nent agents for the originating countries,
The Foreign Relations Authorization Act Fis-
embassies must cooperate, negotiate, and
cal Year 2012 passed by the committee said:
build strong relationships amongst multiple
The secretary shall seek to establish
regimes. It is a mutually organized collabora-
a United States consulate in Lhasa,
tive where parties seek continued positive
Tibet, to provide services to United
relations while also maintaining key political
States citizens traveling in Tibet and to
positioning. Thus producing a double iden-
monitor political, economic, and cultural
tity—one focused on global dominance, the
developments in Tibet, including Tibetan
other on localized integration.
areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces and, until such consul-
A chancery is the structure that houses the
ate is established, shall not permit the
embassy delegation. Such structures are the
establishment in the United States of
product of a carefully articulated image of
any additional consulate of the People’s
strength, control, and national pride. For
Republic of China.
example, the Russian chancery in Havana, resembles a sword stabbing the earth, as
The construction of a United States embassy
if claiming the area by force. The U.S.
in Lhasa has the potential to cause either glob-
chancery in Rome was formerly the palace
al unrest or grant regional political stability.
of Julius Caesar.
An embassy opens up avenues for communication by increasing the number of interested
Collage The removal of a section of the White House to be spliced into the Tibetan embassy
parties. As such, it can ultimately contribute to ending conflicts by virtue of its presence alone. The allegiances forged between nations have the potential to free Tibet. Going Rogue This embassy leverages the benevolent act of aiding Tibet and the subsequent media spectacle to hide its true intentions of keeping an eye on China. The global political climate is such that, as China rises in power, the United States is losing its positioning as the global leader. To capitalize on the current political turmoil in Tibet, the U.S. embellishes the act of freeing Tibet to create a spectacle that masks the embassy’s selfish ulterior goals. The harsh disconnect between the local and global ambitions of this embassy is mediated by its envelope. Thus, the project studies how the embassy can begin to materialize the intensified identities of the diplomatic mission through the façade. Conceived