Architecture as Exquisite Violence

Abstract

This is a compelling compilation of essays by international architectural theorists on the relationship of violence to space. With the events of September 11th, the London bombings, the Madrid train explosions, and the daily blasts in Baghdad, the question of violence and terrorism is imposing architectural ramifications with renewed urgency. A new sense of architectural awareness has been forged as violence is forcing its place as an architectural datum.Wide-ranging contributions approach design issues related to violence through multiple angles and intersections. We only need to flip casually through the repertoire of the built environment to realize that certain built structures (from concentration camps to separation walls, from jails to propaganda exhibitions, from slaughterhouses to suburban complexes, from illegal settlements to palaces) either sanction violence or give it a spatial ground to happen and thrive.