Soft Power Architecture: Establishing an Interdisciplinary Methodological Approach for the Research of Embassy Buildings

Abstract

Architecture can be viewed as a system of circumstance structuring that does not exist independently from the contextual occurrences. It captures, constructs and legitimizes oftentimes conflicting societal realities and ideologies. One of these aspects is observable within the concept of soft power, defined as the capability to attract and persuade without coercion and payments. Additionally, soft power resources are the assets that produce such attraction but cannot always be measured or have tangible physical manifestations. What happens when soft power does have spatial manifestations? Soft power architecture is positioned as an amalgamation of processes and outcomes that must be examined and explained as an indissoluble structure. This paper focuses on establishing an interdisciplinary methodological approach through mapping and classification of the state sponsored (re)production processes for spaces aimed at the communication of the officially sanctioned images/messages of national identity. Placement of ideological narrative-building processes or lack thereof, for embassy buildings is observed as the representative model for this research. The findings dispute the presupposed discrepancies between the proclaimed values, implementation strategies and examined spatial manifestations. Embassy architecture, with its privileges and realization process, vary significantly depending on the interpretation of ideological narrative-building. The relevancy of architectural design is of secondary importance, while the examined conceptualization and management processes are more indicative of spatial (re)production and freedom and control in urban spaces. Apart from providing an applicable methodology and method for examining soft power architecture, this research offers relevant data primarily for architects and urban planners, putting forward strategies for communication of identity for exported architectural typologies. Furthermore, the universality of these typologies allows their spatial consequences to be examined in various urban matrices and cross-referenced with points of interest for individual case studies.