 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(October 2023) |
Architectural propaganda is the use of architecture for the purpose of propaganda. Throughout history, significant architectural works have been used to convey ideas, including many intended to command respect and obedience. [1]
Architect Richard Buday has contended that architectural works have been used to justify loyalty to an area's rulers, or to religious and spiritual figures. [1] Buday suggests that "the Sphinx and the pyramids were outsized visual demands for respect and obedience to Pharaoh. The Parthenon was constructed for societal manipulation, as well as to honor a goddess (the temple’s ornamentation reminded Athenians that their beating back a Persian invasion was an act of divine intervention). Roman triumphal arches were self-aggrandizing demonstrations of rulers’ might and superiority". [1] Later in history, Buday writes that various leaders have invoked particular architectural styles to invoke connections with previous historical states and ideas which are associated with them, such as using ancient Greek and Roman imagery to convey the idea of democracy, or invoking similar classical architecture to denote imperial ambitions. [1]
In modern times, architecture is used to attract tourism. [2]
Journalist Joshua Kurlantzick writes that China has been engaging in a "charm offensive" in the 21st century to improve relations with many other countries, especially in the developing world. [2] Kurlantzick contends that the Chinese government has leveraged the construction of large works of architecture abroad to better its standing with these countries. [2] He also criticizes many of these projects, such as large-sized buildings and government ministries, as white-elephant projects. [2] Kurlantzick cites examples of Chinese-led construction in Mozambique and East Timor as examples. [3]
Mexican drug cartels have utilized architecture as part of their overall propaganda campaign. Large houses called "narco mansions or narco castillos (drug mansions or castles)" [4] are becoming an increasingly common feature of the recent drug conflicts in Mexico. [5] In order to overwhelm and sway over local populaces and potential rivals, these demonstrations of wealth and power are built at least partly for their psychological value.
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Nazi architecture is a commonly cited example of architectural propaganda. Adolf Hitler was personally fascinated with ancient Rome, and Nazi architecture adopted elements from classical antiquity. [1] Part of the Nazi cult involved the overaweing and subsuming of the individual into the greater German volk. This giving over of oneself to the whole was also expressed through Nazi architecture. The three primary expressed roles found in Nazi architecture are the (i)Theatrical, (ii)Symbolic, and (iii)Didactic, but each of these roles has its own place within the larger sphere of propaganda value.
Nazi architecture was designed to make the individual feel small and insignificant through its use of high ceilings. For example, at Nuremberg rallies, the feeling produced by the use of massed groups coupled with the architecture of the Zepplintribune architecture was to create wonder and a powerful feeling of community. Indeed, Hitler stated in one of his Nuremberg rally speeches, "Not every one of you sees me and I do not see every one of you. But I feel you and you feel me!". [6] At the Nuremberg rallies, the overall effect of architecture was further enhanced through the use of many searchlights pointed directly upward in order to create a "Cathedral of Light" that even further served to invite the individual to buy into the Nazi worldview.
Another prominent conceptual feature of Nazi architecture was the "Theory of Ruin Value", first put forward by Albert Speer, Hitler's personal architect. This theory postulated that in order for a civilization's influence to pass beyond the existence of the civilization itself, it was important that aesthetically pleasing and impressive ruins be left by the dilapidated buildings of that civilization. This theory, too, took inspiration from the ancient Romans and Greeks in attempting to emulate the even architectural remains of their civilizations with Nazi ones in thousands of years. Since the original inspiration for Nazi architecture was itself, the ancient Romans and Greeks, it was important to Hitler that at the end of the Thousand Year Reich, the remains would inspire others as Roman ruins had done for him.
An interesting remaining piece of Nazi architecture can be found in the former Berlin Tempelhof Airport which closed all airport operations in 2008. The main terminal was designed and built during the late 1930s and early 1940s according to a design by Ernst Sagebiel following the ideas of Speer and Hitler including that of ruin value. It was designed to be the main hub for Hitler's redesigned Berlin, to be called Germania. When completed, it was the world's largest building and today, should the building fall into disrepair, Speer and Hitler's ruin value theory may be demonstrated.
