A Soft Embassy
DF_DC
Plaza San Bartolomé
2026
DF_DC’s contribution to Concéntrico 2026 is a pavilion named A Soft Embassy, a temporary structure intended to promote five actions deemed crucial in the process of revitalising a street: Produce!, Meet!, Play!, Manifest! and Recirculate! Building on the ideas developed for The Street in 10 Years at Concéntrico 10, the pavilion is conceived as a simple scaffolding structure —normally related to restricting access to a particular area— here overturned into something porous and permeable.
Reconfigured every day, the pavilion hosts a range of events led by an invited Ambassador in charge of a public action, in which passers-by can interact and, through their involvement, become part of the pavilion itself. Events are public and first-come, first-served, but the pavilion remains open all day and invites users to engage with it in an intuitive, personal manner.
Both the plywood and fabric surfaces react to the different actions and to the particular weather conditions during the festival, making the shifting form of the pavilion an action in itself.
DF_DC
DF_DC is an architecture and urban design practice founded in 2016 by Dario Franchini and Diego Calderon, with offices in London, Zurich and Lugano. Its work spans buildings, spaces, urban strategies and design guidelines, from punctual interventions to public facilities, master plans and neighbourhood construction projects. The studio develops an elemental, legible and porous architecture, attentive to the relationship between structure, matter and finish. Its approach is markedly collaborative and international, nourished by professional practice and teaching. Its work has received several Best Architects Awards and an honourable mention at the 2020 Mexico Architecture Biennale.
With the support of
