undergraduate design on display

Photo by Sarah Wagner.

Library reception. Photo by Sarah Wagner.

Photo by Sarah Wagner.

Display design by Christophe Guberan to showcase the work of his studio. Photo by Sarah Wagner.

Photo by Sarah Wagner.

Exhibit space looking out into MIT building 7 corridor at library entry level. Photo by Sarah Wagner.

Photo by Sarah Wagner.

Design Exhibit - Rotch Library of Architecture and Planning, MIT 2019

with: Maroula Bacharidou, Gerard Patawaran and Paul Petrigrew photos: Sarah Wagner

The prospect of designing an exhibition to showcase the undergraduate design studios and programs of the Department of Architecture was very exciting. Even more so as I was co-teaching an undergraduate course at the time. The mission was simple: to be as inclusive o the work as possible to foster the amazing work of our students, and to engage the building user and open house visitors with all the nooks and levels of the Rotch Library of Architecture, renovated by the firm Schwartz Silver.

Not many people know that the library has six accesible levels plus a basement, and that most levels are visually connected with the Building 7 dome corridors through big, characteristic windows. Our strategy was to these to frame the contents of the exhibit, and draw attention with graphics to what awaited inside.

All the graphic layouts, print outs, and stands were designed, fabricated and installed by the exhibition team. We completed the show with bold vinyl graphics cut in-house by Gerard, and projected a series of images on a glass surface. The exhibit materials included laser cut generative drawings, objects, architectural models, and even wearables.

This project took place on the Spring semester, during my tenure as Teaching Fellow in the School of Architecture and Planning. The exhibit was curated in collaboration with the instructors of the Design Minor programs.