ref:
http://slought.org/series/Evasions/ (Audio)
Globalization, militarization, and surveillance—these themes are much in
evidence within political and academic circles at the moment, but how do
they impact the built environment? “Evasions of Power,” a symposium held
at the University of Pennsylvania earlier this spring, addressed the
many manifestations of political and economic power affecting
architecture and urbanism. Topics ranged from free trade zones to
Hurricane Katrina, but Penn architecture chair Detlef Mertens cited
their common interest as “architecture understood in a political register.”
The conference should perhaps have been named “Evasions by Power,” since
most presenters agreed that the most powerful entities in the built
environment—national governments and multinational
corporations—intentionally conceal rather than emphasize the signs of
their control. “Power is always an evasive project,” asserted Tom
Keenan, director of the Human Rights Project and a professor at Bard
College. “There are only deviations, maneuvers and re-routings of power.”
A prime example of this concept is King Abdullah Economic City, a $26
billion ex nuovo city of resorts, hotels, financial institutions, and
universities in Saudi Arabia. Such a new city “intends to conceal rather
than share its techniques for the distribution of oil wealth,” observed
Keller Easterling, an associate professor at the Yale School of
Architecture. “Global entities juggle their multiple powers with
duplicity, deception.”
Yet despite the billions of dollars invested in such massive projects,
power in the built environment is mainly a philosophical problem, said
Sanjay Krishnan, who teaches at Penn. Practitioners, he suggested, must
first address these problems in theoretical terms before they can
conceive of effective practical solutions.
cont'd....
http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/070516power.asp