Architecture of borders. From spatial violence to design strategies for the EU-third-nation borderlands

Are borders architecture? Where exactly are the boundaries that define the territory of nation-states? Are the geopolitical borders of the 21st century studied within the field of architecture? Does spatial violence exist? These questions, among others, will be raised in this research work, attempting to shed light on what is happening at the borders. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Western world, embodied in the geopolitical figures of the European Union and the USA, has initiated the implementation of stringent control systems at its maritime and land borders. These control systems are not limited to the installation of technological devices in the architecture of walls and border fences, but also encompass a much larger strip of land. In the 21st century, borderlines have evolved into various forms of territorial thickness, making them much more complex. The militarization of the territory and the weaponization of the border space offer multiple forms of body monitoring. The USA uses its vast border territories with Mexico to establish military laboratories, training grounds for the army, simulations of dust clouds, and radio-electric and chemical tests. Similarly, the European Union has transformed its Schengen borders into technological testing grounds, as evidenced by the cases of Ceuta and Melilla in Africa. Within this context, border communities offer multiple forms of resilience against the erection of new walls or the technological development of existing ones. At the US-Mexico border, the concept of the third nation emerges as a form of resistance to the militarization of the territory. The third nation is the strip of land where border communities are located and share cultural, economic, and social relationships with communities on the other side of the border. These relationships are even closer than those they have with the centres of power in their respective nation-states. The establishment of borders has turned the periphery into third nations. Consequently, this research will explore the concept of the third nation by examining the relationships between twin cities separated by the border, as seen in the case of the USA and Mexico, and then apply these findings to two case studies within the Schengen borders, specifically Ceuta and Melilla. Wet backs, as irregular Mexican migrants are known in the US, or the “wet papers” of African people trying to reach Europe, share very similar issues on both sides of the Atlantic. Since the establishment of the Schengen borders, thousands of people have lost their lives or disappeared while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea as collateral damage caused by the architecture of these borders. Many people have suffered human rights violations, likely on a larger and more serious scale than official estimates, which are already alarming. Migration flows from different points in Africa are directed toward the cities of Ceuta and Melilla with the aim of reaching seemingly accessible Schengen territory. When they attempt to enter these cities through the official border customs, bureaucracy delays waiting times, and if they manage to cross, they are detained in immigrant detention centres, leading to frustration and creating conditions for mass assaults on the border walls. This is where the humanitarian damage caused by border architecture becomes evident. This work analyses this architecture by describing its implementation on the ground, its spatial order, and its construction composition. It is observed that there are two types of areas prone to mass assaults: those with lower surveillance but steeper terrain (sections of fencing) and those with more control but easier access (border crossings). The results demonstrate the existence of four deliberate forms of spatial violence exercised by border architecture: biometric, radio-electric, purely spatial, and prospective violence exercised by artificial intelligence. The hypothesis is raised as to whether Schengen borders aim to replace police violence, absolving governments of responsibility, or not. Possible lines of architectural research are analysed to transform spatial violence into spatial healing.