VI PER

We warmly invite you to the lecture “Accessible Spaces: Buildings, Architecture and the Residues of Political Economy” by Claire Zimmerman, which will take place on Tuesday, 23 June 2026, at 6:00 p.m.

Drawing on her research in architectural history and the built environment, Zimmerman will examine how architecture reflects and reproduces social, political, and economic relations. Moving beyond the idea of buildings as cultural symbols, she will explore how their costs, technical requirements, and patterns of use reveal structures of power, privilege, and exclusion. The lecture will address the relationship between building economies and political economy, showing how architecture can both express and reinforce inequalities related to class, race, and access. By connecting historical analysis with contemporary concerns, Zimmerman will propose new ways of understanding the built environment as a site where social hierarchies become visible and can be critically examined.

Claire Zimmerman is an architectural historian whose research explores the relationships between architecture, society, labor, and politics. Her work connects historical perspectives with contemporary challenges in the built environment. She is most recently the author of Albert Kahn Inc: Architecture, Labor, and Industry, 1905–1961 (2025) and co-editor of Architecture against Democracy (2024) and Detroit–Moscow–Detroit (2023).