AMU: Lecture held on ‘Space and the Power to Punish’

Space and the Power to Punish: Israel’s occupation of Palestine, the Twin Towers Memorial, Albert Speer as Hitler’s chief architect, etc., are examples of how politics attempts to immortalise itself through architecture. This was stated by Mr Fahad Zuberi, Visiting faculty at National Institute of Design and CEPT University, Ahmedabad, and alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University, while delivering a lecture. He stated, echoing Jacques Derrida, that architecture is significant because ruins are significant.

Mr. Zuberi elaborated on his point by stating that, in relation to demonstrations, space frequently becomes political, and architecture thus functions not only as a symbol of politics but as a direct manifestation of it.

“Architecture also generates a unique form of politics. It is a feedback cycle, not a one-way relationship”, he added.

He further stated that aside from these apparent pathways, there are also more invisible, fundamental, and pervasive pathways of politics via space and architecture.

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Jeremy Bentham, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault are among the theorists and philosophers whose ideas Mr. Zuberi drew upon to explain how space is one of the channels of the power relations that characterise everything we do.

Prof. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui, Chairman of the English Department, highlighted the significance of the lecture and spoke about Mr. Zuberi’s lengthy association with AMU.

Dr. Akbar Joseph A. Syed, the program’s convener, extended a vote of gratitude.

The lecture was followed by a question and answer session, which was attended by a large number of faculty and students.