ues (Spector, p. VIII, IX).
When one examines the documents reflecting the ethics in architecture
that refuse to question the limits of the profession and ignore the collec-
tive responsibilities of the profession, the main purpose of these docu-
ments seems to be the improvement of the profession’s image and pro-
tection of its market share (Sadri, 2010). For Spector, public approval of
the profession of architecture is linked to the improvement of its image.
Thus, achieving autonomy for the profession, maintaining its public
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approval, and carrying out ambitious works are the main concerns of the
professional regulations and make the codes of professional ethics not to
represent universal values of humanity. The status of professional ethics
which plays an important role in helping the depoliticized and demoral-
ized architectural profession to demarcate its borders, preserve its market
share, improve its image and thus gain cultural capital will be analyzed
through the ethical documents such as the draft text prepared by the
Turkish Chamber of Architects, Ankara Branch, RIBA Professional Code of
Conduct, and AIA Code of Ethics.

Examples of Codes of Professional Ethics in Architecture

The Draft Text of the Chamber of Architects

Under the auspices of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey, Ankara
Branch, the ethics committee prepared a draft text entitled Deontological
Codes in Architecture in 2008. This document has been adapted from the
codes of conduct prepared by International Union of Architects (Union
Internationale Des Architectes [UIA] and The Architects’ Council of Europe
[ACE], and the regulation related to the Architectural Profession Practice,
solidarity among architects, protection of architects’ honor and dignity, by
Chamber of Architects of Turkey, (TMMOB, 2008).
This document comprises four different obligations of architects. Firstly,
General Obligations mentions nine sub-fields of general obligations includ-
ing, (1) ensuring the public that they meet the required standards, (2)
making informed and unbiased professional assessments, (3) serving the
community, employers, colleagues, and clients, (4) developing their profes-
sional knowledge and skill, in all areas relevant to their practices, (5) raising
the standards of excellence in all relevant areas of architecture, (6) contrib-
uting to the competence of building industries, and (7) having sufficient
qualified and supervisory staff in their practices. These seven articles evi-
dently target public approval and improvement of the image of the profes-
sion. However, the eighth article mentions the recognition of an architects’
right, rather than a liability, and says “the architect, ... shall have a right to
terminate a contract for architectural services”. The last article mentions
that architects should not modify their fee proposals by taking into account
other architects’ fees for a service (TMMOB, 2008). This article intends to
preserve the market of architectural profession rather than serving as an
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ethical responsibility, and constitutes evidence for holding the benefits of

the architectural profession above public good.
The second part of this document lists fifteen articles related to the archi-
tects’ obligations to society. The first article states that architects with the
aim of protecting the image of the profession must abide by the laws gov-
erning their professional activities, and to take account of the social and
environmental impact of their professional activities. The second article
says architects “must respect and help to conserve and develop the sys-
tem of values of the community in which they are creating architecture”
(TMMOB, 2008). Here, it is clear that there is an effort to obtain a social
capital, because rather than the universal values of ​​ humanity; the focus is
on social values that the architectural practices are taking place. However
sometimes these two sets of values may conflict with each other and
sometimes social values may even violate ethics. In summary, this article
requires architects to satisfy the communities they work in.
The fourth article of this section includes a recommendation for architects
not to promote or represent themselves or their professional services in a
false or deceptive manner. The fifth article recommends avoiding acting in
a way which is likely to raise doubt about their impartiality or integrity. The
sixth article, similarly advises architects not to make any statements which
may be misleading or unfair to others or otherwise discreditable to the pro-
fession or their client or user. The tenth article that is not directly related to
ethics is a recommendation for participating in community activities. The
eleventh article talks about considering cultural differences and client ben-
efits, and the twelfth article, preserving the city’s identity, integrity, and
appearance. The fifteenth article emphasizes the “pioneering and develop-
ing identity” of the architect and aims to protect the superior and positive
attributes of architects and the image of the profession (TMMOB, 2008).
‘Obligations to Public’ section also includes topics such as the high design
quality and sustainability (article 3); architects’ compliance with the code of
conduct (article 7); realization of services in an unprejudiced and unbiased
manner (article 8); taking professional standards into consideration (article
9) and developing awareness for the concept of “public interest” and avoid-
ing taking part in activities focused solely on profit (article 13) (TMMOB,
2008). These articles are directly linked to the responsibilities of architects
as individuals, but fail to raise an issue about their collective responsi-
bilities. The fourteenth article of this section transcends the boundaries of
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 Turkish Journal of Business Ethics

