Architecture and Politics

[Architorture]

i'm not sure if this is the appropriate place for this...but this is certainly the political hot bed of the forum so it seemed like a good place to start...

here is the question...what are the issues in architecture that can be directly related to the political atmosphere or policy?

i recall seeing a comparison b/w bush and gore back in 2000 in architectural record...but i haven't been able to find anything similar for this election...

so i ask what are the issues in politics that most directly affect the world or architecture?

my reason for asking this question is that the penn state architecture student society, of which i am a part of, is planning to put on a round table discussion of sorts about architecture and politics the evening before the elections...and i was hoping to focus somewhat on the differences b/w bush and kerry's policy as it relates to the built world...

i know you guys here at the fireside are quite learned in the ways of politics and i assume architecture as well... so any suggestions or information would be welcome... thanks

[Richard Haut]

It is tragically simple.

"the political atmosphere or policy" at the moment in Britain and America is based on wilful deception. Bush and Blair lied to start a war. If professionals, such as architects, endorse that type of deceit then their professional status and opinion is permanently damaged.

it is no longer even a matter of opinion - the lies have been shown for what they are. Now people endorse those lies - or stand against them.

imagine being an accountant at Arthur Andersen when they were messing around with the Enron accounts. Andersen's were one of the greatest of all accounting firms. Their status was terrific. It would have taken great courage for an honest accountant to have stood up to what was happening - but by failing to have done so, an accountant who worked there can hardly be treated with respect; investors would be foolish to invest in a company on the basis of accounts signed by the company. It is a real tragedy, but it damaged the status of the entire accounting profession.

now imagine that not on the basis of a single professional company, but an entire country. The risk to the "American brand" includes architecture.

just think: has anybody in America objected to KBR designing cages for humans at Guantanamo ?

one point on which I agreed with Donald (who is now bound and gagged in the Design Forum basement) was when he said that "freedom is not free".

suppose that the anti-Muslim pressure in the US got worse - and the AIA was told that Muslims should not be allowed to be professionals in the US. What would they do - what would you do ? This is exactly what happened to Jewish professionals in Europe just over half a century ago. One, and and only one professional institute refused to implement the decree. It was the Association of Architects in France.

[Architorture]

i have never heard of the KBR cage ordeal...have any good links to articles?

i see what you are saying...and it all goes back to the earlier discussion on 'american brand' but do you think the world associates the american brand with american architecture? i mean in the somewhat international atmosphere of architecture it almost seems difficult to point out a bulding that would be infused with the american branding... unless of course you have an example for me... it would be an interesting discussion topic for this round table...

i don't think the AIA has the power to tell someone they can practice or not either...although being in the AIA is obviously advantageous...it is not necessary..

what i'm really looking for is more specific policy that would have a DIRECT effect on the architectural world...policy that have or will have influence of architectural development and such

[Richard Haut]

what you are touching on are very large and complex subjects - it is difficult to identify a particular building because the question is not one of design, but of standards.

if the politicians compromise the professional, and the standards of the professional, then the results are direct.

example: look at the number of US contracts in Iraq given out without going to tender. Those involved are compromised before they start.

the cages are at Camps X-Ray and Delta at Guantanamo on Cuba. That is a direct example of politics compromising design professionals.

in the example given from the 1930's, the equivalent of the AIA or other registration body had no choice - it was the law that Jewish architects were thrown out of the profession. In other words to refuse to implement the policy (like the French Association) meant breaking the law. This is a very difficult concept to see in a country where it has been unknown. It is an abscence of choice. That is why so many people get angry about the "security" laws brought in in the last few years in Britain and America.

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin.

[Architorture]

will design be compromised simply b/c there was no competition for the design?

it is my understanding that major projects in europe all go to competition these days... but that process seems rather drawn out in a situation such as iraq...where there is some interest in resolving the rebuilding process in a timely fashion

[Richard Haut]

I am not talking about competitions but of public tenders, a matter of public accountability.

As for rebuilding in Iraq - dream on.

[Architorture]

okay i see...

are there any other issues besides say branding that you think are important to this upcoming election or even politics and architecture in general terms/?

[Kevin]

Improvement of health insurance costs for small businesses and their employees would help, since design firms - and many of their clients - are small businesses.

I think Kerry's proposal of having government coverage for the tiny percentage of very serious, costly cases of illness is actually rather brilliant. Much as we have the federal government step in for rare community disasters, let's have it help with rare individual health disasters. That would be a strong step toward stablizing and reducing small business insurance costs, which are a real problem in the heart of the economy.

[Richard Haut]

The impression that Bush gave me in the debates was that he found the whole thing tiresome - the debates, the election, the views of the American people.

He cheated his way into power once.

He lied repeatedly to start a war.

Only a fool would believe that he won't do it all again.

(Architecture ? If Bush gets back in, studying architectiure is very likely to be replacd by the draft).

From "the Guardian" (note that 77% of Brits under 25 "don't like Bush" - and what age are British soldiers ?):

Poll reveals world anger at Bush

Eight out of 10 countries favour Kerry for president

Alan Travis, home affairs editor
Friday October 15, 2004

George Bush has squandered a wealth of sympathy around the world towards America since September 11 with public opinion in 10 leading countries - including some of its closest allies - growing more hostile to the United States while he has been in office.

