Categories
ARCH 502: Architectural Design V Gallery: Markets

The City and the Weapons of Mass Seduction

WHEN ARCHITECTURE IS USED TO COMMUNICATE AN ATTITUDE OR AN IDEA IN A PERSUASIVE ASPECT, THIS IS WHEN ARCHITECTURE TAKES A LEAP INTO THE PROPAGANDA REALM. BIASED AND MISLEADING NATURE, USED TO PROMOTE OR PUBLICIZE A PARTICULAR THOUGHT. ARCHITECTURE IS AN EXPRESSION OF ATTITUDE — REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL OR NON- POLITICAL. THE PROPAGANDISTIC COMPONENT IN ARCHITECTURE BLENDS ITSELF ORGANICALLY INTO THE SURROUNDING CONTEXT, THUS INFLUENCING ALL AFFECTED BY IT. IT IS A CLICHÉ THAT THE PUBLIC IS INFLUENCED BY WHAT IS SURROUNDING THEM — AND THAT SURELY IS INCLUSIVE OF ARCHITECTURE. THE NATURE OF PROPAGANDA ITSELF IS TO GENERATE AN INFLUENCE ON PEOPLE TO ADVANCE AN AGENDA — AN AGENDA THAT IS SELECTIVE OF THE FACTS IT PRESENTS TO ENCOURAGE A SPECIFIC PERCEPTION. USING AN EMOTIONALLY CHARGED LANGUAGE TO PRESENT RADICAL THINKING. ONE OF THE EARLY USES OF PROPAGANDA WAS WHEN HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPTS AND BOOKS WERE SPREAD OUT IN THE GREECE IN EFFORTS TO SHAPE AND CONTROL THE OPINIONS OF MEN. THUS WE REALIZE THAT ANY SOCIETY WITH A SENSE OF COMMON INTEREST OR KNOWLEDGE, IT MADE USE OF PROPAGANDA.