Borderwall as Architecture

"A protest against the wall and a forecast about its future."--Allison Arieff, The New York Times

"Rael's courageous mixture of subversion and compromise is not going to hide the affront that the border represents to those who live south of it."--London Review of Books

"Borderwall as Architecture explores how architects can undermine the wall not just structurally, but conceptually. Today, the wall symbolizes xenophobia and fear. Designs that promote social, economic, and ecological development on both sides of the border could rewrite that narrative. In the past, groups have gathered on both sides of the wall to hold yoga meetups and stage horse races. Rael draws inspiration from these and other examples to highlight opportunities for subversion and change."--Wired

"Part historical account, part theoretical appraisal, and part design manifesto, Borderwall as Architecture is reminiscent of Rem Koolhaas' Delirious New York in its sweeping assessment of both the sociocultural peculiarities and outlandish possibilities represented by a prominent structural element."--Architect Magazine

"Borderwall As Architecture goes into keen scholarly detail on the walls at the US-Mexico border...Rael offers many such concepts in the book, which often have a whimsy about them that reminds me of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities."
--New Scientist

"[Rael's] imagination is audacious, and he smartly frames his "grand tour" of the border as a procession of vignettes that shift easily between history, architectural what-ifs and what you might call postcards from the front."-- San Francisco Chronicle

"...in raising questions that not many others are asking about the relationship between two countries that share 2,000 miles of border, his book serves an important purpose."--The Daily Beast

Borderwall as Architecture is an artistic and intellectual hand grenade of a book, and a timely re-examination of what the physical barrier that divides the United States of America from the United Mexican States is and could be. It is both a protest against the wall and a projection about its future. Through a series of propositions suggesting that the nearly seven hundred miles of wall is an opportunity for economic and social development along the border that encourages its conceptual and physical dismantling, the book takes readers on a journey along a wall that cuts through a "third nation"--the Divided States of America. On the way the transformative effects of the wall on people, animals, and the natural and built landscape are exposed and interrogated through the story of people who, on both sides of the border, transform the wall, challenging its existence in remarkably creative ways. Coupled with these real-life accounts are counterproposals for the wall, created by Rael's studio, that reimagine, hyperbolize, or question the wall and its construction, cost, performance, and meaning. Rael proposes that despite the intended use of the wall, which is to keep people out and away, the wall is instead an attractor, engaging both sides in a common dialogue. Included is a collection of reflections on the wall and its consequences by leading experts Michael Dear, Norma Iglesias-Prieto, Marcello Di Cintio, and Teddy Cruz.
"Borderwall as Architecture is an account of the barrier that divides the United States of America from the United States of Mexico. It is an historical account, a protest against the wall, and a projection about its future through a series of propositions that suggest that the wall in its conception is an opportunity for economic and social development along the border. The book makes this case by taking readers on a conceptual journey along a wall that cuts through a "third nation"-- the Divided States of America. Along this journey the transformative effects of the wall on people, animals and the natural and built landscape are exposed and called into question through the story of people, who on both sides of the border, transform the wall--giving it new meaning by challenging its very existence in remarkably creative ways. Coupled with these real-life accounts are unsolicited counter proposals for the wall, that re-imagine, hyperbolize, or question the wall and its construction, cost, performance and its meaning. These proposals work from the proposition that despite the intended use of the wall to keep people out and away, the wall is instead an attractor, engaging both sides in a common dialogue."--Provided by publisher.

"Borderwall As Architecture goes into keen scholarly detail on the walls at the US-Mexico border...Rael offers many such concepts in the book, which often have a whimsy about them that reminds me of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities."

--Bruce Sterling, "New Scientist"
"...a timely re-examination of what the physical barrier that divides the United States of America from the United Mexican States is and could be...alongside the architectural brutality and social displacement that almost automatically accompany such borders, Ronald Rael and his contributors also explore the ways in which highlighting the border can be transformed into new opportunities."--Blaine Brownell, "Times Higher Education"
"...in raising questions that not many others are asking about the relationship between two countries that share 2,000 miles of border, his book serves an important purpose."--John King, "The Daily Beast"
"...the proposals ...attempting to transform the boundary into something more than just an obstruction, are provocative and inventive."--Allison Arieff, "Architectural Record"
"Borderwall as Architecture explores how architects can undermine the wall not just structurally, but conceptually. Today, the wall symbolizes xenophobia and fear. Designs that promote social, economic, and ecological development on both sides of the border could rewrite that narrative. In the past, groups have gathered on both sides of the wall to hold yoga meetups and stage horse races. Rael draws inspiration from these and other examples to highlight opportunities for subversion and change."--Allison Arieff, "Wired"
"[A} small book with big ideas...Rael shows that alternative proposals depicted through architecture (drawings, models, renderings) are also a legitimate form of protest."--John King, "A Daily Dose of Architecture"
"[Rael's] imagination is audacious, and he smartly frames his "grand tour" of the border as a procession of vignettes that shift easily between history, architectural what-ifs and what you might call postcards from the front."--John King, "San Francisco Chronicle"
"A protest against the wall and a forecast about its future."--Allison Arieff, "The New York Times"
"Part historical account, part theoretical appraisal, and part design manifesto, Borderwall as Architecture is reminiscent of Rem Koolhaas' Delirious New York in its sweeping assessment of both the sociocultural peculiarities and outlandish possibilities represented by a prominent structural element."--Blaine Brownell, "Architect Magazine"
"Rael presents the wall not as a simple securitized object but as a critical facet of life cutting through communities and the desert-- [for example] ..."House Divided" presents a mode for architecture to both illustrate the recursive logic of the geometric barrier and frame it within a domestic typology that can be read in all of its complex relations."--John King, "The Avery Review"
"Rael sees endless opportunities for creative defiance as he exposes the wall's xenophobic horror stories, absurdities and ironies by imagining design as both an undermining and reparative measure... [his proposals] force us to re-examine the feasibility of constructing "a big beautiful wall" around fortress America by underscoring that borders are innate zones of connectivity as much as division." --John King, "New York Journal of Books"
"Rael's courageous mixture of subversion and compromise is not going to hide the affront that the border represents to those who live south of it."--Allison Arieff, "London Review of Books"
"This is a work that harks back to the days of Buckminster Fuller and Marshall McLuhan -- especially the latter."--John King, "Diplomat & International Canada"
"While border walls and separation now seem inevitable, Rael's subversive designs seem to indicate a way forward: They allow us to cope with the current moment by preparing for a less segregated future."--John King, "World Policy Journal"