Architecture & the Question of Democracy

April 9, 2021 - May 23, 2021

Dupont Underground x Portuguese Embassy in Washington D.C. x

Museu da Cidade x SAAL Housing Project x Metro of Porto

Throughout the world, architecture has been used as a tool to frame how public spaces are designed, which can simultaneously reflect the ideals a society may have and frame the ways in which people interact with them. This exhibit showcases how architecture has been used in the development of public spaces as democratic spaces.

We ask you, how might we design a public space that reflects democratic ideals and is architecturally innovative and significant? 

This exhibit reflects on architectural developments and utilizations of public space and democratic life in three ways:

1) Re-Think Dupont Circle Design Competition: 

The Re-Think Dupont Circle Design Competition covers the immediate urban area of Dupont Circle (the exact scope is at the discretion of each participant) and takes place at two scales — macro and micro — that must be interwoven through concept and design. We encouraged entrants to thoroughly read and research the history of the Dupont Circle. The top 10 best proposals were featured in the exhibit.

2) Arquitectura Portuguesa: Identidade e Oportunidade (Portuguese Architecture: Identity and Opportunity): On the global scale architectural work from Portugal (much of it by competition) before and after its transition from dictatorship to democracy through public space, building, infrastructure, and culture. 

3) Architecture & the Question of Democracy in Porto, Portugal: In April 25th of 1974 the Carnation Revolution ended years of dictatorship in Portugal. Three projects in the city of Porto were selected as exemplary cases:

→ The right to HOUSING (SAAL Housing Project)

→ The right to MOBILITY (Metro of Porto)

→ The right to CULTURE (Museu da Cidade)