Project Agorà
Interactive Wall | Design + Architecture
Introduction
The Agorà Project transforms the wall—historically a symbol of social and political division and exclusion—into a medium of connection among communities and nations. From the Berlin Wall to more recent barriers, walls have long represented separation. This project reimagines them as portals of unity and shared understanding.
The installation is designed as an interactive experience positioned in main city squares worldwide, enabling citizens to discover and share information in a public, shared physical space—away from personal devices. By removing the individual choice of information consumption on smartphones, the project creates opportunities for people to gather and engage with common information about topics that matter.
The concept draws directly from ancient history. The first channel for debating in history was a space in front of the main city temple—the Agora, the square where modern democracy took place. There, citizens would expose ideas or problems and discuss them together, gathering the community. The Agorà Project aims to revive this tradition by bridging digital divulgation with real-life civic engagement.
Main Objectives
The first objective is to demystify information. The project creates a tool that promotes the sharing of verified, professionally-curated information in an accessible, visually engaging format. By requiring journalistic approval while maintaining a fresh, modern visual language reminiscent of social media, the wall presents real, demystified information that engages citizens.
The second objective is to create civic space. The installation establishes physical gathering places that enable true information sharing, debate, and community building in public squares. These spaces are strategically positioned in the middle of public areas, making information accessible to all who pass through.
The third objective is to bridge the digital and physical worlds. The project connects social media engagement with real-world community actions, bringing online conversations into tangible public discourse. Examples from Twitter NGO reports, such as the hashtag #BlackMatters and Spanish cities running digital campaigns, demonstrate how digital movements can translate into real-life actions.
The fourth objective is to empower democratic voice. The installation makes citizens aware of their power of voice in the democratic process through inclusive, accessible public engagement. As the Roman senator declared: "Verba volant scripta manent"—spoken words fly away, but written words remain. The project emphasizes the importance of real action over elusive approaches.
Distinctive Elements
The Interactive Wall
The central element is a digital display positioned at the heart of public squares. This wall is capable of displaying different types of information and interaction on its own. It can show content ranging from Global Footprint data and women's education rates worldwide to countries' traditions, geopolitical information like the Syria War, and Brexit developments.
The wall dynamically displays information correlated to events happening in the square, providing contextual and timely content. All information presented receives professional journalistic approval, ensuring accuracy while maintaining an engaging, modern visual presentation that appeals to contemporary audiences.
Four Pillars of Experience
The Agorà Project holds a series of activities aimed at sharing different experiences, driven toward different ways of approaching democracy. These experiences are organized around four pillars: Information, Debate, Place, and Voice.
Information encompasses tools for sharing verified information through interactive displays. The interactive wall delivers educational content about politics and global issues, allowing citizens to learn without filtering through personal device algorithms.
Debate provides spaces for discussion and divulgation of information. Interactive tables enable guests and participants to engage in collaborative debate activities, fostering meaningful exchange of ideas.
Place refers to the physical spaces enabling true information sharing in public. These gathering areas with tables allow for community discussions and civic engagement, creating environments where people naturally come together.
Voice includes tools to understand the power of words and amplify citizen voice. Presentations and meetings about trending democratic cases help citizens recognize their role in the democratic process.
Spatial Configuration
The design features a central wall serving as the information anchor, surrounded by satellite gathering zones for interaction. The configuration includes guiding pathways between elements, drawing inspiration from ancient amphitheater stairs that naturally direct visitor movement from the wall to event spaces.
The layout is flexible, allowing for various event configurations while maintaining the core principle of the central wall surrounded by interactive gathering points. This creates a natural flow where visitors first engage with the displayed information and then move to discussion areas.
Considerations
Challenges
Content curation presents an ongoing challenge. Ensuring journalistic integrity and editorial balance while maintaining engaging, accessible presentation requires careful attention. The information must be verified and balanced while still appealing to modern audiences accustomed to dynamic digital content.
Urban integration requires adapting the installation design to diverse architectural contexts across different city squares worldwide. From historic European plazas to modern urban centers, each location presents unique considerations for how the installation integrates with existing architecture and public space usage.
Digital-physical synchronization demands creating seamless connections between social media platforms and physical installation content. The challenge lies in making online conversations relevant and accessible in a public physical format while maintaining the immediacy that digital platforms provide.
Opportunities
Global scalability represents a significant opportunity. The concept can adapt from London's Trafalgar Square to Milan's Duomo—reaching iconic public spaces across cultures and contexts. Each installation can be customized to local needs while maintaining the core mission.
Platform partnerships offer potential for collaboration with social media platforms and NGOs to amplify civic engagement and hashtag movements. These partnerships could bring additional resources and reach to the project while aligning with organizations that share similar civic goals.
Civic renewal provides the opportunity to revitalize public discourse and democratic participation through modern, engaging civic infrastructure. In an era of declining civic engagement, the project offers a fresh approach to bringing people together around shared information and dialogue.
Conclusions
The Agorà Project aims to take communities in city main squares and give them the medium to access information. This information would be accessible due to its strategic position in the middle of a public space—a place where people can exchange information and learn more about topics that matter, being inclusive in the society and having a public voice.
The project transforms division into connection, taking symbols of separation and reimagining them as tools for unity. It bridges digital and physical engagement, recognizing that while social media has changed how we communicate, there remains profound value in physical gathering and face-to-face discourse.
By reviving the ancient agora concept, the project connects contemporary civic needs with time-tested principles of democratic participation. The original agora was where democracy was born—where citizens came together to debate, decide, and shape their communities.
Ultimately, the Agorà Project empowers democratic participation by making citizens aware of their voice and its power. In public squares around the world, it creates spaces where information flows freely, where debate flourishes, and where community strengthens through shared engagement with the issues that shape our lives.
