Disturbing Order: The Myth of Clean in Architecture

We all share an understanding of what cleanliness is and how something “clean” should look, as well as the ways in which cleanliness seemingly serves our daily lives. However, a closer look at the myth of cleanliness in our culture reveals deeper layers behind the act of cleaning. Does cleaning also mean removing or distancing everything deemed “undesirable” or “dirty” in order to reach what is considered “clean”? In this project, I examine practices of cleanliness in architecture in an attempt to uncover the underlying ideology at work. The premise is that aesthetic and design choices are not neutral, but rather rooted in a value system; through the ways architecture defines “dirt” — and how it cleans, arranges, conceals, or excludes the “dirty” — we can identify the mechanisms of control, exclusion, and the pursuit of order that shape our spaces.