ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the architecture and dark tourism from powerful development agendas so as to regain autonomy and accordingly become better aligned with the aspirations of the society that designers want to serve. Post-disaster emergency relief and development projects in low-income countries have been popular preoccupations for socially engaged designers. The spatial and aesthetic experiences influence our collective understanding of the dark event, with possible implications for policies to prevent future conflicts and disasters. Dark tourism is a broad term that encompasses various players, tools and scales. In the architectural disciplines, design firms and academic programs have actively intervened in low-income or conflict regions in the name of social engagement. Northern architects in Rwanda are caught in another conundrum. The Rwandan house construction project contradicts typical development agendas. The Rwandan project binds the 101 percent through domestic public space. It conveys that participation in universal public space may start with dark tourism.
