Global infrastructure firm AECOM has been involved in reconstruction efforts in the West Bank and Gaza since 2014. Architecture Assistant Professor Aaron Cayer, author of “Incorporating Architects: How American Architecture Became a Practice of Empire,” describes how large firms compete for commissions to both design initial new infrastructures and their postwar replacements. “This paradoxical economy of destruction and repair was established in the United States during the 20th century as architects began working for both the military and international aid organizations,” he wrote last fall for “Field Notes on Repair” in Places Journal.

This article was originally published by The Architect's Newspaper on March 18, 2025