Traces in Matter
‘Traces in Matter’ is a window and interior exhibition that showcases a series of buildings across North America that are vacant, abandoned, or in urgent need of repair. From industrial warehouses to rural community halls and houses, these structures hold deep cultural and material value, yet remain overlooked and at risk of demolition.
The installation reframes these sites as places of possibility for adaptive reuse, preservation, and renewal. From the street, large-scale drawings of these buildings fill the window, visible day and night. Each is mounted on a stand made of ordinary construction materials appearing at once unstable and supported. These fragile structures mirror the condition of the buildings they depict: weakened yet held together, precarious yet resilient.
Inside, the experience deepens. Visitors encounter the same drawings at closer range, their scale and positioning revealing certain views in full while obscuring others from the street. This layered visibility transforms the exhibition into a slow act of discovery, inviting curiosity and reflection on what remains hidden, exposed, or repaired.
‘Traces in Matter’ invites the public to see neglected architecture as material witnesses to shared histories, and as catalysts for future design.