According to a survey, voters in eight out of the 10 countries, including Britain, want to see the Democrat challenger, John Kerry, defeat President Bush in next month's US presidential election.

The poll, conducted by 10 of the world's leading newspapers, including France's Le Monde, Japan's Asahi Shimbun, Canada's La Presse, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Guardian, also shows that on balance world opinion does not believe that the war in Iraq has made a positive contribution to the fight against terror.

The results show that in Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Spain and South Korea a majority of voters share a rejection of the Iraq invasion, contempt for the Bush administration, a growing hostility to the US and a not-too-strong endorsement of Mr Kerry. But they all make a clear distinction between this kind of anti-Americanism and expressing a dislike of American people. On average 68% of those polled say they have a favourable opinion of Americans.

The 10-country poll suggests that rarely has an American administration faced such isolation and lack of public support amongst its closest allies.

The only exceptions to this trend are the Israelis - who back Bush 2-1 over Kerry and see the US as their security umbrella - and the Russians who, despite their traditional anti-Americanism, recorded unexpectedly favourable attitudes towards the US in the survey conducted in the immediate aftermath of the Beslan tragedy.

The UK results of the poll conducted by ICM research for the Guardian reveal a growing disillusionment with the US amongst the British public, fuelled by a strong personal antipathy towards Mr Bush.

The ICM survey shows that if the British had a vote in the US presidential elections on November 2 they would vote 50% for Kerry and only 22% for Bush.

Sixty per cent of British voters say they don't like Bush, rising to a startling 77% among those under 25.

The rejection of Mr Bush is strongest in France where 72% say they would back Mr Kerry but it is also very strong in traditionally very pro-American South Korea, where fears of a pre-emptive US strike against North Korea have translated into 68% support for Mr Kerry.

In Britain the growth in anti-Americanism is not so marked as in France, Japan, Canada, South Korea or Spain where more than 60% say their view of the United States has deteriorated since September 11. But a sizeable and emerging minority - 45% - of British voters say their image of the US has got worse in the past three years and only 15% say it has improved.

There is a widespread agreement that America will remain the world's largest economic power.

This is underlined by the 73% of British voters who say that the US now wields an excessive influence on international affairs, a situation that 67% see as continuing for the foreseeable future.

A majority in Britain also believe that US democracy is no longer a model for others.

But perhaps a more startling finding from the Guardian/ICM poll is that a majority of British voters - 51% - say that they believe that American culture is threatening our own culture.

This is a fear shared by the Canadians, Mexicans and South Koreans, but it is more usually associated with the French than the British. Perhaps the endless television reruns of Friends and the Simpsons are beginning to take their toll.



Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

[Architorture]

well i think there is something inherently wrong with british opinion of america...

if it were up to british opinion there wouldn't be an america...

the draft issue has been settled on the floor of congress, the writers of the bill didn't even vote for it...

so i don't think the draft is going to be an issue influencing students of architecture in the foreseeable future...

i don't want this to turn into a 'bush sucks because...." thread...since i'm actually hoping to get some information that will help in developing this activity at my school... so far there is plenty of interest from students and faculty...

the health insurance thing is a good one...b/c that could help out small businesses which is often the size of firms...

and the halliburton/kbr stuff is good too...i've also found some stuff on CIA/NSA highering design professionals and engineers for work on identifying the weaknesses in buildings here and abroad...either for the purpose of better protecting our buildings while realizing the flaws in possible 'enemy' buildings...which i think has some interesting aspects to it...

then you even have programs like SketchUp being used by the army corps of engineers to design checkpoints and such in iraq b/c the shadow feature on that program is easy and accurate...so they use it to design in shade for soldiers while trying to avoid areas that will be cloaked for someone or something to hide in...

as i start to compile a complete list of issues i'll post it up...for suggestions and such... hopefully you guys can keep them coming... but i hope you understand i don't want it to just be a 'i hate this guy or that guy' argument...b/c i think we all know who dislikes which candidate here

[Richard Haut]

"well i think there is something inherently wrong with british opinion of america..."

tough luck.

I haven't lived in Britain for several years, and from what I read and hear attitudes are becoming virulently anti-American in Britain. (However I have never heard an anti-american tirade here in France of the kind that are apparently quite normal now in the UK).

the article is about a large-scale international survey. Participating papers in the survey were:

Le Monde (France)
La Presse (Canada)
Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
The Guardian (UK)
El Pais (Spain)
JoongAng Ilbo (South Korea)
Sydney Morning Herald
Melbourne Age (Australia)
Moskovskie Novosti (Russia)
Reforma (Mexico)
Ha'aretz (Israel)

[Architorture]

the inherently wrong thing was a joke... since the united states broke away from britain you might assume there would be some irony in the british having a distaste for america...just a joke

[SDR]

I will take this opportunity to quote our fearless leader (in words reported by journalist Bob Woodward, in an interview presented in his book "Bush at War," and repeated in a recent column by Molly Ivins): "I'm the commander in chief, see, I don't need to explain, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting part about being president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."

". . .Now, watch this drive. . ."

". . .Somebody say 'nice shot'. . .("nice shot"). . .Thank you."

[Kevin]

The King George concept.

[SDR]

. . .I desire what is good. Therefore, everyone who does not agree with me is a traitor. . .