One hundred and fifty feet of continuous, hand-drawn tracing paper ā at times lying on the floor, pinned to the walls, or draped over wooden dowels ā depict a research journey showcasing the transformative role of women in architectural design.
Paulette Cameronās (BEDSā19, MArchā21)Ā first solo exhibition,Ā Dancing Between the Lines,Ā is the culmination of her Prix de Rome in Architecture research and tells the story of fourteen women challenging patriarchal norms within the design profession. āIt was rewarding to see my vision emerge after months of traveling,ā recalls Cameron. āI visited seven countries and interviewed and shadowed fourteen women, all while researching, documenting, and synthesizing my findings.ā
Hosted by the ×īŠĀŠÓ°ÉŌ““ School of Architecture, the exhibition drew great attendance from the local community. Visitors experienced Cameronās journey through drawings, interactive installations, and a photo display capturing moments from her travels.
A place to rest and reflect
At the center of the space was whatĀ Cameron called the āwombā of her show, inspired by a conversation withĀ Ā of Mexico City, one of the women she worked with in her research.Ā Cameron inquired how motherhood reshaped Tatianaās understanding of architectureās role in society, prompting her to recall a conversation she had with a group of women at Princeton, where one shared that when her body became architecture through motherhood, everything changed.
āI wanted to communicate, in a spatial way, how rethinking the origin of architecture with the womanās body at its core shifts architectural practice toward nurture, care, and listening,āĀ Cameron explains.
TheĀ āwomb,āĀ an intimate enclosure surrounded by white curtains, was anchored by a cocooning, locally made donut-shaped pouf, where visitors were invited to rest, reflect, and record their thoughts on a Califone cassette recorder. Throughout the exhibition,Ā Cameron played the fourteen interviews on a continuous loop, enveloping the audience in the voices and stories that inspired her journey.
Connecting personal stories
The interactive installations invited further exploration. A drawing station encouraged visitors to engage with the design process firsthand, while a projection of a Prada fashion show ā set-designed by Ellen van Loon and her team atĀ Ā in Rotterdam ā showcased the impact of interdisciplinary overlap, pushing architecture beyond the silo it has been confined to as a discipline. These elements connected the personal stories of the womenĀ Cameron met to the broader cultural impact of their work, while also inviting visitors to contribute, symbolizing the inclusion of many voices and the interconnectedness fostered by the women interviewed.
āHearing visitors share their own gendered, class-based, or racialized experiences of exclusion within the profession ā and witnessing the vulnerability and tears shed ā was incredibly moving and has reinforced my commitment to creating platforms for open dialogue and constructive critique."
Cameronās research and exhibition is based on conversations with: Rosalea Monacella, Ana MarĆa DurĆ”n Calisto, Deborah Berke, Dolores Hayden, Lauren Stimson, Wanda Dalla Costa, Claudia Kappl-Joy, Tatiana Bilbao, Ann Nisbet, Helle SĆøholt, Ellen Van Loon, Alison Brooks, Manuela Luca-DĆ”zio, and Sabine Marcelis, and is part of her ongoing body of work that she continues to lecture on and show. Since the exhibition,Ā Cameron has lectured on her work for the Building Equality in Architecture (BEAT) Panel at theĀ , and at several architectural firms.