personal and professional practices of architects and signifies a collective

responsibility and sensitivity. By saying, “architects should lead the way
in the determination of the needs of the city”, this article emphasizes the
guiding role of architects and thus honors the profession (TMMOB).

RIBA Code of Professional Conduct

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), which is one of the most
influential architecture organizations with its forty-four thousand mem-
bers and nearly hundred and eighty-year history, published its Code of
Professional Conduct in 2005. This Code which sets out and explains the
standards of professional conduct and practice that the Royal Institute
requires of its members, comprises three principles of professional conduct,
namely honesty, competence and relations; professional values that sup-
port those principles; and guidance notes which explain how the principles
can be upheld (RIBA, 2005).
Principles put forth under the heading of honesty in this code include rules
expecting architects to abide by in the architecture practices in order to
get public approval for. Within the context of this principle, architects are
required to act with impartiality, responsibility and truthfulness at all times
in their professional and business activities. As stipulated in the code, they
should not allow themselves to be improperly influenced either by their
own, or others’, self-interest; offer or take bribes, and they should avoid
conflicts of interest and either remove its cause, or withdraw from that situ-
ation. Members should not be a party to any statement which they know to
be untrue, misleading, and unfair to others or contrary to their own profes-
sional knowledge (RIBA, 2005).
The principles put forth in the competence principle clearly show how a
code of professional conduct intends to protect the interests of clients, and
thus the market of the profession. RIBA require its members to apply high
standards of skill, knowledge and care in all their work. Members should
inform their clients about all the possibilities, prices and other matters
related to the project and make a written agreement with them, should
keep their clients informed of the progress of a project and of the key deci-
sions made on the client’s behalf, and use their best endeavors to meet the
client’s agreed time, cost and quality requirements for the project (RIBA,
2005).
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AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is considered one of the world’s
largest and most influential architecture organizations. The institute was
established around one hundred and fifty five years ago and it has eighty
thousand members. In 2007, AIA updated its Code of Ethics & Professional
Conduct which states guidelines for the conduct of Members in fulfilling
their professional obligations. The Code is arranged in three tiers of state-
ments: Canons, Ethical Standards, and Rules of Conduct. Canons are broad
principles of conduct, and Ethical Standards (E.S.) are more specific goals
toward which members should aspire in professional performance and
behavior. The rules of Conduct are mandatory; and violation of a rule is
grounds for disciplinary action by the Institute.
The first canon is named as “General Obligations”, however comprises
individual obligations of architects towards their profession and protection
of the image and the market of their profession. According to this canon,
members should maintain and advance their knowledge of the art and
science of architecture, respect the body of architectural accomplishment,
contribute to its growth, thoughtfully consider the social and environmen-
tal impact of their professional activities, and exercise learned and uncom-
promised professional judgment (AIA, 2007).
The second canon is titled “Obligations to the Public” and again mentions
individual responsibilities of architects in order for their profession to get
public approval. Within the context of this canon, members should embrace
the spirit and letter of the law governing their professional affairs and
should promote and serve the public interest in their personal and profes-
sional activities (AIA, 2007).
The third canon “Obligations to the Client” lays out some rules for improve-
ment of the image of the profession. According to this canon, architects should
serve their clients competently and in a professional manner, and should exer-
cise unprejudiced and unbiased judgment when performing all professional
services. The ethical standards in this canon are competence, avoiding conflict
of interest, candor, truthfulness, and confidentiality (AIA, 2007).
The fourth and fifth canons underline the obligations of architects towards
their profession, and the market. Within the scope of the fourth canon,
architects should uphold the integrity and dignity of the profession. The
ethical standards of this canon are honesty and fairness, dignity and integ-
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 Turkish Journal of Business Ethics

