Dimensions of Citizenship

“A colorful, digestible guide to the late 21st century and the role that architects play or don't play in shaping our collective understanding of citizenship.” –Inc

Globalization, technology and politics have altered the definition and expectations of citizenship and the right to place. Dimensions of Citizenship documents contributions from the seven firms selected to represent the United States in the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. This highly readable, visually led paperback volume profiles and illustrates each of the US Pavilion contributions and contextualizes them in terms of scale.

Drawing inspiration from the Eames' Power of Ten, Dimensions of Citizenship provides a view of belonging across seven stages starting with the individual (Citizen), then the collective (Civic, Region, Nation) and expanding to include all phases of contemporary society, real and projected (Globe, Network, Cosmos). With contributions by Amanda Williams and Andres L. Hernandez in collaboration with Shani Crowe; Design Earth; Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Laura Kurgan and Robert Pietrusko, with Columbia Center for Spatial Research; Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman; Keller Easterling; SCAPE; Studio Gang; exhibition curators Niall Atkinson, Ann Lui, Mimi Zeiger; and others. The book is published with seven different covers.

From the meaning of ‘home’ to the dynamics of borderlands, pressing issues of our day are investigated: ‘’It would be difficult to think of a more urgent and timely issue than what it means to be a citizen. We hope that this exhibition will provoke visitors to think about multiple aspects of citizenship and how architects, designers, and artists might respond to them. (Mechteld Jungerius TLmag)

The exhibit forgoes the rhetoric of soundbites and presidential tweets and instead broadens and “elevates the discourse on citizenship to notions of belonging, immigration, sovereignty, and ecology,” wrote Curbed’s Giovanna Dunmall of last year’s Biennale. (Jay Kozlarz Curbed)

These themes have been so much in the news lately. Whether it’s the government shutdown over a wall at the border, the removal of Confederate monuments, or protests in airport lobbies,” Lui says, “what it means to belong is an urgent topic to a lot of people―it’s really important for architects, landscape architects, and designers to respond. (Rebecca Holland Architectural Digest)

A colorful, digestible guide to the late 21st century and the role that architects play or don't play in shaping our collective understanding of citizenship. (Christina DesMarais Inc.)