Projective Identity of the Envelope

Much of my internal dialogue when attempting to make it through all of Zaera-Polo's "The Politics of the Envelope" led back to the idea of the envelope's power to emphasize or deemphasize fragments of a building's internal identity. Like fashion, not simply as a garment draped to cover what is behind but a technological accomplishment uncoupled from the necessity it provides, the building's envelope can alter the perception of those outside and inside a body.

In contemporary Western society, we are post-truth and post-necessity. The envelope represents this. The widely held belief that we can only reduce emissions through the industrialized production of more efficient systems, rather than changing human behavior, is exemplified within the thickened glass walls of a "Passive House" high-rise.

The envelope can show and tell, show or tell. As on TikTok, as in life. A building's identity need only attach itself to the materials it shows. Neoliberalism cannot exist without the envelope; it is too dirty. A description in this case suffices to inform the public of the building's true intentions. It is an example for green development, as development is inevitable, and the workers who occupy the desks and the investors who prop up the condominiums will feel good. It shows its intentions and whispers them.

    Winthrop Center, Boston