Edifice complex
Practice of publicly funded construction projects as propaganda / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The term "edifice complex"[1] was coined in the 1970s to describe Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos' practice of using publicly funded construction projects as political and election propaganda.[1][2][3]
Built with a Brutalist architectural style,[4] perhaps to emphasize their grandiose character,[5][6] these construction projects were funded by foreign loans,[2] allowing the incumbent Marcos administration to create an impression of progress, but instead put the Philippines through a series of debt crises.[2] The first of the crises occurred in 1970, which many economic historians consider to have triggered the socioeconomic unrest which later led Marcos to impose martial law in 1972.[7][8][9]
The expression has also been generalized outside of the context of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines.