Honduran culture is best expressed through dialogues between the people of the country and the contemporary manner of expression including gang mark-making, graffiti street art, and Mayan carvings. These methods of expression by the people of Honduras result in an open expression of frustration. Honduras is widely known for its high crime rates. Internationally - since 2011 - Honduras has acquired the name of “Murder Capital”. Crime concentrates around the three largest cities, Tegucigalpa, San Pedro, and Copan Ruinas, and is usually attributed to the concentrated presence of gangs within these cities. 

The Honduran economy is comprised of eight dominant sectors that include the 180 most proactive companies generating the core stronghold for employment in Honduras. However, only sixteen families monopolize these industries, creating a concentration of power at the upper most levels of government and economic strength. This economic division positions residents in one of two groups: on one side is the minority – upper class – about 1% of the population who control the country’s economic production, methods, and politics and represent the state. Contrasting the upper class are 80% of the population who live under poor or extremely poor economic conditions - the people. Since 2009 a despondent spirit has taken hold of the Honduran people after the events that followed the deposition of the president elect.

Throughout Honduran culture, a tradition of mark making persists. The early Mayan stelas recorded the earliest belief systems of their civilization. In contemporary culture, this mark making is represented at all positons of social strata: the government’s mark includes propaganda, slogans, and governmental institutions; the people’s mark include unrest, protests, crime, signs, and painted graffiti. However, a dialectic is apparent that highlights the hypocritical position of each group: the government can use paint on the walls [propaganda + slogans] to collect the people’s vote, however, paint on a wall speaking against violence and crime, injustice and inequality is constantly persecuted.

This thesis investigation intends to enable and encourage a dialogue to take place between these two entities. This is achieved through a series of ‘Minor Architecture’ interventions that enable Hondurans to move from places of alienation to the place of power within the city. While the main pageantry that take place within Tegucigalpa are those that celebrate the state or religious power, I intend to design a procession through the city that celebrates the citizens, resulting in a series of minor metaphorical architecture interventions for the procession of, for, and by the people.