ARCHITECTURE & PROPAGANDA
A soft media
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table of contents
Propaganda x Branding
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Propaganda x Media
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Propaganda x Architecture
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Propaganda x Tuvalu
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Propaganda x Design
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BRANDING X PROPAGANDA
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Rebranding and propaganda are thus highly linked with a fine line some would say (a very blurry one in my opinion) with very similar techniques. Propaganda however seems to be looked at very negatively due to the word’s use in history, whereas branding is a softer application that is generally used in order to generate income for the country. However, not all branding attempts are successful. “All the evidence shows that whenever a country tries to market itself, it achieves nothing at all. I suspect this is because the campaigns are not selling something and so people don’t know how to respond. But on top of that, whenever a government says ‘we are the best country in the world’, it simply becomes propaganda. People instinctively distrust it.” (Simon Anholt 2011)
national branding Britannica defines propaganda as the ‘dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumours, half-truths, or lies—to influence public opinion.’ The propagandist thus has a set of goals to achieve and to do so information (factual or not) need to be distributed in a deliberate and planned way. Mark Johnson explains in his article Anholt’ s analysis on national branding, and what it depends on in order for it to be successful, which is having a centralized and well-coordinated vision between six stakeholders, and they are summarized in this quote “nations communicate their brands most successfully through six channels: government and its policy decisions and actions; investment promotion in the form of foreign direct investment; cultural diplomacy and the export of cultural assets (such as Hollywood for the US); citizens of the country - from figureheads such as Nelson Mandela down to the taxi driver at the airport; the products of a country (electronic products from Japan, for example); and tourism, which is essentially when the “consumer” conducts a personal product trial.” (Simon Anholt 2011)
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North Korea’s nuclear Propaganda
Japan rebranded after WWII from a war hungry empire to a country of technology and cuteness.
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propaganda x branding Britannica defines propaganda as the ‘dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumours, half-truths, or lies—to influence public opinion.’ The propagandist thus has a set of goals to achieve and to do so information (factual or not) need to be distributed in a deliberate and planned way. When a nation is treated and looked at as a brand, parts of the characteristics of the economy and culture of said nation is emphasized in order to generate an image of the country. Sometimes that image is very politically driven like North Korea’s nuclear technology brand, and at other times it’s economically driven in order to generate investment like Japan’s identity of technology and anime. However, Japan wasn’t always known for that, as it was a war-hungry empire up until WWII, and after the axis’ defeat it opted for rebranding itself into a friendlier image to the world.
Johnson also explains in that article that just having a slogan could potentially trivialize the message instead of selling it, and that having an ad campaign is only successful if it was broadcasting a sense of national wellbeing along with economic growth and innovation.
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BRANDING X PROPAGANDA
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MEDIA X PROPAGANDA
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media Global culture has become ubiquitous, images and videos have become the patrons that blur, blend and weave cultures into the digitalist display of a screen. In a parallel line, transportation is taking a similar path where the globalized communities are advocating the eradication of borders. Concurrently, Architecture must adapt to these changing paradigms in order to catch up with these shifting narratives. Architecture must then turn into a ubiquitous surface, taking these narratives into a direct line with the community, publicly articulating them through new associative forms. These forms are shaped through the mutual attraction of architecture and other forms of visual practice, as the variety and intensity of this attraction is continually increasing. Transport also relies on this connection as it represents the physical connector between these two mediums. In the eye of transportation, “everything is flattened into an infinitely wide and depthless pool where image and text are dissolved by the solvents of media and communication� (Jacob, 2011). This depthless-ness was introduced previously by the non-dimensional structure of the internet, as it altered the relationship of the community to information through a flattening effect that un-differentiates everything into a wide data puddle. 17
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“Propaganda can be broken into ten stages when analyzing it in detail. These stages are: 1) the ideology and purpose of the propaganda campaign, 2) the context in which the propaganda occurs, 3) identification of the propagandist, 4) the structure of the propaganda organization, 5) the target audience, 6) media utilization techniques, 7) special various techniques, 8) audience reaction to various techniques, 9) counterpropaganda, if present, and 10) effects and evaluation.� (Jowett 1992). The ten stages explained by Jowett depends heavily on the many different types of media and how information is being disseminated to the public. This makes media the main tool used in order to brand new Tuvalu.
