Weeping Walls and Shopping Malls

Abstract

Imagine that, in order to build a city, murders were always necessary. If grief counts then someone has the task to mourn for the victim, to plan the celebration of the recurrence and to come to term with the murderer. The territory where the city exists is certainly that which has been violated at first. When we stare at the on-going overbuilding of our contemporary cities we are often reminded of all that which has been and must be irreparably lost because of the desire and the necessity to build. Responsible architects want to express a profound and sincere sense of grief for that loss. We could name it: “radical grief”. The well-educated architects indulge diligently in front of their weeping walls before “driving” irresistibly toward their shopping malls. The overexposed sacrificial victim appears as that which has been irreparably lost and cannot be revived: a recurring martyrdom (victimage mechanism). Are we still asked to sacrifice the most precious thing for the glory of our city, and, if so, what is it and who has the task to mourn it?