Building Change: Architecture, Politics and Cultural Agency

244 Pages·2005·10.07 MB·English

by  Lisa Findley

Building Change
Building Change provides a vision of a revitalized role for architecture as a critical
cultural and spatial practice. It discusses the dynamic between power and building and
lays out the spatial strategies those in power use to manipulate and control the physical
world. These include segregation, marginalization, construction of hierarchies and the
spatial transformations of mechanisms such as colonialism and globalization. The book
goes on to investigate the shifting relationships among power, space and architecture in a
world where a number of subjected people are reasserting their political and cultural
agency. Lisa Findley argues that architecture, as a primary participant in the production
of space, has an important role to play in supporting these changes. The question is how,
within the scope of the design and making of buildings, can this be done?
To explore this question, the book describes and analyzes four recent building projects
embedded in complex and diverse historical, political, cultural and spatial circumstances:
the Tjibaou Cultural Centre in New Caledonia; the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre in
Australia; The Museum of Struggle in South Africa; and the Southern Poverty Law
Center in the US.
While the context of each project is unique, Findley finds that inherent in the agency
of architecture itself there are numerous opportunities and strategies for architects to
actively support the goals of social change. They do this while still embedded in the
primary pursuit of architecture: the making of real inhabited buildings in specific settings.
While the examples in Building Change are in highly charged environments, the lessons
learned from them are applicable across a range of architectural projects.
Lisa Findley is an architect, writer and teacher who has an academic background in
architecture, environmental studies and political theory. She is an Associate Professor in
Architecture at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, where she coordinates
the Master of Architecture program and teaches design studios and seminars. She is a
contributing editor for Architectural Record and has written for numerous other
publications including Architecture, Harvard Design Magazine, Architecture Australia,
Architecture South Africa and Baumeister.

Building Change
Architecture, Politics and Cultural Agency
Lisa Findley

LONDON AND NEW YORK
In memory of my parents, Geraldine Warren Findley and William Scott Findley.
First published 2005 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York,
NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of
thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.
© 2005 Lisa Findley
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Findley, Lisa, 1955– Building change:
architecture, politics, and cultural agency/Lisa Findley. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references
and index. 1. Architecture and society. 2. Architecture—Political aspects. 3. Architecture,
Modern—20th century. 4. Architecture, Modern— 21st century. 5. Social change. I. Title.
NA2543 . S6F533 2004 720′.1′03–dc22 2004012504
ISBN 0-203-60149-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-33781-6 (Adobe e-Reader Format)
ISBN 0-415-31876-9 (pbk)
ISBN 0-415-31875-0 (hbk)
Contents

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction x

1 Power, Space and Architecture 1
2 Building Future: Tjibaou Cultural Centre 37
3 Building Visibility: Uluru Kata-Tjuta Cultural Centre 77
4 Building Memory: The Museum of Struggle 124
5 Building Presence: The Southern Poverty Law Center 166
6 Architecture and Change 200

