Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Between architecture, developers, and the land market, we observe a phenomenon that, historically, promoted urban development while accentuating inequalities. This phenomenon operates as a mechanism for expelling inhabitants from these "strategic zones", which are generally undervalued due to urban degradation-a result of urban and economic, and social policies. Design and the star architects, aligned with the interests of the developers, projected or restored an emblematic building in a degraded area, creating a "catalyst building" or model to attract investment and improve the surrounding area. Similarly, we note that design exhibitions replicate these dynamics by temporarily highlighting a degraded area of the city to promote real estate development there. The case of Casa FOA falls within this framework, supported by the sponsorship of various private or state developers. It acts as a dispositive that, leveraging the symbolic capital of its directors and using design as a tool, enables and promotes real estate speculation, ennobling and gentrifying an area, encouraging displacement and spatial segregation. To achieve this, the different headquarters are presented as "notable buildings", showcasing a fictitious recovery and heritage recognition, even though they will later be demolished to make way for the constructing of the " catalyst building".
Source: PENSUM
Author: Lucas Federico Tebes
Institution: Universidad de Buenos Aires
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4411407100