The Dupont Underground: how we turned an abandoned streetcar

station into a cultural institution and drew the plaza now rising above it

The Dupont Underground, founded by Julian Hunt and Lucrecia Laudi, is now a thriving cultural anchor for Dupont Circle and the District with 25,000 annual visitors.

When the city issued a request for proposals to resurrect the dormant space in 2010, only one group answered the call: Hunt Laudi Studio, a design studio helmed by architects Julian Hunt and Lucrecia Laudi (Maryland Today/UMD, April 03, 2023).

2025 “Location of the Month”

In 2011, as part of our Dupont Underground master plan, we proposed capping the Connecticut Avenue underpass with a public plaza sheltering the farmers market and published the rendering to demonstrate it could work. Today, that plaza is under construction as DDOT's $37.8M “Deckover”, opening in 2027:

Read the full “Deckover” origin story

Site Plan: The former streetcar station consists of two platforms and two sets of tunnels.
1910s - 1940s: Transit and Traffic When Connecticut Avenue was widened in the late 1920s, increased traffic in the neighborhood caused a great deal of congestion in the Circle, making it difficult for pedestrians to get around. In fact, Dupont
1949 - 1962: Open The Dupont Circle Streetcar Station greeted its first riders in November 2, 1949. However, neither the Dupont circle streetcar station, nor the subway system it was designed to plug into were allowed to flourish. While DC'
2000-2010: Rediscovered In the early aughts, Hunt Laudi Studio partner Julian Hunt returned stateside after spending the previous decade living and working in Barcelona, which was a city that had undergone tremendous urban renovations shaped b
Located in the center of the District's distinguished arts institutions, the goal of the ACDU is to transform the abandoned platforms and tunnels of the old Dupont streetcar station into innovatively designed spaces for art exhibition, production,
Proposed Programming: Art and Architecture Installations
Proposed Programming: Performance Events
Photo: Existing Parcel at Q Street and Massachusetts Avenue
Rendered View: Proposed Main Entrance at Q Street and Massachusetts Avenue
Proposed Programming: Art and Architecture Installations
Photo: Existing Parcel at Q Street and Connecticut Avenue
Rendered View: Proposed Entry at Q Street and Connecticut Avenue
Proposed Programming: Retail Events
Photo: Existing Connecticut Avenue Underpass
Rendered View: Proposed Cap Park over Connecticut Avenue Underpass