On monday 18 November, Wouter Vanstiphout gave the second lecture in a series of three for students at Delft University of Technology.
After the Money lecture last September, we will now take you on a journey along architecture projects in order to explore their democratic value. From large iconic projects as a representation of democracy, like the Houses of Parliament in London, or the National Mall in Washington DC to small-scale, “big society-like” participation projects as the stadsinitiatief. Obviously we will also take the ‘bumpy road’ whereas not every project is received as positively by the public; leading to large protests, sometimes even causing riots, and –if lucky– a political referendum. And what about the freedom to protest in (privatized) public space? Will we find common ground and in that way, make design socially significant and politically relevant again?