Delaminating the Real: Unpacking the Physical Expression of Ideology in government buildings
Delaminating the Real is an investigation of the ways in which national governments use architecture as a tool of national narrative, identity, and dissemination of ideology. Using the case studies of Skopje, North Macedonia, and Washington, DC, I reveal a genealogy of classicism and the ways in which ornament has been adapted and appropriated throughout history to different ends. Using the mythos of recognizable classical architecture, modern regimes replicate merely the image of the classical past, distorting it in the process with a twist of contemporary narrative that is indicative of political intention.
Completed while studying at Syracuse University
Type: Research, Travel, History, Theory
Location: Skopje, North Macedonia; Washington, DC
Date: 2021-2022
Awards: Renee Crown Thesis Award
Thesis Advisors: Lawrence Chua, Susan Henderson, Lawrence Davis, Timur Hammond
Secondary Advisors: Mitesh Dixit, Ognen Marina
Special Thanks: Blagoja Bajkovski, Borjan Menkinoski, Filip Velkoski, Michael Giannattasio, Robert Weaver, John Bryant, Ethan Levine, Jesse Wetzel,
Production Assistants: Benjamin Wang, Yida Li, AJ Laucks, Max Walewski