ubiquity and edges in communication
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Manzaria and Bruck further explain that all these tactics, whichever one was being used, follow the same criteria in order for them to effective, and it happens to be the same criteria used to evaluate daily advertisements to sell products, which is that it must be seen, understood, remembered, and acted upon. “Furthermore, it is possible for this to be work because this exploits a wellknown principle of human behavior which says, “people simply like to have reasons for what they do” (Cialdini 1993). Thus, the media only needs to give a reason for their message despite its validity in order for it to be accepted.” (Manzaria & Bruck 2018)
In this puddle, semantics synchronize into an anti-distinction area of effect, nothing has a different meaning, culture has turned into a practice of juxtaposition, collage and appropriation. The foundations of the current culture are built on these image-based aspects in an avant-garde manner, patroned by Architecture and Transport. Architecture needs to transcend the normative realms in this image of transportation in the literal and figurative sense. By splicing the physical and digital environments, transportation has become a definition umbrella of many movements: machinic, human, monetary, data based, visual and metaphysical. The hub which contains transportation has become a hackable silo that enriches the active exchange of the elements in discussion. Physically, the user experiences trains, buses, walking, running, escalators and stairs to feel the different speeds of transport vertically or horizontally, while information-based banners and immersive animated screens communicate with ads and relevant data to imbue the digital world into the physical experience. And the continuity of people walking and interacting acts as a ribbon that links the digital and the physical realms together. Trajectories shift in speed as the users themselves are used by architecture to compensate its incapability to move. 21
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Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky explain in their book, ‘Manufacturing Consent’ published 2002, “This is normally not accomplished by crude intervention, but by the selection of right-thinking personnel and by the editors’ and working journalists’ internalization of priorities and definitions of news¬ worthiness that conform to the institution’s policy.” And “Structural factors are those such as ownership and control, depend¬ence on other major funding sources (notably, advertisers), and mutual interests and relationships between the media and those who make the news and have the power to define it and explain what it means.” “Propaganda can be broken into ten stages when analyzing it in detail. These stages are: 1) the ideology and purpose of the propaganda campaign, 2) the context in which the propaganda occurs, 3) identification of the propagandist, 4) the structure of the propaganda organization, 5) the target audience, 6) media utilization techniques, 7) special various techniques, 8) audience reaction to various techniques, 9) counterpropaganda, if present, and 10) effects and evaluation.” (Jowett 1992).
These communication movements are split into many constituents, the most dynamic one is People, bodies always on the move, forcing those who are in front of them or behind to move and catch up with them or get out of their way. The immersive screens are where they stop for an experience that takes them into a different place. This place of escape is eventually fulfilled by the other related constituents; long distance travel, short distance commuting, movement of data and goods, and movement of ideas and information. All of these elements link every related architecture of the city into one whole ubiquitous building.
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communication speed
kissing architecture The technology-driven media creates a tool that combines or kisses architecture with the relative fields that surround it. The concept of “kissing” is used by Sylvia Lavin to describe “the growing intimacy between architecture and new types of art, capturing the sensual charge injected into the architectural surfaces”. Projects that were explored in her book had one main idea, expanding the definition of buildings to include the surrounding environment through interactive installations and exhibitions. These projects redefined the reach of architecture by using technology to change and distort the visual and audible perception of the users. Moreover, communication became the bridging element that collapsed any separation between public and private spheres. This collapse lead to architecture expulsing itself towards other mediums that were willing to kiss back, challenging architecture’s physicality and turning it into an ephemeral being that reaches towards everything related to humankind. (Lavin 2011, p.58)
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propaganda x media Media is a form of power, and whoever has access and control over media can potentially control public opinion. It is the means through which propaganda is being applied and information is broadcasted. Media has no power without people who have societal interest feeding and financing it, and those people have clear agendas and important interests which they want to push forward. With their power over media they can shape and constrain it, whether it was about the content and/or the policies surrounding.
communication krauss diagram
The expansion of the meaning of architecture became a reactionary revolution, using innovative technology and materials to create a simulative holistic approach that removes the individuals’ perception from the original ambience (Blauvelt 2016, p.182). This removal made architecture do things that are not usually possible, as architecture is solid and permanent, all of this was not achievable without the combination of other mediums that enabled architecture to break away from the norms that surrounded it. One other representation of the distilled notion of the power of the material medium powered by technological innovation is Andy Warhols’ Exploding Plastic Inevitable, This multimedia light and sound performance used sensory overload, high degrees of stimulation but low levels of visual and auditory resolution to fill the space with a new environment that used the exaggerated animations of its ambience to erase the legibility of the architectural frame, making it more like a television but with a participatory and immersive aspect that is in the extreme (Lavin 2007).
