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This session focuses on the architecture of US imperialism, with special attention to sites outside the contiguous United States and the experiences of those on the receiving end of its imperial practices. In many ways, the country’s present-day status as a global superpower is firmly rooted in a much longer history of exploitative practices, both formal and “informal,” that trace back to the violent colonization of land belonging to Native Americans and subsequent hemispheric hegemony embedded in the Monroe Doctrine. These practices were at their height at the turn of the twentieth century, following the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 and the Spanish–American War of 1898. Using this series of events as our baseline, this session aims to consider the infrastructures built and landscapes engineered to project US might abroad and funnel resources back to US shores.

Building on recent works such as 1898: Visual Culture and U.S. Imperialism in the Caribbean and the Pacific and Painting US Empire, this session turns to architecture. Potential contributions might consider, for example, the architectural history of US state- and US capital-led development in overseas territories, the construction of industrial enclaves, the history of so-called civilizing and modernizing missions, and the architectural footprint of the US military. Narratives might center on urban plans, corporate headquarters, territorial infrastructures, workers’ housing, hotels, industrial works, diplomatic buildings, and international development programs. What does the study of architecture help us understand about the at times overt and at times covert project of US empire?