7. Garden of Delusion
SJ / 2017
From Chimeric Architectures Studio
Sometimes architecture and storytellin go hand in hand. As an allegory for the Puerto Rico-US political relationship the Garden of Delusions paints an architectural story. The project imagines a society where its inhabitants work together to produce local economy in the form of sound by ringing bells. The profist benefit a super power that govern it, without the citizens knowing the backdoor politics. In this way, the proposal acts as a political, economic and social critique to the colonial status of the island of Puerto Rico.
A bank, judges, bell towers, a labyrinth, an amphitheater and loud playgrounds are all par of the seemingly pleasant life in the garden. The main structures bear striking resemblance to a power plant; a marble cooling tower sits in the middle of their site, colorful pipe lines run across their skyline and tall pink vapor vents fume constantly into the sky. As it turns out, their architectural surroundings gives hints of its sinister reality.
Within this engineered colony there are certain architectural apparatus of control that accidentaly provide space for dissidence. Such is the case of the laberynth, an apparatus put in place as a means of control where snitches could sneek to tell on their peers to the judges, now becoming a space for speculation amongst some suspecting inhabitants.
