How Architects Shape International Law
In her PhD Project Manuela Camargo de Assis investigates the often-overlooked role of architects in shaping international law. Traditionally, legal scholarship has focused on written texts and metaphorical references to architecture, but Camargo de Assis argues that architecture’s physical and visual dimensions can directly influence legal norms, authority, and power.
Her work centers on a series of 20th- and 21st-century case studies of buildings designed to house international organizations. These include the headquarters of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile; the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland; and the UN Climate Change Secretariat in Bonn, Germany—often referred to as the “Climate Tower.” By examining the negotiation processes and design decisions behind these sites, Camargo de Assis will explore how architects, as “private actors,” can embed international law’s principles and aspirations into physical structures.
Drawing on legal history, architecture, and visual studies, this research highlights the interplay between the discursive and material facets of international law. Camargo de Assis’s broader aim is to open up new perspectives on how law is produced, understood, and practiced globally—illustrating how architectural choices can both reflect and reshape the very nature of international legal authority.