For the People
Washington DC is a city of politics and high-security buildings that are not accessible to everyday Americans. In our imagined future, the barriers that separate our political leaders from their surroundings are removed, and the space occupied by these untouchable buildings are given to the People. This proposal allows the public to occupy and enjoy these previously off-limits zones.
The solution is the creation of steel frame “scaffold” prototype superstructures that wrap these iconic buildings, creating usable spaces around and above them, in addition to serving as frames to emphasize the isolation of these government buildings. The scaffolds support many different activities, including micro-housing, shopping, suspended park areas, and urban farming. The frame around the White house suspends a digital screen toward Lafayette Park for use during demonstrations and outdoor movie nights. The Capitol frame contains meeting rooms and public spaces on the vertical face, and a fountain on top surrounding the turret of the Capitol dome, which transforms into an ice rink in the winter. A helipad over the White House allows the President to arrive and be greeted by crowds of people enjoying the White House suspended park.
The new superstructures are lightweight, open, and airy, in contrast to the heavy masonry structures they frame. They resemble the scaffolding that has been seen in recent years on monuments and government buildings in DC, and in this design they have a future use: to provide a framework for change and growth on these previously static sites. Activities can be “plugged in” as modules, and modified over the years as needs change. We imagine a network of these new superstructures around many of the major high-security buildings in Washington, promoting interaction, openness, and shared dialogue. They will become new iconic forms on the Washington landscape – but rather than illustrating exclusion from the political process, they are “for the people” to use and enjoy.
Washington DC is a city of politics and high-security buildings that are not accessible to everyday Americans. In our imagined future, the barriers that separate our political leaders from their surroundings are removed, and the space occupied by these untouchable buildings are given to the People. This proposal allows the public to occupy and enjoy these previously off-limits zones.
The solution is the creation of steel frame “scaffold” prototype superstructures that wrap these iconic buildings, creating usable spaces around and above them, in addition to serving as frames to emphasize the isolation of these government buildings. The scaffolds support many different activities, including micro-housing, shopping, suspended park areas, and urban farming. The frame around the White house suspends a digital screen toward Lafayette Park for use during demonstrations and outdoor movie nights. The Capitol frame contains meeting rooms and public spaces on the vertical face, and a fountain on top surrounding the turret of the Capitol dome, which transforms into an ice rink in the winter. A helipad over the White House allows the President to arrive and be greeted by crowds of people enjoying the White House suspended park.
The new superstructures are lightweight, open, and airy, in contrast to the heavy masonry structures they frame. They resemble the scaffolding that has been seen in recent years on monuments and government buildings in DC, and in this design they have a future use: to provide a framework for change and growth on these previously static sites. Activities can be “plugged in” as modules, and modified over the years as needs change. We imagine a network of these new superstructures around many of the major high-security buildings in Washington, promoting interaction, openness, and shared dialogue. They will become new iconic forms on the Washington landscape – but rather than illustrating exclusion from the political process, they are “for the people” to use and enjoy.
