Architecture and Ideology

Abstract: This thesis work is a discussion on the relations between architecture and ideologies. Architecture possesses the unequivocal social and cultural power to produce representations of political coexistence through exemplary forms of built reality. As such, Architecture becomes a tool of communication; it can manifest power and  embody ideologies.Throughout history we can observe how political ideas influenced our built reality. A period in which architecture became a crucial role in forming national identities, were the fascist movements in Italy and Germany. Still today, these ideas can be traced in form of buildings and architecture; a ‚problematic heritage‘ which has to be discussed. For my thesis project, the Congress Hall on the Nazi Party Rally Ground in Nuremberg served as a case study. A building which was constructed to manifest an abhorrent ideology, but also a building with greatest architectural qualities. The repulsive attitude towards Nazism cannot be challenged. However, the built heritage that manifests this attitude is still part of our built environment. This statement lead me to my thesis question; How can a building be freed from its subservient ideologies and forces, it was built for? A very sensitive and difficult question. Architecture, buildings and material can not be fascistic, but intentions can be. The only possibility to dissociate the building from the ideology it was built for, is to associate it with new ones. My proposal should not be understood as a final solution, but much rather as an opportunity to test new strategies and learnings. In the design process I took the freedom I have as a student; I tested totalitarian design methods, focused on the qualities of the building and studied the question of the autonomy of architecture.