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MEDIA X PROPAGANDA
X PROPAGANDA
ARCHITECTURE 31
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However, when the political intent is extremely high, the purpose of the building is transformed into a propaganda function. The shape and the weirdness of the building act as a symbolic tool to express the strength of the power. In this case, the building tends to be spectacular, that is weird. The building appears in the form of a huge sculpture or a landmark in the city. The enormous volume of the building shows power of the strength of the power, and the strangeness of the shape of the building is used as a tool to promote the power of the center.
power
propaganda
homogeneous
weird
oppression
normal
discretion
reinless
freedom
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political
low
The weirdness and normality of architecture depend on the degree of power and freedom, and their interconnections are varied under the swift between oppression and political intent.
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When power dominates the building, there would be two extremes of weirdness and normality based on the control of policy. When politicization intentions are extremely low, the power center tend to establish a series of rules and regulations on each individual to manage buildings. In this case, the shape of the personal buildings become extremely normal and show a homogenous form. To be specific, the shape of buildings is embodied in a uniform appearance, standardized planes and elevations, space for maximum utilization, and so on.
However, when the political intent is extremely high, the purpose of the building is transformed into a propaganda function. The shape and the weirdness of the building act as a symbolic tool to express the strength of the power. In this case, the building tends to be spectacular, that is weird. The building appears in the form of a huge sculpture or a landmark in the city. The enormous volume of the building shows power of the strength of the power, and the strangeness of the shape of the building is used as a tool to promote the power of the center.
power
homogeneous
weird
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oppression
propaganda
normal
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reinless
political
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high
freedom
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CCTV, OMA
The Normal CCTV
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weird When oppression from power is reduced and thus the building is given enough freedom to design, the building also tends to be both normal and weird based on the degree of policy. When the political intentions are obvious, the lack of power allows the design of building to develop freely. In order to show the individual power and wealth, weird buildings would be established. The great extent of freedom brings about disorder and randomness, and it loses the constraints of regulations and norms. A great number of personal tastes and requirements are applied into the design of the building. The building will have a random and quirky appearance and shape. The order of the interior space will also become chaotic and disordered which is weird.
normal When the degree of political intentions is minimized, the maximum of freedom bring about self-control and for the building. Order arises spontaneously and applies to architecture, and as well as guides the development of it. In this case, the space utilization appearance and the shape of the building tend to be rational and logical. The whole building would be defined as a comfortable place arranged by the real requirement of live. The whole building would become normal.
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weird - M o n u m e nta l s h a p e ( h u g e vo l u m e ) o f government building - Areas under the "weird" government rule should follow the 5 Points of Construct. 1. The length or the width of buildings should be no more than 50m 2. Only can use a single element on facades. 3. Only can use default frame to ensure the same height of each floor, the distance between columns based on the efficiency of the structure. 4. Only can use the cubicle arrangement of office. 5. The maxium use of space and functionoriented layout. No waste of space.
normal - Just as normal as a government building - Representatives of each area under the "normal" government rule could join the discussion in the parliament and decide rules and regulations. - Separation of powers: Parliament: power to make and change law Judiciary: power to make judgement on law Executive government: power to put law into action
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「WEIRD」 - Opression Strict regulations (Higher tax, curfew...) - Autocracy - Only government can decide/change/explain rules 5 Points of Construct Copy itself to let itself be the tallest building in the city. Monitor the whole city.
「NORMAL」 - Representative democracy - Separation of Powers Executive government Parliament Judiciary
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SULTING
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OUNCIL With the seperation of the power, the three E AMBERdepartments are linked together on the top of ANC
TR them. This part also serves as the entrance ENof KING AREA the upper government.
