The Collective Right

Collectivism maintains a moral stance on what happens within our cities and our communities as a whole. It’s the idea of finding a balance of what’s best for everyone, on a macro scale. It only seems like common sense for us to construct our society base on inclusivity. Then why is it so hard for those with the authority and the resources to invest in this ideology?

The politics of today, and throughout history, have proven that this will never change as long as there is money to be made. We find corporate banking, real estate, health care, and motor companies, all reaping the benefits of capitalism and feeding the political machine while hedging their success on the backs of the people. But when these machines fail, it is the collective who suffer the most and are the ones that are marginalized in order to “rescue capitalism from its own contradictions.” (Harvey, p. 6)

While a new bank tower is being constructed off in the distance in Seville, Spain, a derelict urban housing project wallows in the foreground, the poster child for those who have the right to the city and those who do not. Santiago Cirugeda, an architect barely scraping by, takes it upon himself and his comrades to enrich their community through what is sanctioned as “illegal” building. Their only goal is to revitalize their community, to reuse existing abandoned infrastructure and cheap means and methods in order to create more engagement where there is none. They are taking back their right to the city by cutting through the red tape of bureaucracy in order to serve the people. Ever present, though, are obstacles in the form of political jurisdiction, who condemn those affected to a life of what could have been. If we continue on this path we will forever regret not allowing the people to fully participate in molding our cities.

Santiago Cirugeda | "Illegal" self-built classroom

The social forces that shape our built environment have never been more visible than they are today. And if the constructed world around us is the manifestation of our own humanity, as sociologist Robert Park stated “…in making the city, man has remade himself.” Then what does it say about us when we disregard the collective instead of educate and support them in being self-builders? Why would we not want our own citizens to take a hands-on approach to the betterment of our society? To create more public spaces for interaction? I think architects play a very important role in this process and hopefully going forward we continue to take responsibility in shedding light on the fact that everyone has a right to the city.