In Architecture for Warfare, Published by Jovis, landscape architect Ed Wall demonstrates how his profession can become part of the war industry.
Isabella Marboe, genau!
Construction and Power
This slim, lightweight book brings together online research documenting the close intertwining of architecture, landscape, urban and civil engineering planning with the war economy. Building has always been linked to power, but it is alarming that globally active architectural firms are now intertwined with military clients within corporate structures and are profiting massively from this. Even more disturbing is that all this information is publicly available.
Ed Wall, Architecture for Warfare. How Corporations Profit From Destruction and Reconstruction, Jovis, Berlin 2025 → jetzt bestellen
Lebensraum schaffen
Wall beschreibt, wie Berufe, deren Aufgabe es ist, Lebensraum zu schaffen, Bestandteile eines Geschäftsmodells werden, das dessen Zerstörung mit einkalkuliert. Was im Krieg vernichtet wird, muss wieder aufgebaut werden; Wiederaufbau wird damit Teil militärischer Wertschöpfungsketten. Im Zentrum steht AECOM, ein US-Konzern, der sich als globaler Infrastrukturführer präsentiert und mit Nachhaltigkeit, Innovation und gesellschaftlichem Fortschritt wirbt. Mit Tausenden Architekt:innen und Ingenieur:innen realisiert das Unternehmen weltweit Großprojekte. Wall zeigt jedoch die andere Seite: AECOM ist eng mit militärischen Auftraggebern verbunden und deckt kriegsrelevante Leistungen von Planung und Bau bis zu Logistik, Wartung und Wiederaufbau ab.
Building in Bagdad
Wall himself was employed by AECOM. Whilst planning a public square in Baghdad, he realised that the company had profited massively from the war there. Together with colleagues, he began to investigate and discovered just how obvious the links were. AECOM specifically recruits veterans, employs thousands of former military personnel and has been recognised as a ‘Military Friendly Employer’. The boundaries between civilian planning and military infrastructure are systematically blurring.
Destruction and reconstructionu
As a diversified conglomerate, AECOM is able to operate across virtually every phase of a conflict cycle. Although the company does not manufacture weapons, it benefits significantly from destruction and reconstruction. At the same time, the group has repeatedly come under fire for overcharging, lawsuits and settlements running into millions. In 2020, AECOM spun off its management division, giving rise to Amentum. Nevertheless, many contracts still originate from the military sector. At the same time, AECOM receives awards for ethics, equality and corporate governance. It is precisely this discrepancy that makes Wall’s case study so explosive.
The book makes an important contribution to raising awareness of the issue. It also shows that, in the face of global corporate structures and complex contracting systems, professional ethical guidelines often reach their limits.
This text by Isabella Marboe was first published in German and extended version by our partner platform genau!
Ed Wall,
Architecture for Warfare
How Corporations Profit From Destruction and Reconstruction
softcover, 11 × 18 cm
96 Seiten, 23 farb. Abb.
Text: Englisch
Jovis-Verlag, Berlin 2025
ISBN 978-3-98612-281-2