ENTRANCE TO THE WEIRD GOVERNMENT
WORKING AREA FOR THE COOPERATION OF THREE DEPARTMENTS
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LOUNGE*N
ENTRANCE
COURT ROOM 2
SECURITY
LOBBY
COURT ROOM*N OFFICES
OFFICES
SECURITY
LOBBY
ASSEMBLY HALL
ENTRANCE LOUNGE CAFETERIA
CONSULTING CONFERENCE
SECURITY
LOBBY
COMMITTEE MAYOR
ENTRANCE
COUNCIL CHAMBER WORKING AREA
X PROPAGANDA
ARCHITECTURE
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TUVALU X PROPAGANDA
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TUVALU IS not SINKING Tuvalu is a sinking nation... or so it says. A research by Brooks Hays (2018) shows that Tuvalu is in fact expanding in size. The atoll islands are eroding from one side causing it to ‘sink’ to the eye, and it’s collecting on the other side of the island causing it to expand, with the overall percentage of land rising. With that being said, the newly developed land is not suitable for development and building so in a sense, the nation is sinking. Tuvalu is already applying propaganda methods in hopes to generate care but it’s not gaining enough exposure to save the nation.
1971 1984 2014
atoll location shifting over time
TUVALU IS SINKING The rising sea level caused by global warming is causing the islands of Tuvalu to sink. Humans continue to destroy natural resources and so the sea level keeps rising, destroying human settlements and cities, animal’s habitats and safety, as well as takes away from the beauty of the nature that surrounds us. With the way things are going, Tuvalu is under the threat of disappearing within a couple of decades.
rising sea levels
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relocated to a man-made land with vacated natural land
relocated to a man-made land without natural land
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what makes a nation Watching Tuvalu disappear makes one wonder about the future of the citizens of Tuvalu. does the disappearance of a land equal the disappearance of a nation (hardware)? or can a nation live on in the form of Tuvaluans situated somewhere else (software)?
Tuvalu (hardware)
TV
TV TV
TV TV
Tuvaluans (software)
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five: “investment promotion in the form of foreign direct investment” The oil company, fully automated factory, art museum, luxury apartments.
six: “the products of a country” coco,recycled plastic products, fully automated factory products.
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three: “cultural diplomacy and the export of cultural assets” Encouraging tourism around the many unique parts of new tuvalu
four: “citizens of the country” There are identifiable characters and names that recurs more than once in several of the videos. Captain saucy is the owner of a restaurant in new Tuvalu that is favorite by many. Magritte guy and clean suit guy are the main inhabitants of the mix use building/oil company, and you can identify their quirky characters easily in any setting. And then Coco, Tuvalu’s mascot, and tourists’ favorite. Coco is based on coconuts which are tuvalu’s main agricultural product.
Coco in New Tuvalu
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ONE: “government and its policy decisions and actions” The government building is designed mainly as media center that serves the purpose of rebranding of Tuvalu. It focuses on the experience of the tourist as well as the impressions worldwide.
two: “tourism” The central government building is mostly dedicated towards branding new Tuvalu, focusing on tourism and international exposure. With that agenda in mind, the building is then accommodated with the necessary facilities, mainly media production equipment and personnel, and data storage units (server farm), as well as the thinkers and analysists that manages this enterprise. The teams working on tourism would design tours for the tourists that would keep them entertained and busy around all over new Tuvalu and what remains of old Tuvalu, activities within the dot.tv building, as well as designing and selling souvenirs about Tuvalu.
Coco, New Tuvalu’s mascot
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six stakeholders “nations communicate their brands most successfully through six channels: government and its policy decisions and actions; investment promotion in the form of foreign direct investment; cultural diplomacy and the export of cultural assets (such as Hollywood for the US); citizens of the country - from figureheads such as Nelson Mandela down to the taxi driver at the airport; the products of a country (electronic products from Japan, for example); and tourism, which is essentially when the “consumer” conducts a personal product trial.” Simon Anholt
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TUVALU X PROPAGANDA
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DESIGN X PROPAGANDA
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location of the 32 towers
4 of the 32 towers
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Exterior, Screen walls
Interior, 32 towers
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Exterior, Screen walls
Interior, 32 towers
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media production
Lobby
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DESIGN X PROPAGANDA
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“All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescapably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.� Upton Sinclair
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table of contents
Propaganda x Branding
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Propaganda x Tuvalu
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Propaganda x Architecture
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Propaganda x Media
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UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design’s IDEAS: IDEAS is a post-professional program at UCLA Architecture and Urban Design that leads to a Masters of Architecture II degree. Students engage in real- world issues through intensive research to develop new methodologies of architectural design. The program offers extensive research opportunities in studios led by world-renowned figures in architecture. IDEAS partners student researchers with industry collaborators exploring topics as diverse as strategic thinking, sustainability, contemporary culture, lifestyle, Artificial Intelligence, autonomous mobility, sensing technology, robotics, extreme environments, the journey to outer space, virtual reality, entertainment production performances, and media-enhanced experiences.
