Sunday, March 24, 2019
Week 11.1 Bruce Grant - The Edifice Complex
This week's readings focus on speculative construction projects in different cities in the world. Bruce Grant's article focusses on a building boom in Baku, Azerbaijan. What is the source of cash for this building boom? What are the various motives behind this boom--by private corporations but also by the government? How does the socialist experience of construction influence contemporary commentaries and imaginaries around these constructions by the residents?
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The building boom in Baku, Azerbaijan at the time this article was published and a few years before during Bruce Grant's research, was seen as excessive or an example of "hyperbuilding" to the outside world. The government and private companies have demolished, rebuilt, recreated facades, and have plans to build some of the world's tallest structures on a massive scale. Officially, this is done to quickly distance Azerbaijan from Soviet past, as well as attracting foreign investment and tourism. This is "paid" for by the recent boom in the oil market that is being exploited at an alarming rate, which is the largest industry in the country. However, it seems to be paid for by money laundering from political figures and private firms to cover their tracks from illegal gains of finance. Most residents of Baku view this real estate boom as impressive and exciting. After decades of economic struggles and continued conflict in the area, this is seen as a sign of relief and prosperity for all to come. This renews faith in the government, and views them as a wealthy, powerful new nation that will soon be a world contender.
ReplyDeleteAfter the fall of the USSR, the city of Baku, which is the capitol of Azerbaijan, experienced a boom in construction. Officially, the boom was to help make the city look more tourist friendly, as well as make the city look more modern. However, Grant as well notes in his article that what all the new constructions are actually for are not currently yet known. The article also mentions that in many post-Soviet countries, construction is a common way to launder money, which might be the actual reason for these new buildings. After all, who is to use all these fancy new buildings, when the average income is around $500 a month? These buildings then seem likely to remain empty, for the sole purpose of saving and making money. Later on in his article, Grant notes that the money for these new constructions are coming from the sale of oil, and public funds.
ReplyDeleteIn Bruce Grant’s article, The Edifice Complex: Architecture and the Political Life of Surplus in the New Baku, he discusses life in the former USSR city of Baku, Azerbaijan. The country has gained a mass amount of wealth through their oil and gas projects. The population size is growing and they are experiencing a building boom where old neighborhoods are being demolished and new buildings are coming up. The government is hoping to bring in money through tourism by the reconstruction of these buildings. They want to show off their “new, stronger, more modern” country and achieve world recognition in doing so. “The future is now” the government claims even though a lot of citizens are being displaced from their homes and can’t afford to live in the new buildings. A law was recently passed that protects owners of enterprises from the public eye so little is known about individual businesses. Most of the residence are excited by the new city but also find humor in it. One person described the new buildings as being two-faced just like during socialism. Another citizen described the outside of the buildings as being “candy wrappers” where she continued to say, “it’s just a cover.” Overall though, most seem intrigued by the direction the city is heading and are hopeful that it will lead them out of poverty.
ReplyDeleteIn his article Bruce Grant describes Azerbaijan in its attempts to join the world stage in the aftermath of war and the collapse of the Soviet Union. He talks about the country's reliance on oil and the eminent possibility of economic collapse should the oil run out. It is with this pretext that Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, is experiencing a real estate boom encouraged by the government in an attempt to increase tourism and diversify the nation's ways of making money. Many of the new building projects require the demolition of low-income housing leading many citizens to feel apprehensive about the future of the city. However, Grant also describes the opinion of many to be a positive, they seem optimistic that the expensive development programs will bring Azerbaijan onto the world stage through exposure. Grant also warns about the similarities to the old communist regime. Many of the new projects are kept secret, and the people behind them remain anonymous. It is theorized that the president himself has personal stakes in the construction of new buildings. Grant also points out that very few people will be able to take advantage of the new construction projects due thier high cost and the low agerage income of many Baku citizens.