rity. The fifth canon describes the obligations to colleagues and says ‘mem-
bers should respect the rights and acknowledge the professional aspirations
and contributions of their colleagues.’ The ethical standards of this canon
are professional environment, intern and professional development, and
professional recognition.
The title of the sixth canon is “obligations to the environment”. In this
canon architects are required to be sensitive to the environmental issues
in their personal designs. However, for example the role and responsibility
of the profession of architecture in the emergence or prevention of envi-
ronmental disasters caused by economic and political decisions related to
construction industry and a variety of production of space processes are
not touched upon.
This document places the emphasis on architects’ personal responsibilities,
but neglects the responsibilities of the profession towards humanity and
architects’ collective responsibilities.

Results
Larson’s (1977), Spector’s (2005) and Marcuse’s (1976) criticisms towards
codes of professional ethics show that these documents are written in order
to identify the boundaries of the profession, and aim to protect its market
share, improve its image, obtain cultural capital and get public approval
for the profession. Codes of professional ethics, on the other hand, should
focus on the interests of humanity, rather than professional interests,
and the ethics of architecture as well should be developed with a focus on
universal values. Architectural ethics which is built on universal human
achievements and values that have been developed and formed throughout
history shall approach architecture in a holistic manner, as a cultural and
social phenomenon, and shall not restrict and reduce it down to a profes-
sion which is monopolized by architects.
Today’s ethics of architecture, as examined in the codes of conduct in this
article, appear to concentrate on personal responsibilities of architects, and
ignore the bigger picture, which consists of social structure, power, unethi-
cal attitudes and behaviors of the profession and the professional organiza-
tions. Thus, architecture is reduced to a personal practice, and any other
works such as relations between people and space are regarded as outside
personal practices, and excluded. In this case, laws which are directly related
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to architecture, such as “urban regeneration law”, the projects developed by

various institutions which may have serious social and spatial effects, such
as the project for the “third bridge” over the Bosphorus in Istanbul; and
issues such as construction industry, construction techniques and materials
which are directly related to the field of architecture but are not included in
architects’ job descriptions, remain outside of the interests of architectural
ethics.It is clear that ethical responsibilities of all actors in the field of archi-
tecture need to be included in the documentation. In addition to the ethi-
cal responsibilities of different actors, architects, hold liability due to their
roles in the use and production of spaces (Sadri, 2010). Thus, in addition to
the ethical responsibilities in their personal practices, architects should be
sensitive to the ethical responsibilities of all actors, and feel responsible for
others’ works as well as their own. The collective power and responsibility of
architects require them to prevent and stop unethical acts in architecture.
For this reason, three important conditions must be met in order for
the architectural ethics to prosper towards a focus of responsibility for
humanity. The first of these conditions is transcending the boundaries of
the profession and regarding architecture within the framework of all the
pertaining social activities and including obligations of all actors in this
field. Secondly, moving away from professional conduct documents which
describe architects’ personal responsibilities towards a collective under-
standing of the ethical responsibilities is needed. The third condition is, in
order to prevent possible losses resulting from the definition of collective
responsibilities, human values and
​​ universal norms should be concentrated
on, while determining the principles of professional ethics.

References/Kaynakça
American Institute of Architects (AIA). (2007). Codes of Ethics & Professional Conduct. Retrieved on
13 September 2012 from http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiap074121.pdf
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basın, hukuk ve siyaset içinde (s. 17-32). Ankara: Türkiye Felsefe Kurumu.
Larson, M. S. (1977). The rise of professionalism: A sociological analysis. Los Angeles: University of
California Press.
Marcuse, P. (1976). Professional ethics and beyond: Values in planning. AIP Journal, 42 (3), 264-274.
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). (2005b). Code of Professional Conduct: For members of
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deOfProfessionalConduct.pdf

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 Turkish Journal of Business Ethics

Sadri, H. (2010). Mimarlık ve insan hakları. Yayımlanmamış doktora tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.
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