In terms of activism, disruption is a necessary element of effective protest. When acts of disruption spill into the public domain, they carve out spaces through blockades, defenses, and territorial claims, giving rise to ‘protest architecture.’ This concept is the focus of the exhibition organized by DAM – Deutsches Architekturmuseum and the MAK – Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna. Titled “Protest/Architecture. Barricades, Camps, Superglue,” the event showcases a collection of models, photographs, and films depicting the evolution of protest architecture around the world. The exhibition, curated by Oliver Elser with curatorial assistance and research by Anna-Maria Mayerhofer, is open from September 16, 2023, until January 14, 2024, at the DAM OSTEND in Frankfurt.
The exhibition explores the impact of 13 protests that happened between 1968 and 2023 in Austria, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Spain, Ukraine, and the United States. Each manifestation was characterized by a unique structure and duration, from Madrid's makeshift canopy in 2011 to the tent villages of Hong Kong and Occupy New York, all showcasing diverse architectural expressions. Longer protests, such as the 16-month-long highway blockade in Delhi transformed farm vehicles turned into makeshift dwellings, illustrating the protest’s persistence.
Several of these movements achieved their objectives, leading to the fall of the government, like the case of the Tahrir Square protests in Cairo, or the Maidan Uprising in Kyiv, the protection of a forest, in the case of the occupation of Hambach Forest, or the construction of subsidized housing prompted by the MTST movement in Brazil. Architecture often played a vital role, with Kyiv's Maidan Square evolving into a fortress during months of conflict, while Brazil's MTST protest camps featured easily dismantled structures, strategically planned for quick disassembly. Hong Kong's transition from road-blocking tents in 2014 to more sophisticated methods in 2019 is highlighted as an example of adapting to restrictive countermeasures.
Delving into the local histories, the exhibition features the varied ways in which people take over the city’s spaces. Sites are appropriated, blocked, marked, or defended, settled with camps, and buttressed by barricades, giving a spatial dimension to the demands and objectives. As structures become established, they enable new forms of communication to evolve. The aim of the exhibition ‘Protest/Architecture’ is not to comment on the legitimacy of the causes of protest, but rather to investigate the complex ways in which these temporary events rely on spatial elements to gain strength and support the protesters. The 13 case studies included in the exhibition are presented with scale models, photos and a 16-minute documentary movie installation by Frankfurt director Oliver Hardt (“The Black Museum”, 2018) purpose-produced for the exhibition.
Public protest, manifestations, and social engagement can have many implications for the built environment, from neighborhoods resisting gentrification through the use of graffiti to creative ways of using the urban spaces as a canvas for civic expression or changing the character of public squares and streets to become gathering spaces for protest in an expression of the freedom of movement. As this function of public spaces becomes a crucial one in any democracy, the range of uses for the public realm needs to include these types of events.
