
Borderwall as Architecture
A Manifesto for the U.S.-Mexico Boundary
Ronald Rael(Author)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Published on 4. April 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
200 pages
978-0-520-28394-7 (ISBN)
Description
Borderwall as Architecture is an artistic and intellectual hand grenade of a book, and a timely re-examination of what the physical barrier that divides the United States of America from the United Mexican States is and could be. It is both a protest against the wall and a projection about its future. Through a series of propositions suggesting that the nearly seven hundred miles of wall is an opportunity for economic and social development along the border that encourages its conceptual and physical dismantling, the book takes readers on a journey along a wall that cuts through a "third nation"-the Divided States of America. On the way the transformative effects of the wall on people, animals, and the natural and built landscape are exposed and interrogated through the story of people who, on both sides of the border, transform the wall, challenging its existence in remarkably creative ways. Coupled with these real-life accounts are counterproposals for the wall, created by Rael's studio, that reimagine, hyperbolize, or question the wall and its construction, cost, performance, and meaning.
Rael proposes that despite the intended use of the wall, which is to keep people out and away, the wall is instead an attractor, engaging both sides in a common dialogue. Included is a collection of reflections on the wall and its consequences by leading experts Michael Dear, Norma Iglesias-Prieto, Marcello Di Cintio, and Teddy Cruz.
Rael proposes that despite the intended use of the wall, which is to keep people out and away, the wall is instead an attractor, engaging both sides in a common dialogue. Included is a collection of reflections on the wall and its consequences by leading experts Michael Dear, Norma Iglesias-Prieto, Marcello Di Cintio, and Teddy Cruz.
Reviews / Votes
"Part historical account, part theoretical appraisal, and part design manifesto, Borderwall as Architecture is reminiscent of Rem Koolhaas' Delirious New York in its sweeping assessment of both the sociocultural peculiarities and outlandish possibilities represented by a prominent structural element." -- Blaine Brownell Architect Magazine "...in raising questions that not many others are asking about the relationship between two countries that share 2,000 miles of border, his book serves an important purpose." The Daily Beast "Rael sees endless opportunities for creative defiance as he exposes the wall's xenophobic horror stories, absurdities and ironies by imagining design as both an undermining and reparative measure... [his proposals] force us to re-examine the feasibility of constructing "a big beautiful wall" around fortress America by underscoring that borders are innate zones of connectivity as much as division." New York Journal of BooksMore details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
37 color photos, 47 black-whit
Dimensions
Height: 208 mm
Width: 146 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
408 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-28394-7 (9780520283947)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Ronald Rael is Associate Professor in the departments of Architecture and Art Practice at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Earth Architecture, a history of building with earth in the modern era that exemplifies new, creative uses of the oldest building material on the planet. The Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum have recognized his work, and in 2014 his creative practice, Rael San Fratello, was named an Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York.
Author
Contributions
Preface
Content
Foreword Borderwalls as Public Space?
Teddy Cruz
Acknowledgments
Introduction The Revolting Door
Ronald Rael
ONE Pilgrims at the Wall
Marcello Di Cintio
TWO Borderwall as Architecture: The Divided
States of North America
Ronald Rael
THREE Transborderisms: Practices That Tear
Down Walls
Norma Iglesias-Prieto
FOUR Recuerdos/Souvenirs: A Nuevo Grand Tour
Ronald Rael
FIVE Why Walls Won't Work
Michael Dear
SIX Afterwards
Ronald Rael
Selected Bibliography
AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS
CREDITS
INDEX OF RECUERDOS
INDEX
Teddy Cruz
Acknowledgments
Introduction The Revolting Door
Ronald Rael
ONE Pilgrims at the Wall
Marcello Di Cintio
TWO Borderwall as Architecture: The Divided
States of North America
Ronald Rael
THREE Transborderisms: Practices That Tear
Down Walls
Norma Iglesias-Prieto
FOUR Recuerdos/Souvenirs: A Nuevo Grand Tour
Ronald Rael
FIVE Why Walls Won't Work
Michael Dear
SIX Afterwards
Ronald Rael
Selected Bibliography
AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS
CREDITS
INDEX OF RECUERDOS
INDEX