Lateral Excursions

“Political blindness is not new to architecture, nor is it rare in society.  To stake a political claim is to run the risk of clashing with a divergent set of cultural values and alienation of potential clients, prospects that few find enjoyable.  Discussions concerning the political and issues such as equitable representation in real and imagined spaces are potentially painful and are therefore frequently avoided.  The political thus remains an invisible and often unspoken subtext to otherwise well-grounded discourses and practices. The disciplinary vacuum within which architectural ideologies are often investigated further fosters a social and political blindness that a post-critical stance can only reinforce.  If we adopt a position that ignores the advancements that postmodern thought and critical theory provided us – a utopian goal of equity, fruitful diversity, and a critically engaged process of cultural production – we may find ourselves indulging in a naiveté similar to that of early modernism, which promised societal change almost solely through architectural practices and failed to recognize that space and its production are controlled by the dictates of capitalism and politics.”

Gámez, José and Rogers, Susan.  ”Introduction: An Architecture of Change.”  Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism.