Not to get political, but…

“Recent attempts to shift the grounds of the architectural debate away from technology and production toward political critique and ideology are rightly aiming to recover some political ground that has been missing for some time within the discipline.”

–Alejandro Zaera Polo, “The Politics of the Envelope: A Political Critique of Materialism”

In this week’s reading, Alejandro Zaera Polo makes the argument that “architecture is as much a physical construct as it is a social or political one.” He reflects on the idea that seeing architecture only as a political representation is problematic. He uses his essay “The Politics of the Envelope: A Political Critique of Materialism” as a way to debate the link between architectural technologies and politics using the example of the building envelope as a facade. Building envelopes are a hot topic in the world of architecture and politics, as the building envelope is a direct representation of the designers’ and owners’ ideals. The envelope contains aspects such as materiality, construction, environmental performance, energy efficiency, and other issues that “engage several political forms: economical, social, and psychological.” It is important to analyze the way in which these political forms shape the architecture of our buildings and to make sure that the political forms of our buildings are representing good political ideals.