speaker talks and gallery shows by Gloria Z. '26

This semester, I’ve really been trying to take advantage of MIT’s deep well of events: book talks, participatory activities, gallery openings, film screenings… the list goes on! SHASS⁠01 MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences , DUSP⁠02 MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning , and the Architecture department tend to host or promote a lot of these events, in addition to more large-scale happenings at the List Center for the Arts, the Wiesner student gallery, and the MIT Museum. While MIT is known primarily for the T in Technology, it also has a super vibrant and scholarly humanities and arts scene, particularly in disciplines like comparative media studies, urban planning, history of architecture, etc. For example, did you know that DUSP is home to the largest urban planning faculty in the United States?? There’s also a graduate program in science writing, a degree specializing in Islamic architecture, research labs in experimental new media art, etc… I entered MIT perceiving its graduate research sphere as a place filled primarily with advanced scientific endeavors–and that it has, but it also has so much more.

These corners of the school tend to be less undergraduate-heavy, populated primarily by researchers and professors in the specific department. Their events, though, are usually open to all MIT affiliates, and when I find pockets of time to check them out, I always find them extremely valuable and interesting. So–in the past month or so, here’s what I’ve seen!

The Great Learning exhibition preview

feb 12; by Pedro Gómez-Egaña; at the List Center

As part of an on-campus program called MIT Arts Scholars, we get exclusive access to arts events in the greater Boston area, including performances, artist talkbacks, and lectures. This was one such event: we had the opportunity to preview Gómez-Egaña’s show, The Great Learning, which he was setting up in the List Arts Center. It was super inspiring to see a large-scale installation in the midst of construction, as the artist was still making decisions about what to include, where to put things, and how viewers would interact with the space–in the midst of the creative process.

official image taken from the List Center website

From the website description: “[Gómez-Egaña draws] on practices of composition and choreography to create dynamic constellations of objects and events in time.” Without spoiling too much, I especially loved his use of slow, measured movement using magnets and physical systems; definitely encourage seeing the show before it closes in July.

Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer book talk

feb 25; by Jesper Juul (game designer + theorist); hosted by the CMS/W department and the MIT Press

In this book talk, Juul gave an overview of, in his eyes, the five ways the Commodore 64 computer⁠03 one of the best-selling early personal computers! has influenced games, digital culture, and the world at large. I’m really fascinated by retro tech and games (any Pico-8 fans in the chat), so I had to pull up. It’s really interesting how portable computers were marketed back before they became ubiquitous, as tools for connectivity or machines for gaming or otherwise, and I feel like those patterns mirror the way that new personal tech (like biometrics wearables or VR gadgets) are advertised nowadays.

they had some actual Commodore 64 computers there!!! I need to get my hands on a CRT monitor asap…

Necessity: Climate Justice & The Thin Green Line film screening

feb 27; part of the Women Take The Reel film festival; hosted by the WGS department (& other schools’ departments)

I went to this event (and most of the other ones in this list lol) with my friend Sabine! It was part of a free film festival that’s hosted by a variety of Women’s and Gender Studies departments across universities, focusing on 1) issues relating to gender, race, sexuality, class, feminism and 2) films directed by women.

This particular film focused on the stories of climate activists in the Pacific Northwest as they fought legal battles and resisted the encroachment of oil trains and spills throughout their land. It was interesting to see the legal basis they argued on–the necessity defense; and the story ended well. I find it hard a lot of the time to fight climate doomerism/pessimism though, maybe due to lack of information, so I’m trying to learn more, and this is part of that.

i only have a picture of the poster

Measures and Meanings of Spatial Capital book talk

mar 3; by Lars Marcus (Swedish architect + professor in urban design); hosted by DUSP

In this talk, Marcus discusses his research and recently published book on what he calls “spatial capital.” Essentially, he argues that land has been disregarded in contemporary urban/economic studies as a fundamental production factor alongside labor and capital (money). Thus, we must effectively model and synthesize spatial data alongside other forms of data in order to effectively address social and environmental issues.

I think this is more salient than ever as the US faces a critical housing shortage and the world condenses (more than half of the world’s population now live in urban areas :0), and I liked the segments where he discussed ways of actually quantifying spatial metrics through geometry and map data. Also they had really good Mediterranean food!

very cool maps

Future Type exhibition

mar 4; at the MIT Museum

This mini-show was put on by Future Sketches, a research group in the Media Lab that explores technology and computation as mediums for art and design. Specifically, Future Type featured their work related to typography and letterforms. This semester, I’m taking a class taught by Zach Lieberman, who leads Future Sketches, so we just went to see the show as a class and he (& the TAs) talked about the technical details behind some of the work on display. It was very cool!! I really want to try making interactive/projected media of my own. I’m dumb and didn’t take any photos/videos so uhh… have an Instagram link instead :D.

