Terrorism has been an instrument of assertion of power for several decades. Although the world is considered to be in a “post-war” age, beyond the horrors of the First and Second World War, terrorism can be considered to be the most current form of warfare. This violence and intimidation is typically used to put across a message of revenge or a vindication of power by creating a spectacle that draws attention to the belligerent and strikes fear in the hearts of the viewers. The media responsible for the broadcasting of this spectacle, where it can be glamorised, aestheticised or exaggerated to inadvertently further accomplish the goals of the terrorists, in terms of spreading their message. The media also has a major role to play in defining who “terrorists” are and the way these attacks are perceived by the masses. Upon observing the creation of this spectacle from both these angles, it can be said that architectural symbolism plays an equally significant role as the media in the creation of a spectacle by terrorists. The value of a monument due to its religious heritage, the ability of a structure to hold a large number of people and the portrayal of opulence through architecture play a role in augmenting this spectacle, while the media is responsible for the magnification and distribution of their message.
Architectural monuments hold notable value in terms of religious significance, which reinforces their effectiveness in creating a spectacle through terror. The selection of religiously symbolic targets can be said to be unique to extremist groups of terrorists, particularly those that have been active in the past two decades, such as extreme Salafists (Campion 26). An example of this is Al Qaeda’s attack on the Askariya Mosque in Iraq in 2006. (Refer Appendix A) The Askariya Mosque is one of the holiest monuments under the Shia sect of Islam and its destruction could be seen as a statement against all other sects of Islam by the Salafists, an ideology that they are known to promote. (Campion 32) An attack on a site of any kind of religious significance creates even higher levels of emotional impact due to its importance to society’s belief systems and its function as a place of worship. An act of violence on such a location not only shakes people’s faith in the peacefulness and sense of security that comes with religion but also highlights the extent to which extremism in religion can go, which completely disrupts societal harmony by turning religion against religion.
A building’s ability to contain a large number of people makes it a desirable target for a terror attack. The attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall by Al-Shabaab in 2013 is a prominent example of how a “soft” target like a shopping mall, one that does not hold any political or religious significance, can still become a huge event simply because of its structural capacity to hold hundreds of people. (Refer Appendix B) However, this target was also symbolic in terms of its presence in an economically challenged area like Nairobi. According to Constance Smith in her article for Etnofoor, the mall had a complex privately operated security system, going as far as referring to it as a “fortified citadel”. She also described the mall as “the most upmarket retail destination in Nairobi”, giving one reason to presume that the majority of the mall’s patrons are wealthy Kenyans. A building like Westgate, in the eyes of the terrorists, would have been a critical target because of it’s high human traffic as well as its concentration of affluent customers, a group of people that would have particularly angered those with extremist religious ideologies due to to their aversion to luxury. According to Suzi Mirgani, Managing Editor at CIRS Publications at Georgetown University, the attacks are even planned in a such a way that “they could inflict maximum damage and generate worldwide publicity”, with the gunmen entering at lunchtime on a Saturday, a time when the mall was “guaranteed to attract thousands of visitors, including a large number of children”. (Mirgani 12) This made it possible for even a poorly equipped and trained group of people to create a significant media “spectacle” simply through mass casualties, thus broadcasting their ideologies to the whole world.(Mirgani 95)
Architecture as a symbol of opulence and wealth is also a favourable target for terror attacks. The attack on the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Trident in Mumbai in 2008 was a conspicuous example of Western decadence being condemned by religious extremists. The Taj Hotel holds a great deal of symbolism in this respect due to its history of hosting a selection of distinguished clientele, foreigners in particular. It was also constructed by Jamshetji Tata as a symbol of the city’s desirability and boasted fixtures brought in from various foreign countries. (Refer Appendix C) This landmark, along with the Trident hotel less than ten minutes away, provided ideal locations for a possible siege or shootout. Since they were known for their foreign clientele, any violence towards them would also guarantee attention from media around the world. Although these were not the only places attacked that November, they garnered the most attention due to their status as symbols of India’s prosperity and progress. Thus, the hotel could be seen as furthering Western ideologies of ostentation and was known for its foreign guests as well. (Lopez 2012)
Architecture that is politically symbolic is also used by terrorists to create a spectacle. A particularly notable example of this is the attack on The Pentagon, along with the World Trade Centre on September 11th 2003. An American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, killing 64 people on board, six crew members, the five hijackers and 125 people within the building. (Kean and Hamilton 2004) The attack was orchestrated by members of the militant Sunni Islamist group Al-Qaeda as a statement against the American Government and in accordance with the fatwa issued by them against the United States after the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. (Tierney 2017) The Pentagon essentially represents the core of the American military, being the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. (Refer Appendix D) An attack on a building like the Pentagon not only undermines the U.S. Military as a whole, it establishes the ability of an independent, scattered organisation like Al-Qaeda to bypass the complex security systems of a world superpower and strike a profound blow in one of the most secure facilities of that nation. Through this attack, they were able to broadcast their anti-Western ideologies to the whole world as well as prove their fearsomeness as an organisation.
