Thresholds of Power investigates how contemporary perceptions of justice are shaped by the architectural environments in which judicial processes unfold, focusing on the Palazzo di Giustizia in Milan as a critical case study. Once a monumental expression of centralized Fascist authority, the building continues to influence how institutional power, opacity, and control are experienced today. The project situates this legacy within broader transformations of the courthouse as a building type, addressing emerging challenges such as digitalization, AI integration, transparency, and civic accessibility.

Through the lens of thresholds; understood as physical, symbolic, and procedural mediators - the research explores how architecture structures power relations and produces institutional subjectivities. Combining theoretical inquiry with spatial analysis, including user-flow mapping and design iteration, the project examines the courthouse as a complex civic infrastructure accommodating diverse and often segregated user groups.

The design proposal reimagines the courthouse as a more open, accessible, and publicly engaged institution, while maintaining necessary levels of security and efficiency. By balancing monumentality with inclusivity, the project offers an architectural response that places citizens at the forefront, reframing the courthouse as both a symbol and a facilitator of democratic participation.

This study examines the complex interplay of utopian vision, embodied experience, and social change within the context of modernistic religious architecture. Using Manfred Tafuri's critique of architectural utopianism (1976) and Giorgio Agamben's potentiality theory (2004) as a framework, the thesis analyzes two seminal structures: Peter Zumthor's Bruder Klaus Field Chapel and Le Corbusier's Colline Notre Dame du Haut. These case studies reveal how the manipulation of architectural elements such as form, materiality, and light creates opportunities for disruption and transformation within the visitor's experience. While embodying elements of utopian aspiration, the chapel's success hinges on the visitor's ability to engage with these design elements and connect on a personal level.

Beyond Tafuri's focus on the inherent limitations of architectural utopianism, this study draws on Agamben's theory to explore how Bruder Klaus and Notre Dame du Haut offer spaces for potentiality to manifest. This potential allows for personal and spiritual transformation that departs from experiences evoked by traditional hierarchies found within many religious structures.

The thesis contends that the pursuit of spiritual transformation through modernistic religious architecture exists within a complex and dynamic interplay of utopian idealism, embodied experience, and the realities of social and political power.

Keywords: Modernist architecture, religious architecture, utopianism, potentiality, embodied experience, Peter Zumthor, Le Corbusier