TANGIBLE POLITICAL IDEAS

 

Alejandro Zaera Polo's essay "The Politics of the Envelope" reframes architecture as a potent medium for political expression. The envelope, traditionally a boundary, now reflects societal values, power dynamics, and environmental imperatives. Building design transcends aesthetics; it's a political act shaping urban landscapes and ideologies, making the envelope a canvas for socially conscious architecture—a tangible embodiment of political ideals.

Each envelope tells a story, from monumental structures to humble dwellings, shaping landscapes and social interactions, emphasizing the vital importance of understanding envelope politics in creating resonant spaces. It has a direct effect on how the surrounding spaces are perceived, not just in the time of the building's creation, but the entirety of the building's existence. This made me think of the prominent EUR District in Rome, particularly the "Square Colosseum" project. The envelope of this building was meant to have a direct correlation with the fascist regime that sought to have it built and the Roman civilization of the past. The envelope becomes a political and historical monument to present powers of Rome in its history through the repeated arch found in many Roman projects. This repeated act creates the aesthetic, but also becomes a symbol of the authoritarian powers that Rome had experienced from its early empire to its Fascist regime of Mussolini in the 20th Century.