Architecture and Politics

‘Architecture is a political act, by nature. It has to do with the relationships between people and how they decide to change their conditions of living’ (Lebbeus Woods). Referring to the last post about Architecture and Ideas, to influence these conditions of living – and hence, the actual lifestyle of people – has always been the hope, and promise, of architecture, from the design of ideal cities to the design of ideal political orders. In this way, architecture relates to utopia. Which is of utmost importance today, facing new challenges imposed by recent authoritarian regimes of diverse kinds worldwide, including the West, and their reach for a “better” society, no matter what such a society should look like: ideal capitalist, socialist, or religious.

What about democratic architectures, about architectures of tolerance and true cohabitation? In our Venice Biennale 2016 (price nominated) exhibition, we provided one example, Tony Garnier, The Industrial City: https://www.idealspaces.org/projects/ideal-spaces/. The idea was to provide open spaces for cohabitation, for single family units living in neighbourhood households. Could be a possibility, instead of corporation citadels, gated communities and a city planning that is mainly investor-guided. In fact, we need new spaces for new societies.