Project by Hanwen Miao
This project transforms the former U.S. Embassy in Dublin into an Irish–American Women Museum exploring how women’s voices have been censored across both nations. The design pairs the heavy, enclosed embassy with a new transparent extension, using split-level circulation to reflect how women’s rights have shifted, fractured, and risen over time. The old building holds histories of restriction—legal barriers, banned information, underground communication—while the new building opens into spaces of learning, dialogue, and performance. Moving through the museum becomes a spatial journey from silence to expression, revealing how architecture can mirror the struggle for visibility and empowerment.