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UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture: The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture plays a vital role in the cultural and artistic life of the campus and of the broader community. Guiding our mission is the belief that the arts are not only an essential part of the cognitive, critical, inquisitive life of a public research university, but that the practice and presence of the arts are a cornerstone of the creative, innovative thinking and collaborative approaches that the 21st century demands. One of 12 prestigious professional schools at UCLA, the School of the Arts and Architecture offers leading programs in four degree-granting departments: Architecture and Urban Design, Art, Design | Media Arts, and World Arts and Cultures/Dance. The School also houses seven research centers, the Visual and Performing Arts Education Program, two internationally acclaimed museums—the Fowler and the Hammer— and one ground-breaking performing arts program—the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA. This unique, rich array of research centers, museums and performing arts programs broadens and enhances the experiences of our students and faculty.
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The Entertainment Studio: Architecture tells stories, and human stories are enhanced by architecture. If architecture (hardware) is a backdrop for humanity (software), this Suprastudio will use entertainment to focus on the oscillation between the many worlds these two ends of the spectrum imply. The Entertainment Suprastudio will situate itself between three main topics: Design as Entertainment, Methods from Entertainment, and Entertainment as Architectural Production. With entertainment ingrained into our DNA, we will use architecture to tell stories about design, representation, theory, criticism, history, and taste. Instructors: Jimenez Lai, David Jimenez Iniesta, Kevin Pazik Students: Diana Ashkanani, Man Pok (Anthony) Chan, Yunzhen (Thomas) Chen, Nuti Dhaval Dave, Anna Drewitz, Juan Carlos Franco, He He, Luqi (Lori) Jia, Chencheng Jiang, Andrew Juhoon Kim, Anqi Li, Mingyuan (Molly) Liu, Yining (Carrie) Mao, Wanlu Ni, Zhijun Peng, Zicheng Qu, Xiaoyang (Ashley) Shi, Miao (Chloe) Wang, Yifan Wen, Juxi (Vincen) Wu, Shuying (Cathy) Xi, Yi (Zoe) Yang, Peng (John) Zhang, Rui (Ray) Zhang, Xiaodan Zhang, Yuhan Zhang, Jingdan Zhu.
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A Floating City-State: an Urbanism inside Architecture : (or, a story about .tv) The Tuvalu Studio (dot TV), is a city inside of a building. More than that, we are proposing a nation contained inside one architecture. In this studio, students are designing a superstructure to rescue the citizens of Tuvalu, a nation of roughly 10,000 individuals residing on a land that is approximately 10 square miles. Tuvalu, like many island nations, is facing the plight of rapidly rising sea-level and an imminent danger of physical disappearance. As Tuvalu disappears as a natural hardware, this studio proposes to consider a total reconstruction of a completely artificial hardware to support a software facing many new challenges during a changing time. An abstract 1km x 1km block in the middle of the ocean. A fictional city of 10.000 people living inside of one architecture. This nation is understood as an exercise of Utopic journalism. The participants of this studio subdivided the nation into prefectures, jurisdictions, and districts to mobilize a focused thesis, with each of these districts taking on their own architectural, economic, or socio-political agendas. Meanwhile, clusters of districts will be combined into prefectures and jurisdictions each with their own hyper-specialized urban role. An exquisite corpse composed of 12 Utopias that identify contemporary socio-political conditions existing in the reality we live in today. The fragmented parts are re-assembled back into a completed whole. A Whole produced by 27 individuals working collectively.
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ARCHITECTURE & PROPAGANDA
A hard media
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