What impact can reframing the use of photography in architecture have on the ways we see and practice? How would incorporating a more intentional practice of seeing in architectural pedagogy expand the capacity of designers and unlock pathways towards a higher resolution image of the just and equitable world we collectively seek? What does it look like to engage, learn, and grow in community with our neighbors and neighborhoods? 

Join the Small Center team for the opening reception of our 2021 - 2022 exhibition, The Atmosp(HERE) of Space, a mixed media exploration of the built environment that centers and emerges from the lived experiences of Central City residents. Over the course of the academic year, visitors can expect to see and engage with photographs of present-day landscapes and traditions, portraits and stories of neighborhood residents + leaders, archival imagery from personal and public collections, poetry and visuals from neighborhood artists, tours of historic landmarks and events, and more. All of which will serve as departure points for conversations about the built environment and illuminate a vocabulary of place through which new stories and visions can emerge to allow for deeper dialogue about how our environments impact our perceptions and perspectives, asking us to reconsider what architecture is, how we engage it, and how our representation of it impacts our view of the worlds outside and within. Musings from these conversations will be presented in text and audio form alongside printed and digital content. Panoramic visuals of key neighborhood corridors will serve as anchors and establish connections to important context. Visitors will be able to “walk around” the neighborhood as they move throughout the exhibition — allowing them to make visual connections that are otherwise physically impossible and providing opportunities to contribute to exhibition components.

Additional programming and events surrounding the exhibit will include workshops, community conversations, making events, and more!