At the periphery of architecture’s conventional boundaries, a turn toward intersectionality has fostered vital connections between environmental, social, gender, and other-than-human justice in architectural practice. These intersections challenge established methodologies, reconfiguring how architecture is conceived and practiced—from material cultures and social histories to innovative techniques of site analysis and visual representation. This expanded framework shifts the focus from the final product to the processes that generate it. To understand these transformative explorations and their potential for replication, we must revisit the experimental groundwork that informs them.
The new exhibition (dis)assemblies frames the act of “dismantling” as a pedagogical approach to contemporary architectural discourse and practice. The exhibition invites viewers to engage with the meticulous process of disentangling—of breaking down and examining conditions, ideals, and methods that respond to today’s societal questions. Through material experimentation, alternative tools and techniques, and the disruption of entrenched institutional hierarchies, these projects envision new modes of architectural production.
Central to this exploration is a commitment to inclusivity, diversity, transparency, and accountability. The act of undoing provides an opportunity to reconsider entrenched assumptions, creating space for reimagined ways of making. Rather than prescribe a singular model, this collection of essays and works reflects upon the fragmented and layered contexts within which architecture operates, offering new possibilities for reassembly and experimentation. Together, these pieces expand how architecture can be practiced, taught, and understood in the present moment.
The projects featured in (dis)assemblies were developed during the 2023–24 Watkin Sequence led by Tania Tovar Torres and Zhicheng Xu at the Rice School of Architecture.
Curators
Tania Tovar Torres and Zhicheng Xu
Students (Class of 2024)
Valeria Aguirre, Grace Andrews, Harper Bo, Joshua Chiang, John Curylo, Valerie Elizondo, Ekene Emekine, Tammy Feng, Anne He, Rafe Hessekiel, Zichuen Huang, Madeline Ju, Lily Li, Neha Nayar, Kexuan Shang, Than Van Phan, Amber Wang, Tiffany Wu, Wendy Yao, Liufei Zhu
Curatorial Team
Ricardo Betacourt Buelna, Yousif Giyo, Aaryn Ijames, Mayela Pérez Dimas, Camila Ulloa Vasquez
Exhibition Design
Hyperlocal
Graphic Identity
Estudio P