Walls of domestication-archaeology of the architecture of capitalist elementary public schools: The case of Buenos Aires

Abstract

One of the characteristics of the modern world is the concentration of social life in big cities. These artificial landscapes created by man have replaced natural landscapes radically. Architecture, as part of that new world, occupies a central place in our life. As inhabitants of these big cities, consciously or not, we spend almost our entire life circulating inside buildings. We are born, grow up, eat, reproduce ourselves, rest, seek protection, die and we are also buried inside them. This situation makes natural things become exotic, making in turn artificial things appear more natural. For example, living inside small apartments; walking along streets where the sky is generally only a tiny blue line above our heads; or working in closed, controlled and watched spaces-generally engaged in bureaucratic activities-is usual for us. Cities that lack green spaces and wallow below contaminating fog amidst only mechanical sounds have become more natural to us than mountains or a lake-which have become exotic objects. But in opposition to oceans, valleys or mountains, architectural structures are thought, designed and built by humans (so are a cultural product full of meaning). © 2005 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.