Design for Dissent (4/4)

A Political Complex for Expression of Dissent

Cities have been called effective tools for social engineering ¹ with a key role by planners and architects in demarcating distance through geometry as a signature of power ². Thus, public places emerge as nodes that weave relative social status, with political complexes reflecting established socio-political agreement among citizens. Inappropriate reflection of this agreement imposes a misplaced sense of political power for the state or the people, leading to the use of the political complex according to an unapproved bias or an outdated relationship, which leads to an overall state of uneasiness among people. Imposing a ban on the public itself in public spaces during public expression of dissent against the state is one such example. Another reason for an active reformation of public places and in particular political complexes is that our built environment is not only a reflection of our state of being but also an instrument for its evolution, a process in which realization of each threshold is necessary to make way for the next one. 

A political complex is built to symbolize the permanence or rigidity of the political power in its purest form, without contradictions or inconsistencies ². This is in contrast with the ever-evolving nature of public space as a product of socio-spatial relations ³. A political complex that emerges out of an ever-evolving relationship between the state and people cannot be rigid. Yet, a huge amount of capital is invested to ensure its 'permanence', even when neither what it used to represent at a time is the reality of the relationship between the state and people any more, nor would it remain as it is now. A fluid understanding of this relationship would give us a fluid built environment for the same. However, even when the political complexes of the world have been demolished, relocated or redeveloped time and again, the principal rituals of marching and gathering have been consistent tools to reinforce political power in any place, and it has been noted that it is these powerful rituals that give any place their meaning, not the other way around ⁴.

As noted previously, following the model of a democratic street or square with a public square or a public street in the center and politically significant structures all around instead of an authoritarian street or square with a monumental palace at the prime node with a public street approaching it, or a public square around it (Design for Dissent 2/4), is essential to establish a democratic place and as observed in examples previously, there are certain attributes of political complexes that facilitate the expression of dissent. A political complex that encourages these attributes in its design over those that increase the distance between the state and people would facilitate further evolution of its political relationship with its citizens, inviting critical dialogue through protests, demonstrations, debates, and performances in its political courtyard. A very close example of a democratic square along these lines of thought can be found in the layout of Plaza dos de mayo in Spain.

Based on the attributes noted, a conceptual model of a political complex for a democratic state is visualized here, not with the intent of being prescriptive, but with the intent to visualize one scenario out of many possible. In the model presented, a combination of a democratic street and a democratic square has been considered, with the streets leading up to the square. In this case, the visibility of the central public place would be high due to the gaze produced by quadrants of high political value around. The people's place in the center can be approached by grand avenues to walk and can be used ritually for ceremonial marches on politically significant events like independence and republic day. The same place could be used by protesters to express dissent against any particular face of the state (like the judiciary, or the bank, or the parliament or the president) by simply orienting themselves facing the building complex through which that aspect of governance operates and rest of the buildings would form a grand backdrop of high political value. In her significant body of work, Tali Hatuka classifies urban morphology from the perspective of dissent into three types of spaces; the square, the street, and the park, with the square being a pause while a park being an isolated, enclosed pause in the city network ⁵. In the model of the political complex presented here, the central public node can be a park; an isolated enclosed pause with movement all around it, ensuring visibility without disrupting the everyday life of the city during a protest.

Figure 1: A political complex with the expression of dissent as a primary design directive: Wide pathways provide access to the large central public space and create four quadrants of politically significant building complexes.

Figure 2: A relatively large scale establishes a higher value of the place. Exclusive egress pathways(red) through building complexes serve for the emergency exit of political heads in case protest turns violent. The pathway around the central place can be used for political rituals.

Figure 3: The central public park which is approachable through the four pathways can be used by people to protest against any particular face of the government by facing that particular building complex and the rest of the buildings around form a grand backdrop while producing a focused gaze on the protesters.

Figure 4: An iconic marker in the center, where the political gaze is focused, acts as an anchor for the protesting crowd, providing them a stage as well as a backdrop. Leaders can use this spot for addressing people all around. On events of political significance, it can serve similarly for all four quadrants of the complex.

Figure 5: The arrangement allows questioning a particular face of the government. The central pathway within political quadrants ‘cut across’ instead of ‘culminating at’ politically significant structures and establish a deep connection with the central public park.

Figure 6: Even when a protest with hundreds of thousands of people is going on in the political center, traffic can continue to operate on the outer ring.

Figure 7: Wide, celebrated pathways for marching approach the central public park.

Figure 8: The monumental scale of the central iconic marker establishes high political value.

Read the previous section of this series here in which three specific protest events have been briefly revisited, chosen based on their location in places of high political value and international recognition to identify those attributes of these places that facilitate the expression of dissent. 

Read the first section of this series here, which presents the influence of sites of religious significance on sites of political significance carried over into today’s political complexes of states that have reformed to democratic societies like India, followed by identifying democratic places in the traditional built environment, revealing key differences between the two kinds of places. 

Read the introduction of this series here.

References:

1. W. H. Coaldrake. City Planning and Palace Architecture in the Creation of the Nara Political Order: The Accommodation of Place and Purpose at Heijo-Kyo. In Geremie Barme (ed.) East Asian History. 1(1). Fyshwick: Goana Print;1991. pp. 38-39. 
2. T. Hatuka. The challenge of distance in designing civil protest: the case of Resurrection City in the Washington Mall and the Occupy Movement in Zuccotti Park. Planning Perspectives. 2015; 31(2). pp 253-282. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02665433.2015.1058183
3. T. Hatuka. Action’s Design. In Kathrin Fahlenbrach, Martin Klimke and Joachim Scharloth (eds.) Protest Cultures: A Companion. Protest, Culture and Society Vol. 17. New York: Berghahn Books; 2016. pp 213-220.
4. J. Z. Smith. To take place. In To take place - Toward theory in ritual. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1992. pp. 96-118.
5. T. Hatuka. Public Space. In Kathrin Fahlenbrach, Martin Klimke, and Joachim Scharloth (eds.) Protest Cultures: A Companion. Protest, Culture and Society Vol. 17. New York: Berghahn Books; 2016. pp 284-293. 

Sources of Figures:

1. Figure 2-8: Rishi Thirth. RIHA. Vishakhapatnam.