TY - JOUR
T1 - From Pax America to American exceptionalism, American security and beyond
T2 - U.S. Legation building in Brazil
AU - Kapp, Paul Hardin
N1 - Reacting to the lobbying of American business interests, which began in earnest in 1909 (American Embassy Association ), the U.S. Congress passed the Foreign Service Buildings Act, known as the Porter Bill in 1926, which created the first embassy building programme with an authorisation of a $10 million appropriation (Loeffler , 253). The act also established the Foreign Services Buildings Commission (FSBC), whose members included the secretaries of State, Treasury, Commerce, and the chair of the House and Senate foreign relations committees. The FSBC was authorised to implement the property acquisitions and the building program. It was supported by State Department staff, which eventually became the Office of Foreign Buildings Operations (FBO) (Loeffler , 15–22). In November 1926, the FSBC authorised that the U.S. chancery embassy for France in Paris was to be the first designed and built American embassy. In selecting Paris over several other European cities, the FSBC made a practical and politically driven decision: ‘Congress and a large number of American tourists would see in Paris as soon as possible an example of businesslike centralisation of offices such as they were told this bill would provide’ (National Archives and Records Administration, Foreign Services Buildings Commission ).
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Architecture’s ability to not only define a city’s identity but also to convey the values and aspirations of its builders continues to be its most lasting legacy. Great civic architecture, which has endured throughout the ages, becomes cultural property, which is codified for protection as “World Heritage Sites.” This article presents the challenges and the opportunities of designing a new U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil and a World Heritage Site. Built in 1960, the current embassy was designed to convey collaboration with the USA and its host country by following the planners’ modernist design vision. The new embassy will have to be designed for counterterrorism, convey democratic ideals, and not undermine the cultural property value of the World Heritage Site. Through an examination of the Department of State’s history of legation building, the paper concludes by proposing ways that respond to the cultural diversity in Brasilia.
AB - Architecture’s ability to not only define a city’s identity but also to convey the values and aspirations of its builders continues to be its most lasting legacy. Great civic architecture, which has endured throughout the ages, becomes cultural property, which is codified for protection as “World Heritage Sites.” This article presents the challenges and the opportunities of designing a new U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil and a World Heritage Site. Built in 1960, the current embassy was designed to convey collaboration with the USA and its host country by following the planners’ modernist design vision. The new embassy will have to be designed for counterterrorism, convey democratic ideals, and not undermine the cultural property value of the World Heritage Site. Through an examination of the Department of State’s history of legation building, the paper concludes by proposing ways that respond to the cultural diversity in Brasilia.
KW - American diplomacy
KW - Cultural property
KW - architectural design
KW - world heritage
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U2 - 10.1080/13527258.2023.2195199
DO - 10.1080/13527258.2023.2195199
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85152416828
SN - 1352-7258
VL - 29
SP - 505
EP - 523
JO - International Journal of Heritage Studies
JF - International Journal of Heritage Studies
IS - 6
ER -