The Potemkin village of Kijŏng-dong, which was constructed to convey an image of North Korea as prosperity, and to encourage South Korean soldiers to defect, has been cited as an example of architectural propaganda by architect Richard Buday. [1]
Architectural propaganda has been used throughout the history of the United States. Early in its history as an independent country, neoclassical architecture was often employed to convey allusions to democracy, stability, and refinement. [1] [7]
During the New Deal, many government buildings were constructed in an art deco style in an effort to convey a modern and progressive image. [7]
Modernist architecture became common in the United States during the time of the Cold War, and was used to demonstrate ideas such as efficiency and technological superiority. [7]
During the 21st century, figures on the political right-wing in the United States have promoted the use of neoclassical architecture. [7] Proposals for an America First Caucus have endorsed "European architecture" as "befitting a world power and source of freedom", and then-President Donald Trump passed an executive order mandating the use of neoclassical architecture in government buildings, and recommended demolishing or re-modeling existing modernist federal buildings. [7] Trump's executive order was quickly overruled by subsequent President Joe Biden, [8] and calls to discourage or prohibit non-classical architecture have been opposed by groups representing architects, and architectural firms. [7] [8] Some have also linked the uptick in interest in reviving classical architecture in the United States during this time with white nationalism. [7]
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, he was convicted at the Nuremberg trial and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect Vitruvius. Different styles of classical architecture have arguably existed since the Carolingian Renaissance, and prominently since the Italian Renaissance. Although classical styles of architecture can vary greatly, they can in general all be said to draw on a common "vocabulary" of decorative and constructive elements. In much of the Western world, different classical architectural styles have dominated the history of architecture from the Renaissance until the World War II. Classical architecture continues to inform many architects.
The Nuremberg rallies were a series of celebratory events coordinated by the Nazi Party in Germany. The first Nazi Nuremberg rally took place in 1923. This rally was not particularly large and did not have much impact; however, as the party grew in size, the rallies became more elaborate and featured larger crowds. They played a seminal role in Nazi propaganda events, conveying a unified and strong Germany under Nazi control. The rallies became a national event once Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933, when they became annual occurrences. Once the Nazi dictatorship was firmly established, the party's propagandists began filming them for a national and international audience. Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl produced some of her best known work including Triumph of the Will (1934) and The Victory of Faith (1933), both filmed at the Nazi party rally grounds near Nuremberg. The party's 1938 Nuremberg rally celebrated the Anschluss that occurred earlier that year. The 1939 scheduled rally never came to pass and the Nazi regime never held another one as both the government and Nazi Party prioritized Germany's effort in the Second World War over everything else.
Neoclassicism was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was born in Rome largely thanks to the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, at the time of the rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum, but its popularity spread across Europe as a generation of European art students finished their Grand Tour and returned from Italy to their home countries with newly rediscovered Greco-Roman ideals. The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, laterally competing with Romanticism. In architecture, the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th and up to the 21st century.
Paul Ludwig Troost was a German architect. A favourite master builder of Adolf Hitler from 1930, his Neoclassical designs for the Führerbau and the Haus der Kunst in Munich influenced the style of Nazi architecture.
The Aryan Games were a proposed replacement for the Olympic Games in Nazi Germany. Proposed by Nazi sports organizer Carl Diem and subsequently adopted by Adolf Hitler, these multi-sport games were supposed to be housed permanently in Nuremberg at the planned "German Stadium", that had been designed by Nazi architect Albert Speer, but was never built.
The Reich Chancellery was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared since 1875, was the former city palace of Prince Antoni Radziwiłł (1775–1833) on Wilhelmstraße in Berlin. Both the palace and a new Reich Chancellery building were seriously damaged during World War II and subsequently demolished.
Ruin value is the concept that a building be designed in such a way that if it eventually collapsed, it would leave behind aesthetically pleasing ruins that would last far longer without any maintenance at all. The idea was pioneered by German architect Albert Speer while planning for the 1936 Summer Olympics and published as "The Theory of Ruin Value", although he was not its original inventor. The intention did not stretch only to the eventual collapse of the buildings, but rather assumed such buildings were inherently better designed and more imposing during their period of use.
The Deutsches Stadion was a monumental stadium designed by Albert Speer for the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg, southern Germany. Its construction began in September 1937, and was scheduled for completion in 1943. Like most other Nazi monumental structures, however, its construction was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II and was never finished.
