“The Architectural Gift,” a conversation between architectural historian Łukasz Stanek and Places editor Frances Richard

Gifted buildings are potent mechanisms of geopolitical reshuffling, premised on an uneven power relation between giver and receiver. How do such exchanges shape cities in transition?

For visual case studies of three buildings presented to a government or organization by another — in Ghana, in Pakistan, in the United States — see The Architectural Gift: Kumasi, Islamabad, Detroit.