In this interview, Peggy Deamer discussed her education and career alongside her evolving interest in architectural labor under changing technological conditions. Raised in an upper-middle-class family in San Francisco, she was exposed to culture from an early age and initially studied philosophy at Oberlin College before turning to architecture. An internship at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies brought her into contact with Peter Eisenman, Diana Agrest, and Mario Gandelsonas. She later studied at Cooper Union with John Hejduk, Raimund Abraham, Richard Scofidio, and Robert Slutzky, engaging closely with urbanism and architectural theory.
After briefly working in practice, Deamer began teaching at the University of Kentucky and later pursued a Ph.D. at Princeton to strengthen her studio teaching and connect philosophy with design. More recently, she addressed architectural labor through The Architecture Lobby, emerging from concerns about labor practices in the Gulf. She also participated in the first “Who Builds Your Architecture?” conference, where architects examined construction labor conditions in Abu Dhabi.