Upon considering these instances and numerous other similar attacks around the world, it can be said that architecture and its visually symbolic nature has a very significant role to play in the creation of a spectacle. The way a landmark or heritage site is perceived by the majority affects the impact created when any of these sites is destroyed, damaged or targeted in any way.
Conversely, the aestheticisation of violence and terror attacks by the media, contributes significantly to the propagation of the spectacle created by the terrorists. According to noted critic and academic Douglas Kellner, in reference to a theory put forward by French Situationist theorist Guy Debord, spectacle “refers to a media and consumer society, organised around the consumption of images, commodities and spectacles…which embody contemporary society’s basic values, and dreams and nightmares…” (Kellner 2003) This quote supports the idea that the media capitalises on events like terror attacks because of their effect on society’s moral belief systems and the emotion it generates as a result. (Refer Appendix E) In order to gain viewership for their own monetary benefit, the shock value of the attack is often considerably sensationalised through methods like photojournalism or fictionalisation of certain aspects of the event. In areas like the news and documentaries, factual information about the attack is meant to be presented in a way that entertains while educating the public. Not only does this ensure that every detail of the attack is spread as widely as possible, it communicates the message of the terrorists themselves to every viewer, albeit in a more dramatised format.
In the case of the attack on Westgate Mall, the constant streaming of information by news media had its own effect on the perception of the attack by outside viewers. As stated by Constance Smith in Etnofoor, it was nearly impossible to distinguish between what could be called a “terror attack” and what was merely caused by theft, negligence and incompetence. She goes on to describe the various sensational headlines circulating social and news media platforms, such as “Kenyan mall massacre” and “Shoppers slaughtered in Kenyan bloodbath” and how they were accompanied by multitudes of photographs and eyewitness accounts that had their own comments and reposts. (Smith 2015) The confusion caused by the disorganisation amongst the rescue forces, plainclothes policemen and armed civilians also caused a large degree of variation between eyewitness accounts of the shooting since no one could tell the difference between a victim, a terrorist and an armed rescuer. (Mirgani 13) This kind of consumption of information results in the sensationalisation of an event that is already meant to be a spectacle, furthering the intent and interests of the belligerents. The tables were turned however, when the terrorists themselves took to social media platform Twitter to claim responsibility for what they chose to describe as the “Westgate Spectacle”. (Mirgani 14) This highlights the thought process of terrorists in planning their attacks and their dependence on the media to spread their message.
A similar choice of location in order to garner media attention can be observed in the case of the Mumbai attacks. The Taj Hotel and the Trident are known to house a large number of foreign guests. The attacks left six foreign nationals killed and seven injured, which gave the attacks worldwide media attention, as was presumably intended by the terrorists due to their choice of location for the attack. (McElroy and Bedi, 2008) The Nariman House was another site that was chosen due to its history of being a part of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement that provides support to Jewish communities around the world, and notably in this case, Israeli tourists. (Balasubramaniam 2018). A pattern can be observed in this attack alone where the belligerents gravitated towards areas with the most international connections as well as symbolic meaning. It can be observed through these instances that the rise in people’s reliance on news media for factual information and social media for independent discussion in the past decade has shown terrorists that this is a tool that they can deliberately utilise to their own benefit due to the media’s affinity towards a spectacle.
Photojournalism is another tool used by the media to document and disseminate information about terror attacks. Photographers attempt to capture the reality of the event through photographic techniques that may or may not skew the perception of the event by a viewer, such as cropping surrounding details or narrowing down published images to only those displaying extreme violence or little to no gore. The broadcasting of emotionally stimulating images creates a wider domain of people that experience almost the full impact of the message being put across by the terrorists and amplifying the way the “spectacle” is perceived, albeit through a second-hand viewpoint. It also means that the line between disturbing and fascinating is constantly moving because of the subsequent depictions of these stories for entertainment, because an image cannot portray a complete factual description of an event and can end up being glamourised or fictionalised when the answers to certain questions surrounding the image cannot be found. For example, the picture of “The Falling Man” photographed by Richard Drew during the attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11th 2001, was in itself a profound indicator of a fraction of the horrors experienced by victims of the attack. (Refer Appendix F) However, the mystery and speculation surrounding this photograph resulted in the creation of a whole set of fictional as well as non-fiction media creations such as a documentary film titled “9/11: The Falling Man” by American filmmaker Henry Singer and a novel by Don DeLillo, also titled “Falling Man”.
Taking all of these cases into consideration, it can be observed that although the spectacle of a terror attack is conspicuously amplified and aestheticised by the media in order to cater to as large an audience as possible, thus facilitating the work of the terrorists, the actual creation of the spectacle itself can be attributed to the assailants and their strategic choice of location based on its symbolism. It can be observed as a case of direct, in the case of the terrorists, and indirect responsibility, in the case of the media, for the overall spectacle created by such an event. Based on the trends that have been observed over the past two decades, it can be said that religiously, politically or economically symbolic architecture and structural features play a significant part in the creation of a spectacle. However, the aestheticization of this spectacle by the media, through methods like photojournalism and fictionalisation, contribute significantly to the magnification of this spectacle.
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