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ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7803-1196
Access Type
Campus-Only Access for One (1) Year
Document Type
thesis
Embargo Period
5-26-2024
Degree Program
Architecture
Degree Type
Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)
Year Degree Awarded
2023
Month Degree Awarded
May
Abstract
In the wake of recent protests in support of social justice, racial equality, and decolonization, activists, scholars, and community leaders have called for a radical reassessment of monumental practices across the world. As a result, hundreds of monuments and memorials honoring controversial figures and ideals have been removed and altered in the United States and abroad. Despite the increasing acceptance of removing offensive or culturally insensitive monuments, a practice commonly referred to as “iconoclasm,” there has been little consensus on what to do with spaces where statues or monuments have been taken down.
This thesis examines both the role of monuments in this new era of post-colonial and racial consciousness by looking at monuments in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. After reviewing the debates surrounding the removal of controversial statues and memorials, the thesis will focus on various monuments in the state which have been taken down, or have been the center of campaigns calling for their removal. The thesis then concludes by suggesting four design strategies to replace and alter these spaces in order to better honor the history and citizens of Massachusetts and to reflect a more equitable future.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/35408092
First Advisor
Steven Schreiber
Second Advisor
Ann Marshall
Recommended Citation
Nemetz-Carlson, Lincoln T., "After Iconoclasm: Reassessing Monumental Practices and Redesigning Public Memorials in Twenty-First-Century Massachusetts" (2023). Masters Theses. 1295.
https://doi.org/10.7275/35408092
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/1295