Summary: The Pneumatic Parliament
03.01. Global democratic imaginaries: The Pneumatic Parliament by Peter Sloterdijk y Gesa Mueller von der Haegen, 2005.
In 2005, Peter Sloterdijk and Gesa Mueller von der Hagen´s presented a proposal for a Pneumatic Parliament at the exhibition “Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy,” curated by Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel at ZKM in Karlsruhe. The project consisted on a transparent and inflatable parliament building that can be dropped from a cargo plane to “any grounds and then unfolds itself,” and is able to create “in a mere one and a half hours, a protective shell for parliamentary meetings” and within the space of 24 hours an interior ambience that “can be made as comfortable as an agora.”
In the decades since 1992, a year …show more content…
The Pneumatic Parliament, triggers reflection on the general and universal theories of nation-building, such as those compiled in The Beginner’s Guide to Nation Building. Published in 2007 by RAND Corporations, the US biggest think tank, this “practical “how-to” manual provides a series of guidelines for the “conduct of effective nation-building” to be applied almost on every country. Taking this ethos to a extreme, the Pneumatic Parliament is designed as a device capable of delivering instant democracy in any post conflict situation, being the color of the air inside the structure, the only country-specific parameter that could be adjusted for each country; an aestheticized democratic …show more content…
The Pneumatic Parliament serves as a fictional but actual representation of how institutions generally develop nation-building projects in collaboration with a limited number of foreign contractors who take control of the process with no interaction with local agencies and entities. Matching these type of procedure, The Pneumatic Parliament creates a fictional set of companies and institutions through which the project would be implemented: The ISDDE, International Society of Development and Democracy Equipment was commissioned, as prime contractor, with the logistics, marketing and economica developmet of The Pneumatic Parliament (Architecture and Engineering: G-I-O Global Instant Objects). As its developers claim, the Pneumatic Parliament forecast an expanding market for their product in 20-30 years from its release. As per their expectations, 80 to 100 countries will become part of their clientele. Among them, “failed states” that while might not be not ready for the full parliamentary "experience," are equally targeted, as the project also acknowledges the possibility of a second market for the Pneumatic Parliament, what they called “Demotainement,” or theme parks for civic entertainment dedicated to different forms of governments including democracy, monarchy, aristocracy and outright tyranny. As this thesis discusses, theme parks are actually one of the
In 2005, Peter Sloterdijk and Gesa Mueller von der Hagen´s presented a proposal for a Pneumatic Parliament at the exhibition “Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy,” curated by Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel at ZKM in Karlsruhe. The project consisted on a transparent and inflatable parliament building that can be dropped from a cargo plane to “any grounds and then unfolds itself,” and is able to create “in a mere one and a half hours, a protective shell for parliamentary meetings” and within the space of 24 hours an interior ambience that “can be made as comfortable as an agora.”
In the decades since 1992, a year …show more content…
The Pneumatic Parliament, triggers reflection on the general and universal theories of nation-building, such as those compiled in The Beginner’s Guide to Nation Building. Published in 2007 by RAND Corporations, the US biggest think tank, this “practical “how-to” manual provides a series of guidelines for the “conduct of effective nation-building” to be applied almost on every country. Taking this ethos to a extreme, the Pneumatic Parliament is designed as a device capable of delivering instant democracy in any post conflict situation, being the color of the air inside the structure, the only country-specific parameter that could be adjusted for each country; an aestheticized democratic …show more content…
The Pneumatic Parliament serves as a fictional but actual representation of how institutions generally develop nation-building projects in collaboration with a limited number of foreign contractors who take control of the process with no interaction with local agencies and entities. Matching these type of procedure, The Pneumatic Parliament creates a fictional set of companies and institutions through which the project would be implemented: The ISDDE, International Society of Development and Democracy Equipment was commissioned, as prime contractor, with the logistics, marketing and economica developmet of The Pneumatic Parliament (Architecture and Engineering: G-I-O Global Instant Objects). As its developers claim, the Pneumatic Parliament forecast an expanding market for their product in 20-30 years from its release. As per their expectations, 80 to 100 countries will become part of their clientele. Among them, “failed states” that while might not be not ready for the full parliamentary "experience," are equally targeted, as the project also acknowledges the possibility of a second market for the Pneumatic Parliament, what they called “Demotainement,” or theme parks for civic entertainment dedicated to different forms of governments including democracy, monarchy, aristocracy and outright tyranny. As this thesis discusses, theme parks are actually one of the