ANARCHO-CAPITALIST SPECUALTIONS

In an anarcho-capitalist manifesto presented at the 2016 World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Berlin, architect Patrik Schumacher, principal of Zaha Hadid Studio, argues for the complete withdrawal of state control regarding all matters of architecture and urban planning. The 8-point manifesto calls for “2. [...] abolishment of all land use prescriptions [...] until the right balance with work and entertainment spaces is discovered. Only the market has a chance to calibrate this intricate balance. 3. Stop all vain and unproductive ‘milieu protection’.” And to furthermore “8. Privatise all streets, squares, public spaces and parks, possibly whole urban districts.” In an interview with architect Arno Brandlhuber in Arch+ Property Issue 2018, Schumacher argues for the privatisation of everything to be a way of becoming Superhuman by hyper-density, hyper-mobilisation and acceleration.

In a response to this conversation, architectural scholar Manuel Shvartzberg Carrió claimed the racist, exclusivist underpinnings of the anarcho-capitalist manifesto by naturalising oppressive, exploitative, violent and sexist historical concepts.