Architecture and Racism: The Uncomfortable Link in Italy

The brutal killing of street vendor Alika Ogorchukwu in Civitanova Marche, Italy, and the swift dismissal of racial motives by investigators, prompts a deep reflection on the difficulty of acknowledging racism in Italian culture, including architectural culture. The article argues that architecture has historically been complicit in racial violence, from the Risorgimento's repression of the South—framed as a racialized 'Italian barbarism'—to colonial expansion and Fascist racial engineering. It cites key texts: 'Race and Modern Architecture' (2020) by Irene Cheng, Charles L. Davis, and Mabel O. Wilson; Eyal Weizman's 'Hollow Land' (2007) on Israeli occupation architecture; Zeynep Çelik's critique of Le Corbusier's Plan Obus (1992); and Janet Abu-Lughod's 'Rabat: Urban Apartheid in Morocco' (1981). The article also highlights the French Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, 'Lieux infinis' by Encore Heureux, as an example of architecture as refuge and inclusion. It calls for architecture to become a 'counter-weapon' for unity and equality.