Cultural Amplifier
The Challenge/Competition
Using the tools of urban design, architecture, planning, landscape architecture, art, and technology and policy, we are seeking ideas that create new, or adapt existing public spaces and cultural infrastructure for people to gather and express both their individual and collective voices. Design opportunities should respond to social transmission and infrastructure in Washington, DC. Emphasis should be on creating cultural destinations, not another monumental landmark. To achieve this goal, embracing cultural diversity and social equity is required. Diversity is not solely focused on welcoming different cultures and including multiple voices but also recognizing, understanding, and supporting the differences between people. The proposed cultural destinations should encourage not only long-time residents but also newcomers to express and accept identities of all kinds.
Competition Provocations:
- How can we find
balance in the contradictions of preserving places for existing cultural
identities while allowing for new ones?
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How do we
create places for cross-cultural exchange of information? o Can urban design
support tolerance, providing people a safe medium to express themselves?
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Can the urban
fabrics reflect nuances that can promote exchange? For instance, threshold
spaces, porches/stoops, streets/sidewalks, parks, cultural/academic institutions,
etc.?
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How can local
community spaces interact with and support tourist spaces in DC, and vice
versa?
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How can we look
at culture and identity through the lens of equity, inclusion and diversity?
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How can we
celebrate local communities and cultures, applying the notion of authentic
culture, over manufactured branding, as an economic driver for place?
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How can cities accommodate millions of visitors
while creating and protecting public spaces—in scale, program, symbology,
etc.—for local cultures that already exist and will evolve with the city over
time?
Jump to Winner: Culture House
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