One World

Img 1: World in conflict - 18th and 19th Century.

Premise

The notion of a nation and sovereignty was established around 16th Century when European States wanted to end decades of war to sign a treaty and followed the principle of territorial integrity. Years of war and destruction of humanity had convinced the leaders to look for a permanent resolution. Since then proponents of world government have been offering distinct reasons for why it is ideal of political organization to have a single governing body. It has been argued by philosophers that there might be an ultimate solution for dealing with issues faced by all the countries together at large.

Humanitarian crisis, climate change, natural calamities, terrorism, pandemics and economic meltdowns, are only some of the issues in a pool of crisis that could be solved better with a global involvement on a common ground.

In a world with diversity of billions can a single entity address it all?

 

Img 2: A possibility of Utopia on planet earth when countries join hands - Instead of conflict.

Will it happen?

The concept of “One World” began with the idea of having a supreme power that controls all under a single political authority. So far it has not yet existed in human history but has been a farsighted ambition of ancient rulers to conquer the world to rule, although it was not aimed at the greater good but power.

A political agreement on a scale this large would be one of the biggest challenges to overcome. A gradual dissipation of power and ideologies can be expected in the realist approach, where the sovereign states have joined powers, to share knowledge and move ahead together.

The possibility of a future where society is completely reshaped, owing to the adversities of the planet, or with an intent to create a harmonious world that abolishes war has been envisioned by authors (Vincent Shean), leaders (Jawaharlal Nehru), Scientists (Albert Einstein) in different contexts. A utopian world that is homogenous to all classes/sects/divisions of society can probably eradicates the possibility of conflicts.

Being part of such a world would be a gateway into rebuilding the society and its systems, with a prerequisite of what has already occured in the past 10,000 Years.

 

Img 3: A concept illustration depicting disagreements with the idea of a global government.

Why not?

Ideas of world government constitute exercises in utopian thinking. While exploring the obstacles in conceiving the concept, one may ponder on the reasons as to why such a vision may not feasible or desirable:

Infeasibility: A realist argument on forming a one world government holds that it is infeasible. It is also feared that the claim to authority and hierarchy of such an institution would be questionable accumulating power in with single entity creating a massive disparity.

Undesirability: In case the “World Government” comes into play it may be so strong and pervasive that it creates a homogenous environment, obliterating distinct cultures and communities that are intrinsically valuable. The institution of a world government would thus destroy the rich social diversity that animates human life (Michael Walzer 2004). 

Can One World overcome this?

 

Img 4: The galactic senate visualized in Star Wars - Artwork by: Romain Meineux

Brief of the competition

The need for an a common governance is debatable today and yet indispensable for the future. If we consider a contemporary idea of world built under technological advancement, a distant future of multi-planetary civilizations will invariably require a single form of representation. Humanity and the culture it breeds would have also advanced accordingly in this course. A generous power distribution would then be an idealist approach.

Brief: The challenge here is to conceive a parliament for the utopian world, based in the near future.

It would accommodate the results of a balanced thinking where the current calamities have been vanquished by human intelligence and we are now looking at more universal and cosmic challenges. This can be believed to be established in the next 50 years since technology is expected to grow even faster than the current pace.

Imagine if “Parliament of the World” is able to equalize power and regulations, evading the fear of cultural homogeneity. If this is achieved then how does architecture and its design reflect on the structure?

 

Objectives

Universal: Design must be unbiased to one culture/architecture style.

Visionary: The induced design must address how the future societies would be structured.

Timeless: The structure must be iconic and timeless.

Function: A conceptual description of how the parliament would function.

The following objectives can be a point of beginning to conceive this design. Participants can assume their own contexts and users before initiating their design process.

 

Brief : The Parliament can be designed as an initiation into one world, it would be one of the first steps towards its idea and execution.

The social structure of such a world have to be conceived by the participants themselves to arrive on the design outcome. Programmatically the structure must convene a space for meetings of world leaders, libraries, conference halls etc.

 

Img 5: Switzerland Flag amidst the Alps

Zurich, Switzerland

The sovereign state of Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world. It ranks at or near the top in several international metrics, including economic competitiveness and human development. Zürich, Geneva and Basel have been ranked among the top ten cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with Zürich ranked second globally.

Swiss neutrality is one of the main principles of Switzerland's foreign policy which dictates that Switzerland is not to be involved in armed conflicts between other states. This policy is self-imposed, permanent, and armed, designed to ensure external security and promote peace. It has the oldest policy of military neutrality in the world and has not participated in a foreign war since its neutrality was established by the Treaty of Paris in 1815. Its long lasting policies have make it an ideal location for constructing “One World” Parliament of the future.

 

Img 6: Site Plan

Site Plan

The site chosen for this project lies in the outskirts of District 2 of Zurich which is a part of the city’s urban sprawl. It sandwiched between Zurich’s major highways (Allmend Road) and Sihl River on either side. The site is divided into parts for development of the parliament in phases, depending on the structure of governing body that is formed. The portion of site marked in red is to be taken for the first phase of development of “One World Parliament”, keeping the remaining plot for future phases. This structure is expected to be an icon of a new era seasoned with architecture of the future.

The evaluation will primarily focus on Phase 1 only.

• Site Area: ~ 50,082 m2
• Site coordinates: 47°20'59.6"N 8°31'10.7"E
• Max. Ground Coverage: 25% (With respect to Phase - 1)

 

Judging Criteria

The entries will be judged by an international jury of the competition on the following criterions: