Multum In Parvo

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to explore and address the various systems of power and control and the mediums which are used within society to control and manipulate the perceptions of the populace. The goal of this thesis is to discover, unmask and understand the organization of these power systems and the impact they have had on society and the structure, architecture and organization of cities. How can we start to think critically about these systems when we are so much a part of them that we cannot even begin to conceive a world where they do not exist? Through more research, I have begun to find the system apparent in architecture. While some act as resistance, or challenge the system, others are reinforcements replicated throughout cities as they sought to shape the behavior of those inhabiting these spaces. How has this system shifted how we think, how we act, how we live, and how we build? What other opportunities are there to resist the limited freedom we are faced with when we are only given a circumscribed set of options from a menu which prevents us from defining the context of our own interactions and choices. To resist the system to which we are all bound, we must first adjust our thinking, we must eliminate the perceptions provided to us by the system, for the system. To discontinue its hold we must stop being active participants and reclaim the right we've never had since its conception-freedom.