“ARCHITECTURE AND THE VICISSITUDES OF CAPITALISM”

"Architecture and the Vicissitudes of Capitalism"

Mangold, William. 2014. “Architecture and the Vicissitudes of Capitalism,” in Architecture in an Age of Uncertainty, edited by Benjamin Flowers. Ashgate Press 

As we consider what is most meaningful in our lives, certainly our experience of architecture—our city streets, the places we call home, our edifices of culture—ranks high on the list of things we value. However, our relationship to architecture is complicated by the economics of capitalist production and consumption. This essay explores some of those complications, as interpreted through a Marxist lens, and argues that capitalism exploits architecture in a number of ways. Exploitation happens in the commodification of buildings and services, as well through deeper, systemic forms such as gentrification and urban development. Education and socially reproduced desire also contribute to the erosion of value, leaving us with only a shell of what could be a rich and fulfilling experience of the built environment. Within this unhappy picture are a few bright spots and possible directions through which architecture could be redeemed.

Initially presented at the American Collegiate Schools of Architecture conference, this essay is published in the edited volume Architecture in an Age of Uncertainty.

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