Society of Rooms

An undergraduate design studio, where the sensibilities of a room clarify an order for a building, translating interior qualities into a sequence of spaces, instructed in 2022

Society of Rooms asks how the ambiguous definition of a room can be unpacked through the lens of surface, light, color, furniture, objects and apertures. From a canonical room, physical and perceived interior components are abstracted and reassembled in collaborative models to uncover an ordering system. Individual rooms are constructed at ½” scale while aggregations are built at ¼” scale, allowing the eye and the camera lens to occupy model space and photograph in it. Room assemblies are further defined as a small cultural center, extending from the inside out, producing a lush world that retreats into a complex array of material affect.

Image Credit: Ashmal Ali, Arely Barrios, Olivia Lewis

Contributors: University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture students co-taught by Abigail Chang, Chris Frye, Palmyra Geraki, Stewart Hicks (coordinator), Thomas Kelley

Recognition: Olivia Lewis, Susan Neely Scholarship Award, Kevin K. Pierce Scholarship Award, Outstanding Third Year Undergraduate Project