Bare Life, Bare Architecture: Deconstructing the Violence of Architecture in Al-Khalil, Palestine
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Date
2018-01
Type of Work
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Program
Bachelor's Degree
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Collection may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. To obtain information or permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Goucher Special Collections & Archives at 410-337-6347 or email archives@goucher.edu.
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Abstract
The political philosopher Giorgio Agamben theorizes on the role, structure, and establishment of the state, and the way in which state power controls and dominates in the current era. He builds on Michel Foucault’s biopower and Hannah Arendt’s conceptions of the refugee to develop ideas surrounding homo sacer (the sacred figure in Roman law) into the ways in which the modern state can render bare life through the deprivation of rights in a process of a state of exception.
Weaving these complex ideas together with the rise of the Israeli state, the role of architecture, and the lived experiences of Palestinians in the city of Khalil (or Hebron) in the West Bank, this paper argues for the importance of acknowledging a kind of bare architecture that ultimately works as an apparatus for state violence. I pull from the philosopher Achille Mbembe, architect Eyal Weizman, visual culture theorist Ariella Azoulay, and other scholars to emphasize the role of designed spaces and architectural strategies in creating conditions of bare life.
This paper connects a rich range of topics that I have become passionate about throughout my four years at Goucher: the role of architecture and design in imprinting memory, behavior, and identity; the state’s creation and use of space; and Palestinian liberation from Israeli apartheid. I am thankful to have had the guidance of Professors Steve DeCaroli and Yousuf Al-Bulushi, who co-taught the course and allowed us to deeply pursue topics of interest to us. Further, there would be nothing without my indebtedness to Professors Zahi Khamis and Flo Martin, as well as my loved ones in Al-Khalil, who opened my eyes to the injustice and the struggle in the Holy Land.