Designing for the invisible: New exhibition centers on the experience of homelessness for architects and urban designers

The UQAM Design Centre at the University of Quebec in Montreal will be hosting a new exhibition, (IN)VISIBLE: Design through the Prism of Homelessness, that offers insights for designers looking towards solutions for how to make the crisis of homelessness currently gripping many Western democracies more visible.

The exhibition is being presented in unison with the group Architecture Without Borders Quebec (ASFQ), which has been an advocate of different at-risk communities throughout the province and abroad. 

Its organizers, Collectif Architecture + Itinérance, share: “(IN)VISIBLE: Design through the Prism of Homelessness proposes a reflection on how to make visible the spatial claims of homeless people without harming them. This takes shape by borrowing several tools from the fields of design: critical mapping, photovoice, a visual method that uses photography as a voice, participatory design and critical design. These tools draw on various types of experiential, artistic, practical, and expert knowledge.”

Two years of research and collaboration with community organizations have gone into its curation. The results are valuable lessons about how spatial justice and related issues can produce effective and broad-reaching change in the built environment. Participants include the #OnNeLaissePersonneDerrière (or ONLPD) Collective, Mossy Society & Comm-Un, and other artists who have experienced homelessness directly. 

The exhibition opens on May 23rd and will remain on view through June 16th at the UQAM Design Centre.