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The role of architecture in the Republic of Georgia's European aspirations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2019

Suzanne Harris-BrandtsOpen the ORCID record for Suzanne Harris-Brandts[Opens in a new window]
Suzanne Harris-Brandts*
Affiliation:
Department of Urban Studies + Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
*
*Email: sehb@mit.edu
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Abstract

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Alignment with Europe has been a popular foreign policy objective among post-socialist nations. In the Republic of Georgia, discourse surrounding the country's Euro-Atlantic orientation surged in the decade after the 2003 Rose Revolution. While such discourse has been examined in the context of political reforms and national security goals, this article foregrounds how it was incorporated into alterations of the built environment. Focusing on the urban transformations of the city of Batumi after the rise to power of the United National Movement government, it demonstrates how architecture served as a tool for selectively rewriting Georgia's contemporary European identity. This article concentrates on two parallel initiatives to transform Batumi into a contemporary European city: the reconstruction of portions of the Old City and the new development along the seaside boulevard. Using evidence collected through qualitative methods, it further highlights the contradictions that emerged during this process of redevelopment and rebranding, as the state balanced initiatives for new development with other post-revolutionary state-building objectives, such as political reform and tourism-market production. Accordingly, it unpacks the various national and international politico-economic forces at play in the process of developing Batumi into the image of a contemporary European city.

Keywords

GeorgiaEuropean identityarchitectural symbolismnation brandingpost-Soviet urbanism

References

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Interviews

Chichileishvili, Maia (professor and head of Department of Art History and Theory, Batumi Art State Teaching University). 2016. Interview by the author, January 15.Google Scholar
Dolidze, David (principal of Architects of Invention). 2016, January 20. Interview by the author.Google Scholar
Inaishvili, Nino (head of Archaeological Department of Niko Berdzenishvili Research Institute, Batumi). 2016. Interview by the author, January 13.Google Scholar
Kiknadze, Gaga (principal Architect, Architects.Ge). 2016, January 19. Interview by the author, January 19.Google Scholar
Nakashidze, Lasha (project manager, UNDP Georgia, and former head of the Department for Strategic Planning, Investments and Economic Development, Batumi City Hall). 2016. Interview by the author January 11.Google Scholar
Nikadutaoto, Maia (Batumi resident and local tour guide). 2016. Interview by the author, January 12.Google Scholar
Orbeladze, Vazha (principal architect, Vazha Orbeladze Architects). 2016. Interview by the author, January 22.Google Scholar
Ramishvili, Giorgi (former chief architect, City of Batumi). 2016. Interview by the author, January 14.Google Scholar
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