ReplyDeleteIn this article Grant discusses the huge uptick in construction and investment, specifically in buildings and infrastructure, of Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. There were many reasons behind the boom; the emancipation of Azerbaijan from Soviet control and the need to separate from the Soviet historical connections takes center stage, but there are other factors, such as a desire for outside investments and tourism in the country. The number one export of the nation is oil, but there has been a sudden switch of focus towards more tourism because of the eventual end of this export. There is a darker side as well, as many members of the upper class as well as the government are also using the recent boom as an operation to launder money. There are varying responses to this phenomenon from the citizens who are watching the city become more and more "updated". There are those that are stepping up to say that they disagree with the government's use of money that came from their hard work, but then opposite to them are citizens who see the development as good no matter what, as long as it makes the state look better and more powerful. The latter I believe comes from a background of Soviet control, and marks the difficulty of the sudden transition out of that governing system.
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ReplyDeleteThe time of excessive construction in Azerbaijan, especially in the capital city of Baku, occurred after the fall of the former USSR. It was said that the increase in building was to draw in more external investments and to increase tourism for the country. Allegedly this reconstruction affair was paid for by Azerbaijan's booming oil industry, though Grant eludes to the possibility of illegal gains of finances to be the cause. The rebuilding did give the country a sense of prosperity with the hope of moving on to a better future, though many consider the construction to simply be a cover, with lies surrounding it. Which isn't a surprising state of mind due to the fact that many citizen's homes are being demolished and the average income is very low, thus many would not be able to even live in the new buildings being built and the government is taking advantage of their low-income citizens.
ReplyDeleteIn the article written by Bruce Grant, he speaks about the huge incline of real estate and construction in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is said that the reason of this huge incline is to paint a new picture of Azerbaijan to cover up the past and make the country more suitable for tourists and as a new way to bring in revenue. Though this seems like a logical reason to build new and expensive buildings, others have been skeptical about it. It has been said that the boom is just a cover up for the government to launder money as these buildings stay empty. Also majority of the citizens could not afford to live there which has brought a lot of question to the real estate boom. Though there will always be skepticism with these type of things, especially with the nations past history, I believe that it is good that they're trying to take a step foward.
ReplyDeleteIn this article, Bruce Grant discusses the borderline absurd amount of real estate and construction going in in the city of Baku in Azerbaijan after the USSR came to an end. A major reason for the massive jump in construction is that there was a desire among Azerbaijanis to build over the marks left by the USSR and start towards a fresher, more tourist friendly look. The downside to this growth is that a lot of it was largely pointless outside of being flashy and easy on the eyes, and was exploited by money launderers. There's a distinct trade-off; the city looks fresher and more developed, but huge amounts of money are being spent that could be better allocated elsewhere. While it's admirable to take these steps forward in attempt to correct their history, it should perhaps be a slower process.
ReplyDeleteThe government officials of newly independent Azerbaijan were left in single-handed stewardship of virtually the whole country’s physical plant, leading across the former socialist world to huge profits and powerful careers to be made in short order through the redistribution of earlier state holdings. Marx's surplus value became the bedrock of capitalist logic. the utility of excess is clear but a much wider range of notions of surplus as a means of domination transitions through everyday life. Baku consolidated its role as a center of Soviet oil production during the 1920's. Oil might have remained the city’s lead Soviet-era brand, but the city’s symbolic tug-of-war between “oil and rams” was never far from view. "Sergey Rumyansev (2008)" The Soviet 1920s and 1930s were a period when “paper architecture” flourished, with the whole country awash in hope for its remodeling under the socialist ideal. "paper architecture" flourished the soviet 1920 and 30's, with the whole country awash in plans for its reform under the socialist ideal.
ReplyDelete“The new buildings were early signs of that turn for the better, of a future of fulfilled dreams. That the buildings were empty was perhaps even a precondition for the maintenance of that dream...
Empty buildings— emptiness itself—would leave the unevenness of ‘progress’ unseen” (pg 515 Bruce grant)