Design and ideology

Architecture has, for a long time, been a way to emblematically show control, power, and defense. This tact has been used since ancient times, including by the Roman empire trying to mark their territory, and by Catholic churches “trying to sell real state in heaven” through church designs. However, reading David Harvey reminded me of several of Karl Marx’s theories, such as objectification, alienation, labor exploitation, and others. The phrase “what kind of people we want to be, what kinds of social relations we seek, what relations to nature we cherish, what style of daily life we desire, what kinds of technologies we deem appropriate, what aesthetic values we hold” that Harvey wrote in “The right to the city” makes me think about the ideologies that we reproduce somehow without realizing that we are reproducing them (which is another of Marx’s theories). The French philosopher Louis Althusser believes that such ideologies were learned during our childhood through which he calls the “ideological state apparatus” (families, churches, schools, state, clubs, and others). These ideologies are so deep in our thoughts that we reproduce them subconsciously. Althusser also thinks that with the exacerbated consumerism we live in, we are becoming more alienated without paying attention to how these ideologies can be damaging us psychologically. Consequently, this creates a neurotic society with double standards. For example, we go to prison for killing people, but if we kill more people in a war, we become heroes. We teach our children that it is unethical to lie, but we make them believe that Santa Claus exists. Therefore, we as a society are fully reproducing these ideologies, sometimes because we cannot break them, or sometimes because we are not aware of them. As architects, we are part of society reproducing the same ideologies. I don’t think we can do much about to mitigate this cycle, except try to make others aware of such reproduction of “unhealthy” ideologies, and be aware of the symbolic meaning of our buildings.

Communist Party Headquarters by Niemeyer

Santa Claus