Homes for Living: The Fight for Social Housing and a New American Commons book talk

mar 10; by Jonathan Tarleton; hosted by DUSP

This talk was structured as a conversation between Jonathan Tarleton (a DUSP alum) and Justin Steil (a law/planning professor in DUSP). Tarleton discussed his recent book, which traces the stories of two social housing co-ops in New York City as they contemplate potential financial and social changes. It includes interesting questions pertaining to property ownership and social obligations to our communities and future generations. I feel like homeowning has been sold for so long as the last destination on the American Dream Journey™, a prospect which feels more and more out of reach as real estate prices soar, so it was enlightening to hear his thoughts on how and why social housing programs like these can succeed at all levels.

you can kind of see them at the front

Books and Bites: Exploring Technovernacular Creativity

mar 11; at Rotch Library; hosted by MIT Libraries

I went to this same event last year and it was really cool! Basically, MIT Libraries featured some curated selections from their Distinctive Collections. They had art books, tarot cards, experimental print media, and just generally interesting art objects. I especially enjoyed this piece by Rhiannon Skye Tafoya:

sorry for the weird angle; artist's statement on the next slide

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The weaving techniques are so beautiful and remind me of some of the pixel-manipulation artwork we looked at in my creative computation class (the one w/ future sketches) recently:

by Ken Knowlton (I couldn’t find the name of the work)

info session on architecture licensure 

mar 11; hosted by MIT Architecture + NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards)

This info session detailed the exact requirements for getting licensed as an architect, which is what 1) allows you to call yourself an architect 2) allows you to “stamp” or greenlight designs and 3) allows you to start your own firm. Turns out, the process is way more extensive than I thought: after completing an accredited⁠04 Accredited by NAAB (National Architectural Accrediting Board). This is important, because not all programs count. For example, MIT's undergrad degree is technically a B.S. in Architecture, or a Bachelor's of Science, and it's not NAAB accredited, meaning you would need to get an M.Arch or something afterwards to actually qualify for licensure. B.Arch or M.Arch, you then need to complete 3,740 hours (!!!) of on-the-job experience and take six multi-hour standardized tests covering different aspects of architectural practice. Only then can you call yourself an architect. I guess it makes sense–a lot of things fall under the purview of an architecture firm, from construction/budget management to minute design details, so it’s probably good to only allow experienced professionals to make literal buildings. Plus, you can still work at an architectural firm, e.g. as a staff designer, you just can’t be the principal on a project or something like that. But still – damn!!

i only took a picture of the sandwiches oops. they were good though, from cafe luna

guest lecture by font design collective, Bye Bye Binary

mar 17; hosted as part of 4.14; over Zoom

4.14 is a class about typography and translation, taught by Bo-Won Keum, a graphic designer and lecturer in the architecture department. I took it last spring, when it was offered under a different course number (4.s00), so when she pubbed this year’s guest lecture over email, I decided to listen in on the Zoom. It was super cool⁠05 count how many times I use the word cool in this blog (I need new vocabulary) –Bye Bye Binary is a French-Belgian art collective, working primarily in type, but also performance, writing, and general graphic design. Through their work, they try to construct a more inclusive and “post-binary” version of the French language, which is historically very gendered, while challenging traditional notions of what constitutes good design. I really liked this slide from their presentation:

:-)

Burhan Azeem (Cambridge city councilor) lunch talk

mar 17; hosted by DUSP

For some context, Cambridge recently⁠06 about one month ago, on february 10, 2025 passed the biggest zoning modification in the city’s history, creating one of the most progressive zoning codes nationwide. In short, they adopted multifamily zoning citywide, replacing a complex patchwork of complex regulations and mostly single-family zoning. This is a big deal!! In this talk, Burhan Azeem (actually an MIT alum in course 3) detailed his efforts over the past 5+ years to help push through this legislation, both as a city councilor and community organizer. It was really fascinating to hear him speak about the political side of things, such as strategies to convince constituents and other councilors of the merits of the new code, as well as ways these changes could reverberate in other Boston-area municipalities.

👍

& that’s all! Hopefully as the semester fully ramps up I’ll still have the bandwidth to make it to talks like these; I think having access to the graduate programs’ resources and events is a really valuable part of MIT’s undergraduate education, and it helps expose me to so many new ideas and areas of study. :-)