Lecture by Prof. Dr. Michael Minkenberg [ European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)], #1 of the Lecture Series Organizing Architectures in Summer Semester 2025
As in old monarchies and current autocracies, capital cities in democratic states are supposed to express the will and vision of the sovereign but unlike in other regime types they are confronted with the problem that the sovereign is a rather abstract collective: the people. The lecture addresses this problem and discusses possibilities and examples of the symbolization and representation of the demos in capital cities. Particular attention is paid to the functions capitals must fulfill in a democratic context and to the question how democracy as a promise and practice influences the siting of capital cities, their urban design and their most important public buildings and places, in particular parliaments. Cases include capital cities experiencing regime change, either in transformative contexts (Berlin, Rome, Paris) or as newly built capitals (Washington, Canberra, Brasília).
21 May 2025
6 – 7.30 p.m.
at Goethe University Frankfurt,
Campus Westend,
Seminarhaus 1.104