Parliaments around the world: what can architecture teach us about democracy?

2017-05-18T09:00:00-04:00

David Mulder van der Vegt and Max Cohen de Lara, who comprise the Amsterdam-based creative agency and architecture office XML, have spent the past five-years studying the halls of Parliament. Comparing all 193 different assembly halls, the duo investigates how the architecture of these political congregations affects the governing process and in effect, how architecture shapes political culture.

With recent elections in the US and abroad exposing serious divides in the politics of these nations, we have decided to share with you a timely excerpt from their book Parliament, documenting their findings.

The Whistleblower Architects: surveillance, infrastructure, and freedom of information according to Cryptome (part 2)

2016-07-07T12:15:00-04:00

This is the second half of a two-part interview with Cryptome, an online repository of leaked government secrets and other documents relevant to contemporary surveillance and its infrastructure. Cryptome is run by the architects Deborah Natsios and John Young, who live and work in New York City (any use of the first person is from Natsios' perspective). Part one, which you can read here, delves into their backgrounds and motivations. Part two deals more with their views on the contemporary city and the politics of information access.

Archinect - Features

Parliaments around the world: what can architecture teach us about democracy?

The Whistleblower Architects: surveillance, infrastructure, and freedom of information according to Cryptome (part 2)