Architecture for Warfare: How Corporations Profit From Destruction and Reconstruction

Some of the largest architecture firms have effectively become war corporations. At the same time as designing Olympic parks and world-famous buildings, they have constructed military bases, maintained weaponry, and trained personnel for wars in which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. In some conflicts, the same firms have been contracted from invasion to reconstruction, including facilitating military attacks, rebuilding war-damaged infrastructure, and establishing new governments. Architecture for Warfare tells the story of a form of multidisciplinary corporation that employs architects skilled in designing structures alongside former military personnel with experience handling live-fire weapons. It highlights the tensions and contradictions within these architecture-led firms that claim to make the world a better place. The book combines personal narrative with detailed research to reveal unsettling relations between design, planning, and armed conflict.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Greenwich Academic Literature Archive (University of Greenwich)
Published
2025-12-01
Primary Topic
Architecture, Modernity, and Design
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Architecture for Warfare: How Corporations Profit From Destruction and Reconstruction

Ed Wall
Greenwich Academic Literature Archive (University of Greenwich)
Architecture, Modernity, and Design
article

Architecture for Warfare: How Corporations Profit From Destruction and Reconstruction

Ed Wall
article en

Abstract

Some of the largest architecture firms have effectively become war corporations. At the same time as designing Olympic parks and world-famous buildings, they have constructed military bases, maintained weaponry, and trained personnel for wars in which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. In some conflicts, the same firms have been contracted from invasion to reconstruction, including facilitating military attacks, rebuilding war-damaged infrastructure, and establishing new governments. Architecture for Warfare tells the story of a form of multidisciplinary corporation that employs architects skilled in designing structures alongside former military personnel with experience handling live-fire weapons. It highlights the tensions and contradictions within these architecture-led firms that claim to make the world a better place. The book combines personal narrative with detailed research to reveal unsettling relations between design, planning, and armed conflict.

Greenwich Academic Literature Archive (University of Greenwich)
Sustainable cities and communities
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Architecture, Modernity, and Design
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