Exhibit: Changing Room
For immediate release
Changing Room
The exhibit will be on view starting April 26, 2024, with the opening reception at 6 PM on the same day.
MIT Architecture Keller Gallery, 77 Mass Ave, 7-408, Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA, April, 2024 – MIT announced the Changing Room – An exhibition featuring gender-conscious work curated and created by the student initiative Shift+W and collaborators– on view at MIT Architecture’s Keller Gallery through Summer 2024.
*******
“Excuse me, where is your Changing Room?"
As children, when asked about our aspirations for adulthood we might find answers through playing dress-up and conjuring up infinite imaginations of futures and possible identities. Transitioning into adulthood, the request for a changing room invokes the playful spirit of dress-up in an intentional, methodological, and critical way. Much like choosing appropriate attire for different environments—a jacket for cold weather, sandals for the beach, or sturdy boots for hiking—our choice in clothing reflects the choice in tools we use to navigate various personal, academic, and professional settings. This seemingly simple question echoes deeper questions into identity, self-expression, and the roles we are expected to play in society.
Within the environment of MIT, we as students are asked to make meaningful changes in the world and to innovate, the Changing Room exhibition then boldly asks us to turn our intellectual exercises inwards. To think about the layers of labels we carry and how they impact our work. Housed within this exhibition are gender-conscious research, projects, and objects which all aim not to come to final conclusions regarding the role of gender in architecture, but rather to open the conversation to individual interpretation and collective exploration.
We extend a warm invitation to all to join us in the Changing Room, a vital center for transformation, collaboration, and introspection. Here, you can reflect on the tools you possess, explore and try on a range of ideas, experiment with self-expression, and embrace this room as a catalyst for metamorphosis.
About the Shift+W
Shift+W is a student initiative initiated by Alicia Delgado-Alcaraz, Brenda Hernandez, Ina Wu, and Jeonghyun Yoon. Interested in exploring the complexities of female representation in architecture, we seek to both honor the historical advancements made by previous generations of women, while also resisting complacency in present time, acknowledging there is remaining progress to fight for. We are interested in bringing these gender-conscious conversations to the table, especially at MIT architecture where we can give value to our individual experiences and create a space for collective reflection.
Advisors
Ana Miljački, Azra Aksamija
Exhibited Work
Avigail Gilad, Bella Carmelita Carriker, Carina Arvizu Machado, Celia Quynh-Mai Chaussabel, Chiara Oggioni, Yi Sun, Manal Zia, Laura-India Garinois, Mahwish Khalil,Maria Gabriela Carucci, Qianer Zhu, SOFA (Society of Feminist Architects)
Exhibited Work In Collaboration with In//Border [inborder.org]
Jacqueline Reyes, Perla Rodriguez
Curated Interviews
Mara V. Diavolova, Minyoung Kim, Sesil Lee, Soala Ajienka, Suwan Kim, Tanya Estrina
Support Team
Arezo Hakemy, Gabriel Ildefonso Andrade and Erick Carrasco
Special Thanks
Nicholas de Monchaux, Yolande Daniels, Joel Carela, Chris Dewart, Allen Reyes, Douglas J Le Vie, William (Bill) McKenna, and Jim Harrington.
Exhibition was developed with support from the Council of Arts at MIT, the Mind, Hand Heart Innovation Fund, and the MIT Department of Architecture.
About the MIT Department of Architecture
The MIT Department of Architecture opened its doors in 1868 as the first Architecture department in the United States. MIT Architecture is currently home to around 250 graduate and undergraduate students. Numbered among the Department’s over 5,000 alumni are Sophia Hayden ’1890, Robert R. Taylor ’1892, I.M. Pei ’40, and Charles Correa ’55.
About the Keller Gallery at MIT
The Keller Gallery was established in the fall of 2011 with a generous donation of materials and labor in kind from Shawn Keller, principal at C.W. Keller & Associates. The 200 square foot gallery presents faculty, student, and experimental work, including work from alumni and friends.
Visitor Information
The Keller Gallery at MIT
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 7, Room 408, Cambridge, MA 02139
Free and open to the public
Monday through Sunday, 9AM to 6PM
Media contacts
Joél Carela
Communications Coordinator, MIT Department of Architecture
jcarela@mit.edu / 617-253-0692