Appendix: Project Credits 215
Notes 218
Bibliography 222
Index 227
Acknowledgments
This book has grown out of the generosity and support of numerous people, some of
whom I include here. Reed Kroloff, during his tenure as Editor-in-Chief of Architecture
magazine, triggered the whole process when he sent me to New Caledonia to write about
the Tjibaou Cultural Centre. Long, winding conversations and short, incisive
observations over the years have had critical impacts on this book. I am indebted to Craig
Barton, Haig Beck, Dana Buntrock, Paul Carter, James Clifford, Jackie Cooper, Mark
Cottle, Rodolphe el Khoury, Jane M.Jacobs, Sabir Khan, Lesley Lokko, Iain Low, Paul
Memmot, Leslie Musikavanhu, Jennifer Taylor, Vikram Prakash, Samia Rab, Sandra
Vivanco, Mabel Wilson and many others for these crucial contributions.
Of course, this project would not have been possible without the enthusiastic
cooperation of the offices of the architects, their clients, and many people at each project
locale.
William Vassal, site architect for the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW),
introduced me to Kanak food, buildings and the landscape and to the Tjibaou Cultural
Centre. He patiently answered questions and gave me full run of the voluminous files of
drawings in the construction office. Gionna Justo, Stefania Canta and Chiara Casazza of
RPBW facilitated my visit to New Caledonia, a subsequent visit to Genoa and the
generous loan of visual materials for this book. Renzo Piano carved out precious time in
his schedule for conversations with me about the project. Emmanuel Kasaherou, Cultural
Director at the Tjibaou Cultural Centre provided invaluable insight into the Kanak
participation in and perceptions of the project.
Greg Burgess, architect of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre, generously opened
up his project and slide archives to me, spent hours in conversation, and provided visual
materials for this book. I am indebted to the Anangu women elders who entrusted me
with their stories about the project. Tina Bain walked me through the Park Service’s
archive on the project and, based on her years of experience in the region, increased my
understanding of the Anangu. Tracey Holbrook, Caroline Parsons and Christine
Templeton, also of the Park Service, facilitated my visit and the permits for research and
photography. I want to thank the Anangu for permitting me, through their trust in Greg
Burgess, to tell their story, show Uluru and the Cultural Centre, and to use some of their
words and names in the book.
In South Africa, Jo Noero and Heinrich Wolff also gave me free range of their
archives and have continued to answer endless questions and keep me posted on the
construction of the Museum of Struggle. Nadia Dick of their staff became my guide to
both the physical and cultural sides of Cape Town and environs. McCoy, with remarkable
frankness, shared much about the brutality of apartheid during the time we spent in the
townships of the Cape Flats. Members of the Red Location Museum Project Committee,
Vuyisile Pandle, Tobeka Scolotela, Tozama Scolotela, Celia Mtati and Pumla Mngadi
provided a lively history and tour of New Brighton, and Neal Langeveld and Gerhy de
Bruin of Mandela Municipality filled in crucial background for understanding the project.
Jo Noero, Heinrich Wolff, Leslie Musikavanhu, Iain Low, Piet deBeer and Albie Sachs
granted important perspectives on the role architecture has to play in post-apartheid South
Africa.
Scott Erdy and David McHenry set me loose with the project archive in their
Philadelphia office, answered questions and provided visual materials for the book.
Joseph Levin and Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center provided crucial
background on the SPLC along with stories of the making of the building. Penny Weaver,
of the SPLC, graciously facilitated my visits to the Center, and provided background
materials, press clippings and visual materials for the book, along with an introduction to
a great Thai restaurant in Montgomery. Norwood Kerr at the Alabama Department of
Archives and History patiently helped me navigate the materials in the collection.
The extensive travel and research required to complete this book would not have been
possible without the generous financial support of the Graham Foundation for the
Advancement of the Fine Arts. The California College of the Arts, where I teach, helped
as well with a faculty development grant to cover research travel to the Renzo Piano
Building Workshop.
Caroline Mallinder of Routledge had faith in this project, my first book, from the time
she read the proposal. Michelle Green, also at Routledge, kept me on course, and Donna
Gregory of Florence Production patiently saw this book through production.
Kim Ramos provided essential support in preparing the maps and finalizing the
images. Kimberly Naumann digitized other images. Robert McGiven in the office of
Noero Wolff triumphed in his persistent efforts to digitally convey to me the latest
drawings and photographs of the construction of the Museum of Struggle.
My remarkable colleagues at the California College of the Arts also provided a range
of support for this book. In particular, my thanks go to Rodolphe el Khoury for his useful
and insightful reading of an entire draft and to Zsuzsanna Listro, Sandra Vivanco and
Mabel Wilson for their faith and encouragement.
Throughout the long process of researching and writing, Brit Andresen, my mentor
and dear friend, asked her usual incisive questions, encouraged me with outright faith
tempered with wise advice and read and commented on the book in draft from her perch
on the edge of Australia.
My family and friends were steadfast in their enthusiasm and encouragement and were
good-natured about my frequent disappearances on research trips and into the studio to
write.
Finally, without the remarkable and humorous common sense, keen mind, editorial
eagle eye and unflagging support on every possible front from my husband, the architect
Rod Henmi, this book would, quite simply, never have happened.
Three of the four case studies in this book have been presented in embryonic forms as
papers at academic conferences. I am indebted to those who provided feedback in each
instance—challenging assumptions and directing me to references and resources I had
not been aware of. In addition, portions of some of the chapters have been previously
published. Parts of Chapter 2 on the Tjibaou Cultural Centre were published under the
title “Representing Culture: Resisting Globalization through the Transformation of
Tradition”, in Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Working Paper Series, vol. 123,
(2000). Portions of Chapter 4 on the Museum of Struggle were published as “A Tale of
Two Apartheid Museums” in the 2003 Annual Meeting Proceedings of the Association of
Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and as “Red and Gold: Two Apartheid Museums and
the Spatial Politics of Memory in the ‘New’ South Africa”, in Architecture South Africa
(the journal of the South African Institute of Architects), no. 10, July/August 2004.
Illustration Credits
Photographs
2.1, 2.10, 2.17: John Gollings, courtesy of Renzo Piano Building Workshop
2.4: James Clifford
2.14, 2.20, 2.24: William Vassal, courtesy of Renzo Piano Building Workshop
2.15: Pierre-Alain Pantz, courtesy of Renzo Piano Building Workshop
2.26, 2.28: Tim Griffith, ESTO
3.3: Craig Lamotte
3.7, 3.9, 3.14, 3.15, 3.19, 3.20, 3.21, 3.23, 3.24, 3.26, 3.27, 3.30, 3.33, 3.35: Gregory
Burgess
3.8: Warlayriti Aboriginal Artists Corporation
3.10: John Gollings, courtesy of Gregory Burgess Architects, Pty
3.12: Sonia Peter
3.29; Jimmy Yang
3.28, 3.32, 3.34: Trevor Mein
4.13, 4.22, 4.23, 4.24: Jo Noero
4.2, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.14, 4.15, 4.20, 4.21, 4.22, 4.23, 4.24, 4.25, 4.26, 4.27, 4.28, 4.29:
courtesy of Noero Wolff Architects
5.3, 5.4, 5.16, 5.19, 5.20, 5.21, 5.22, 5.24, 5.27: Tim Hursley, courtesy of the Southern
Poverty Law Center
Drawings and Maps
1.4 from the collection of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.12, 2.16, 2.18, 2.19: courtesy of the Renzo Piano Building Workshop
3.11, 3.13, 3.16, 3.17, 3.18, 3.22, 3.36: courtesy of Gregory Burgess Architects, Pty
4.7, 4.12, 4.16, 4.17, 4.20: courtesy of Noero Wolff Architects
4.27: Robert McGiven, courtesy of Noero Wolff Architects
5.9, 5.10, 5.11, 5.12, 5.13, 5.14, 5.15, 5.17, 5.18, 5.23: courtesy of Erdy McHenry
Architecture
While the author and publisher have made every effort to contact the copyright holders
of material used in this volume, they would be grateful to hear from any they were unable
to contact. All photographs not credited are by the author. All drawings not credited are
by the author and Kim Ramos.