2020 · Individual work

Lawn & Order

Public space for the 51st state, Washington, D.C.

Studio

Public Figure / Private Ground: Redevelopment of the FBI site in Washington, D.C.

Term

Remote, Spring 2020

Instructor

Thomas Luebke

Establishing Washington, Douglass Commonwealth as the 51st state is a step towards local autonomy in a territory where national interests have historically taken precedence. Against the Nation's Front Lawn, what would the front lawn of the 51st look like?

From the BBQ Becky and Amy Cooper incidents to the local #DontMuteDC movement, public space is recognized as a battleground for critical negotiations of social contact. This project explores how open space may be designed to embrace multiple public freedoms, claiming the site of the FBI headquarters as an opportunity to demonstrate this.

Parkland is used as a tool to amplify community in a time where national discourse brings into question which cultures are allowed to express themselves in public and who belongs.