This article proposes indexicality as a mode of analysing architecture. It considers the example of informal settlements of Payatas, in Metro Manila, which are posited as indices of underlying economic conditions. Our central claim is that the inherent precarity of the system of global capitalism is evident in the precarious built environment of Payatas. Hence, we propose that there is a meaning of built environments (comprising architecture and the public sphere) that is not only metaphorical, symbolic or even iconic but rather one that can be interpreted as being indexically linked to the social and economic conditions of its genesis. First, we establish some of the conditions of precarity in late capitalism. Then the concept of indexicality is introduced, which is then compared to Frederic Jameson’s strategy of ‘cognitive mapping’. Next, some examples of representation in architecture are considered to demonstrate more prevalent forms of architectural interpretation to which, we argue, indexicality can be added. Finally, we consider the specific case study of Payatas which is, we argue, both indexical and exemplary of conditions of precarity in what Jameson calls ‘the age of the world system’. We do not claim that indexicality is the only mode of describing architecture. However, through mobilizing the concept of indexicality we propose, pace Jameson, that one can observe a mechanism through which the built environment/public sphere is shaped and hence how the economic conditions of precarity directly affect the lives of its subjects.
Halsall et al. (Sun,) studied this question.