Architecture & Machine

Reinterpreting the City as a means of Production

$12,800,000,000 US Dollars; the approximate monetary cost of the 2008 financial crisis, the crash was the greatest destitution to the world economy since 1929. Triggered on September 15th 2008, as American investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed after a long struggle to avoid bankruptcy. Paralysing the world’s financial networks and tipping the United States economy into an abyss - which it would seem it has not yet emerged from. Such an event triggered a domino effect upon the world’s banking sector as a number of high profile banks almost followed suit if it weren’t for governments swiftly confirming numerous bail outs - to which the tax payer would fall victim too. The world economy is still fearfully tiptoeing around the effects of the 2008 crisis.

In July of 2013, economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas named Tyler Atkinson, David Luttrel and Harvey Rosenblum attempted to calculate the total cost of the crash bared upon the tax payer.

“Their analysis - cautious and tentatively on critically debatable assumption - underscores how difficult it is to accurately tally the costs of the most severe economic catastrophe since the crash of 29’ into a coherent, conclusive measure of loss”

Most notably, the examination offers a panoramic view of the variety of ways in which the financial crisis diminished the nations collective standard of living. At a bare minimum the crash cost approximately $20,000 US Dollars per person, when including broader impacts such as worker’s well-being this had the potential to raise the individual cost to $120,000 US Dollars per person in the USA with regard to the population in its entirety and the losses incurred per person. Additionally, the economists at the Dallas Federal Reserve constructed a model depicting the value of economic loss by the time the economy returned to its state prior to the crisis - expected 2023 - totalling an approximate value worth 40% - 90% of one year of economic output. Estimated to be in the range of $6,000,000,000,000 to $14,000,000,000,000 or $19,000 - $45,000 per person with regard to the current inflation rate.

“But what if the path is not recovered so quickly? So far, the economy has made up little if any of the ground it lost. Perhaps the shock from the crisis slowed the nation’s growth rate for good.”

Triggered on Wall Street, the crash affected every country on the planet in some form or another - some more so than others. Causing a domino effect within the world’s financial sector crippling economies worldwide - one after another. Spain was one of them, the crash was of great detriment to its economy - it too is still submerged in that abyss. The primary cause which led to Spain’s paralysis during the Great Recession was the housing bubble alongside the unsustainably high GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth rate. The country suffered a swathe of social and economic consequences, amassing a public debt estimated at approximately 36.2% of GDP alongside unemployment soaring to the highest rate in Europe at 23%. A consequence of corruption, power and greed.

In the aftermath of the depression, major financial institutions, banks and energy corporations seek to expose the vulnerable. Increasing rates in accordance with inflation, fully aware of the public debt and financial insecurity. As a result, vast numbers of the population were without power due to financial instability. All to sustain the lining in their pockets. This thesis will investigate the reinterpretation of the the city as a means of production through architecture and machine. Addressing current socioeconomic and environmental issues Madrid and modern day metropolises are faced with. Cities are often considered the consumers of the modern world. We take our home for granted as we continue to deplete the Earth’s invaluable resources. Cities rely on peripheral settlements often confined to suburban lands in seek of a means of power. Posing the argument - why shouldn’t a city produce what it consumes?

The architecture is a celebration of the process of production and consumption. Defining a new perimeter for the city of Madrid. The towered typology is often considered the symbol of corruption, power and greed. The architecture inverts this notion, overpowering the neighbouring financial institutions. Granting the power of freedom to the people of Madrid.