Student work showcased at the Gaslight District

Building Community & Belonging, an exhibition of student work created in 3B Option Studio: Creativity, Identity, and Belonging (Fall 2022) was on display in the Gaslight District throughout their grand opening weekend festival in late July. 

The exhibition asks, how do we create a sense of community through the process of designing and building? In this exhibition, students reimagine familiar places throughout Galt as part of a studio course exploring Creativity, Identity, and Belonging in design. 

In a sequence of three projects, students created a self-reflective narrative (Project 1), a community-based installation (Project 2), and a design for a building or place within the City of Cambridge (Project 3). By starting the creative process with an understanding of one's identity and values, the design exercises that followed stem from a place of care and connection. At the core of the studio course was a weekly series of collective conversations and workshops focusing on creativity and wellbeing. This exhibition documents a journey through finding belonging within the self, with others, and amongst a community. 
 
The weekly practices and installations sit at the centre of the exhibition, as the heart of the studio course. These practices nurtured a sense of empathy and understanding among the students, reinforcing a commitment to creating spaces that foster a sense of belonging for the community. Projects exploring new visions for Galt, including community hubs, performance spaces, and street markets, are found along the perimeter of the exhibition circle. Collectively, the circle is a demonstration of how identity can provide a meaningful foundation for the creative process and offers paths towards shaping spaces for belonging through architecture and design. 

Featuring work by: 
Nicole Chen, Samuel Correa, Alex Doyi, Larissa Mazzacca, Isha Patel, Jordana Polera, Juhi Puri, Arthi Suthaharan, Clay Te Bokkel, Roxana Torshizi, Nathan Vilela and Alyson Yang Zhou 

Team: 
Jaliya Fonseka 
Amrit Phull 
Callen Wilson-Delafield 
Ethan Zhang 

Join us for the closing reception, September 20th from 6:30 - 8:30 pm.