The following article proposes rethinking architecture as a subject rather than an object. Carlos Medellín delves into the topic, arguing from both experimental and academic perspectives how people-centered architecture acts as an agent of change.
Late 2016 was a tense yet hopeful period in Colombia. After multiple attempts, a peace agreement between the government and the FARC guerrilla movement was on the verge of becoming a reality. Colombians were asked to vote in a referendum to ratify the treaty, aiming to end the world's longest-running internal armed conflict. The ratification failed, with 50.2% voting against it. It seemed astonishing that a country that had endured more than 60 years of violence would reject an agreement to stop the war. While the peace accord was ultimately signed, it was framed within a society deeply divided between those who believe forgiveness is possible and those who distrust that path.
This context perhaps explains my interest in spatial agency—in space taking on the role of mediator, fostering environments where we can overcome the various forms of violence resulting from our deep social divisions. As a citizen, I have lived through the extremes of the Colombian armed conflict and the social segregation left in its wake. As a gay man, I have experienced how hazardous it can be to navigate spaces shaped by absolutist notions that override an individual's unique class, race, or sexuality: whatever does not fit the pre-existing hegemonic mold is either forced to comply or cast aside. And as an architect, I have realized that building is also a form of governing—that architecture is a political act capable of defining how we live and relate to one another.
