Deforming American Political Thought: Ethnicity, Facticity, and Genre

4. Constructing America: Architectural Thought-Worlds

4฀ Constructing฀America Architectural฀Thought-Worlds An฀Attack฀on฀the฀Architecture฀of฀Hegemony When฀operatives฀of฀the฀Al฀Qaeda฀network฀crashed฀planes฀into฀the฀twin฀ towers฀of฀the฀World฀Trade฀Center฀in฀lower฀Manhattan฀on฀September฀ 11,฀2001,฀they฀were฀attacking฀what฀they฀regarded฀as฀the฀quintessential ฀architectural฀expression฀of฀American฀global฀hegemony.฀From฀their฀ perspective,฀the฀attack฀was฀one฀battle฀in฀a฀prolonged฀war฀between฀incommensurate ฀thought-worlds,฀a฀strike฀against฀an฀evil฀that฀expresses฀ itself฀in฀both฀thought฀and฀material฀culture.฀Whatever฀resonances฀the฀ episode฀has฀had฀in฀various฀parts฀of฀the฀globe฀since฀the฀attack—antagonistic ,฀neutral,฀or฀friendly—it฀has฀created฀an฀intense฀process฀of฀domestic ฀reflection฀on฀what฀America฀is฀about.฀While฀the฀more฀applied฀ effects฀of฀that฀reflection฀are฀evident฀in฀many฀aspects฀of฀public฀policy,฀ especially฀those฀involving฀militarization฀and฀securitization,฀much฀of฀ the฀continuing฀significance฀of฀the฀event฀will฀be฀effected฀in฀the฀design฀ and฀construction฀of฀the฀new฀World฀Trade฀Center.฀Architecture฀served฀ as฀the฀material฀target฀of฀the฀antagonists,฀and฀it฀will฀materialize฀the฀subsequent ฀processes฀of฀healing฀and฀remembrance.฀And,฀inasmuch฀as฀(in฀ a฀Bergsonian฀sense)฀the฀past฀always฀“is”—it฀continually฀changes฀as฀it฀ remains฀subject฀to฀endless,฀experience-shaping฀reinterpretation—it฀is฀ propitious฀that฀Daniel฀Libeskind,฀many฀of฀whose฀designs฀are฀aimed฀at฀ historical฀remembrance,฀is฀the฀architect฀who฀won฀the฀competition฀to฀ oversee฀the฀design฀of฀much฀of฀the฀rebuilt฀World฀Trade฀Center.1 Although฀Libeskind’s฀control฀of฀the฀design฀process฀has฀been฀significantly ฀attenuated,2 ฀his฀participation฀in฀the฀design฀process฀constitutes฀a฀ challenge฀to฀the฀tradition฀of฀memorial฀architecture.฀As฀one฀art฀historian ฀puts฀it,฀“[t]he฀typical฀commemorative฀monument฀is฀supposed฀to฀ 106 Deforming American Political Thought create฀closure.฀.฀.฀.฀That’s฀the฀ruling฀assumption—that฀there’s฀a฀kind฀of฀ definitive฀past฀interpretation.”3 ฀In฀contrast,฀Libeskind’s฀vision฀for฀the฀ “pit”฀(a฀sunken฀part฀of฀the฀reconstruction,฀which฀will฀bear฀most฀of฀the฀ memorial฀aspect฀of฀the฀project)฀is฀designed฀to฀resist฀narrative฀closure.฀ Opposing฀a฀simplistic฀model฀of฀the฀adequation฀of฀architecture฀to฀history ,฀in฀Libeskind’s฀design฀preference฀“visitors฀to฀the฀pit฀probably฀will฀ not฀be฀given฀a฀map฀to฀follow฀to฀find฀the฀place฀of฀magic.฀Instead฀they฀ will฀be฀allowed฀to฀choose฀their฀own฀paths฀.฀.฀.฀with฀no฀authority฀dictating ,฀as฀would฀have฀been฀the฀case฀in฀ages฀past,฀which฀direction฀is฀correct .”4 ฀Moreover,฀Libeskind’s฀initially฀proposed฀plan฀does฀not฀provide฀ for฀a฀definitive฀boundary:฀“The฀memorial฀park’s฀western฀boundary,฀the฀ so-called฀slurry฀wall฀that฀held฀back฀the฀Hudson฀River฀from฀flooding฀in฀ after฀the฀9/11฀attack,฀will฀continue฀to฀restrain฀the฀river.฀.฀.฀.฀There฀will฀ be฀.฀.฀.฀no฀firm฀demarcation฀of฀what฀was฀and฀what฀became.฀Where฀the฀ wall฀was,฀it฀still฀is,฀and฀in฀such฀a฀place฀memory฀is฀a฀live฀event.฀History฀ plays฀out฀in฀real฀time.”5 At฀a฀minimum,฀whatever฀is฀the฀resulting฀design,฀after฀the฀culture฀ war฀within฀which฀the฀plan฀has฀been฀contested,฀Libeskind’s฀design฀orientation ฀is฀not฀meant฀to฀redeem฀a฀version฀of฀America’s฀pre-9/11฀sense฀ of฀itself.6 ฀Here,฀as฀elsewhere—for฀example,฀in฀his฀design฀of฀the฀extension ฀of฀the฀Jewish฀Museum฀in฀Berlin—his฀memorial฀architecture฀is฀ anti-redemptive.฀As฀James฀Young฀points฀out,฀in฀Libeskind’s฀memorial฀ designs,฀“memory฀of฀historical฀events,฀which฀never฀domesticates฀such฀ events,฀never฀makes฀us฀at฀home฀with฀them,฀never฀brings฀them฀into฀the฀ reassuring฀house฀of฀redemptory฀meaning.”7 ฀Put฀positively,฀Libeskind’s฀ memorial฀structures฀privilege฀renewal฀rather฀than฀redemption.฀In฀his฀ words,฀ addressing฀ one฀ of฀ his฀ European฀ projects,฀ “[t]o฀ continue฀ the฀ Jewish฀tradition฀across฀the฀desert฀of฀assimilation฀and฀annihilation฀is฀to฀ return฀to฀living฀sources฀of฀Jewish฀space฀and฀symbolism฀so฀that฀a฀community ฀can฀be฀renewed.”฀Adopting฀a฀radical฀strain฀of฀Talmudic฀textual฀ practice,฀and฀articulating฀it฀through฀architectural฀design,฀Libeskind’s฀ Jewish฀ community฀ center฀ and฀ synagogue฀ in฀ Duisberg,฀ Germany,฀ is฀ shaped฀like฀a฀book:฀“The฀building฀stands฀with฀the฀vertical฀hinge฀of฀ the฀book฀facing฀the฀river฀and฀the฀main฀entrance฀to฀the฀complex฀facing฀ the฀promenade,฀which฀is฀the฀one฀focal฀point฀of฀the฀new฀city฀development .”8 ฀But฀given฀the฀absence฀of฀a฀definitive฀textual฀closure฀in฀this฀ building/book฀(it฀is฀an฀“open฀book”9 ),฀the฀museum’s฀plan฀articulates฀ the฀part฀of฀the฀Jewish฀thought-world฀that฀resists฀“the฀various฀measures฀ [of฀conservative฀Jewish฀scholars]฀aimed฀at฀petrifying฀Jewish฀tradition.”10 ฀ [3.142.200.226] Project MUSE...