Why an issue on the Wonders of the Modern World? Was the Enlightenment not the attempt to disenchant the world, to free it from myths and wonders? And why focus on the architectures of seemingly archaic mass rituals at a time when the masses surrender themselves to the sirens of the present—without, like Odysseus, binding themselves to the mast of their ship for protection? The answer is simple: Because they are testaments to the continued existence of repressed collective structures of meaning. And because we are simultaneously witnessing an unprecedented erosion of shared rules and identity practices. Against this backdrop, this issue serves as a reminder that one of architecture’s fundamental tasks is to establish community.