The Volkshalle, also called Große Halle or Ruhmeshalle, was a proposal for a monumental, domed building to be built in a reconstituted Berlin in Nazi Germany. The project was conceived by Adolf Hitler and designed by his architect Albert Speer. No part of the building was ever constructed.
Rudolf Wolters was a German architect and government official, known for his longtime association with fellow architect and Third Reich official Albert Speer. A friend and subordinate of Speer, Wolters received the many papers which were smuggled out of Spandau Prison for Speer while he was imprisoned there, and kept them for him until Speer was released in 1966. After Speer's release, the friendship slowly collapsed, Wolters objecting strongly to Speer's blaming of Hitler and other Nazis for the Holocaust and World War II, and they saw nothing of each other in the decade before Speer's death in 1981.
Der Sieg des Glaubens is the first Nazi propaganda film directed by Leni Riefenstahl. Her film recounts the Fifth Party Rally of the Nazi Party, which occurred in Nuremberg, Germany, from 30 August to 3 September 1933. The film is of great historic interest because it shows Adolf Hitler and Ernst Röhm on close and intimate terms, before Hitler had Röhm shot during the Night of the Long Knives on 1 July 1934. As he then sought to erase Röhm from German history, Hitler required all known copies of the film to be destroyed, and it was considered lost until a copy turned up in the 1980s in East Germany.
Fascist architecture encompasses various stylistic trends in architecture developed by architects of fascist states, primarily in the early 20th century. Fascist architectural styles gained popularity in the late 1920s with the rise of modernism along with the ultranationalism associated with fascist governments in western Europe. Fascist styles often resemble that of ancient Rome, but can extend to modern aesthetics as well. Fascist-era buildings are frequently constructed with particular concern given to symmetry and simplicity.
Nazi archaeology was a field of pseudoarcheology led and encouraged by various Nazi leaders and Ahnenerbe figures, such as Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, which directed archaeologists and other scholars to search Germany's archeological past in order to find material evidence supporting an advanced, Aryan ancestry as alleged and espoused by the ultranationalist Nazi Party.
The Cathedral of Light or Lichtdom was a main aesthetic feature of the Nazi Party rallies in Nuremberg from 1934 to 1938. Designed by architect Albert Speer, it consisted of 152 anti-aircraft searchlights, at intervals of 12 metres, aimed skyward to create a series of vertical bars surrounding the audience. The Cathedral of Light was documented in the Nazi propaganda film Festliches Nürnberg, released in 1937.
Totalitarian architecture is a term utilized to refer to the relationship between totalitarianism and architecture, often in the context of alleged "approved styles" of architecture within totalitarian regimes. Most commonly, the term is used to describe an observed fixation on Neo-Classicism and realism within specific regimes. Such fixations on neo-Classicism are not unique to totalitarian regimes, however, and manifest in other political and social systems historically and globally. Beyond Neo-Classicism, descriptions of the architecture of totalitarian regimes sometimes focus on brutalist architecture, often in the context of Le Corbusier and his associations with Benito Mussolini. In contrast to these views, several authors have upheld brutalism and socialist realism as modernist art forms which exist beyond simply being physical manifestations of totalitarian ideology.
Gigantomania is the production of unusually and superfluously large works.
Stripped Classicism is primarily a 20th-century classicist architectural style stripped of most or all ornamentation, frequently employed by governments while designing official buildings. It was adopted by both totalitarian and democratic regimes. The style embraces a "simplified but recognizable" classicism in its overall massing and scale while eliminating traditional decorative detailing. The orders of architecture are only hinted at or are indirectly implicated in the form and structure.
Nazi architecture is the architecture promoted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime from 1933 until its fall in 1945, connected with urban planning in Nazi Germany. It is characterized by three forms: a stripped neoclassicism, typified by the designs of Albert Speer; a vernacular style that drew inspiration from traditional rural architecture, especially alpine; and a utilitarian style followed for major infrastructure projects and industrial or military complexes. Nazi ideology took a pluralist attitude to architecture; however, Hitler himself believed that form follows function and wrote against "stupid imitations of the past".