politics of space
{ politics of space } Kurdish mobilisation in Rojava began in 2011, just as the Syrian uprising was spiralling into a civil war. Institutions that had worked underground for years suddenly…
healing
{ healing } The biggest hit to Kobane in Rojava, northern Syria, came on June 25, 2015. Several months after defeating ISIS, hundreds of Islamic State fighters sneaked back into town…
subversion
{ subversion } Beside the use of the scissor lift as prosthesis of preservation, the act of going up and looking down through the oculus aims at a symbolic subversion of…
critical preservation
{ critical preservation } The 1964 Venice Charter, setting guidelines for the conservation and restoration of monuments states that ‘replacements of missing parts must integrate harmoniously with the whole, but at…
undoing heritage
{ undoing heritage } Heritage is not neutral: indeed, heritage is entirely political. The authorized heritage discourse focuses on aesthetically pleasing material artifacts and excludes everything which can contradict the official…
dildo-architecture
{ dildo-architecture } The notion of prosthesis is crucial for developping an understanding of the role of architecture as a multiplier of (gendered) ideology. As Paul B. Preciado argues, hegemonic masculinity…
echoing
{ echoing } Echoes from the “colonies” resound in “Casa del Mutilato”, where history is represented by the voice of the coloniser. One of the epigraphs, placed at the sides of…
peace
{ peace } Mussolini’s speech continues by labelling the Empire as an “Empire of peace, because Italy wants peace for itself and for everyone and decides to go to war only…
martyrdom
{ martyrdom } What is the relevance of the queer reading of Saint Sebastian in relation to Casa del Mutilato? If the building is a monument to men who fought in…
mutilation
{ mutilation } During the Treaty of London (1915), a secret pact between the Triple Entente and the Kingdom of Italy, Italy was also promised a share over the Mediterranean Ottoman…