Polis
7 lessons from European Prize
Washington / Dupont Underground
From Bologna (Museo Spazio Pubblico), Budapest (KÉK, Hungarian Architecture Center), Budaörs (Zichy Major), Kiev (International Architecture Festival CANactions), Bilbao (URBANBATfest) to Praga (Festival del paisaje, Cultural Center Žižkov), now the CCCB’s POLIS. 7 lessons from European Prize production lands at Washington D.C, on the Dupont Underground Cultural Center.
This new version of the retrospective exhibition "Polis: Lessons from the European Prize for Urban Public Space" responds to the commission by the Spanish Embassy in the United States of America to the CCCB in light of Spain’s presidency of the European Union in the latter half of 2023. On this occasion, the exhibition showcases a selection of the 24 most outstanding interventions in public spaces from all over Spain that have competed for the Prize ever since its inception. These examples of best practices are organised around four core areas corresponding to different meanings given to the idea of democratising urban space: “inclusion”, “sustainability”, “memory” and “participation”.
The exhibition is now running at Dupont Underground, a historic underground train station transformed into a versatile and iconic multidisciplinary space that hosts exhibitions, cultural events and live performances. The inauguration, which took place on 19 October, was attended by Elisabet Goula, head of the Prize, and David Bravo, the exhibition’s curator.
The exhibition can be visited at Dupont Underground until 19 November and is accompanied by parallel activities that will complement reflections on the complexity of contemporary cities and the relevance of a European city model. One proposal is the screening of a selection of short films from the "Symphonies of the City" series, produced by the CCCB in collaboration with the Dones Visuals collective, scheduled for 27 October. In addition, a debate on interventions in the District of Columbia that can contribute to the democratic quality of its public space will take place on November 11th.
