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Architecture's Political Spectacle

This essay, published in the journal AA Files presents research that analyses architecture and the built environment as saturated in a complex relational field in which buildings embody not only top-down ideas but also the various conflicts, bodies of knowledge and antagonisms that are folded into their forms. The research within which this essay is embedded includes case studies of re-enactments and political spectacles in different cities (Berlin, Leipzig, Moscow). I presented the research in conferences, keynotes and lectures between 2009-2013 (Strelka, Moscow, HCU, Hamburg, Biennial of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, Royal Academy, London, TU, Dresden, Ministry of Building and Transport, Leipzig, Berlage Institute, Rotterdam, HfG, Karlsruhe, Platforma 9, Zagreb, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Graduate School of Architecture, Columbia University, Lisbon Triennale).

Looking at the urbanism of former communist countries and the radical transformations since 1989, this research is interested in the moment when the relational force field that had entrapped architecture and politics is suddenly destabilized, historical conflicts break out, governments collapse, monuments fall, and the urban infrastructure is radically transformed. It analyses case studies of political mass events that were conceived as historical re-enactments and that had an impact on the design of cities.

This essay presents May Day as an important recurring event that in the divided city of Berlin provoked the conflict between performance and city and has essentially defined the urbanism in both parts of the city.

The research was prepared through a series of other peer reviewed essays and articles in publications such as (JAE, Lisbon Triennial, 2013, Archis 10, 2009, Open House International 2008) and in book chapters (Beyond 2010, Urban Transformation, Berlin, 2008, Islands: The Geography of Extraterritoriality Nürnberg, 2008, Dictionary of War, Berlin, 2008) There were also peer-reviewed publications in German and in Polish (Jovis, 2012, ARCH+ 2010).