Reclaiming White Elephants: how architecture becomes a powerful strategy for a social, political, and revolutionary movement

Ana Maria Soto Chavez

Reclaiming White Elephants: how architecture becomes a powerful strategy for a social, political, and revolutionary movement.

Rel. Elena Vigliocco. Politecnico di Torino, Master of science program in Architecture For The Sustainability Design, 2023

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Abstract

This project aims to explore the potential of architecture as a catalyst for social and political change. By examining the relationship between the built environment and the community, I will investigate how the design and construction of space can be used to initiate and support a revolutionary movement. The goal is to demonstrate how architecture can play a critical role in shaping a more just and equitable society. In order to develop it, this thesis is composed by the following chapters: firstly, we will address the problematic and its context within the first chapter, Conceptual framework, where we discuss how architecture is a product of society and its political context, acknowledging how it cannot be unattached from the concepts of politics, power, corruption, and revolution.

This is broadly explored on the positive aspect of it, where architecture works as a medium of social expression; and on the negative aspect, where architecture appears in the corruptive contexts in the form of public abandoned megastructures known as White Elephants