Curated by Susan Rogers and José Mario López
Featuring the photographs of Joe Robles IV
February 22-April 26, 2024

Architecture Center Houston is proud to announce their upcoming exhibition The Voices of People. The Stories of Place. The Politics of Power., opening Thursday, February 22, 6-8pm, and on view through April 26, 2024. Curated by Susan Rogers and José Mario López, the exhibition amplifies and centers the voices and visions of twelve Houston communities and their leaders, through video, stories, maps and photographs.

The Voices of the People. mediates and disrupts the relationships between public and private, fast and slow, the privileged and the overlooked, the beautiful and the ordinary, through a curated collection of visual, text, and audio storytelling focused on twelve Houston neighborhoods. The layered stories, intertwined across mediums, celebrate the power of people and the significance of place. Pasadena-based photographer Joe Robles IV worked with curators, Susan Rogers and Mario Lopez, to develop life size portraits of community leaders, standing firm in place. The portraits are a celebration of strength and resilience—of what it means to stand up to power, to stand for rights, to fight for change, and embrace a different future.

Dialogue and conversations, listening and sharing, are critical components of the exhibit, disrupting who makes and sits at the table, and organized through a series of public events that privilege, respect, and promote community voice over those of experts. This dialogue is intended to explore intersectionality as it relates to people, the places they call home, and the power to imagine and achieve a new system with new values.



Image Credit: Ivy Lorraine Walls, Sunnyside, 2024, Courtesy of Joe Robles IV

Biographies
Susan Rogers is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston and the Director of the Community Design Resource Center. Her work focuses on the complex intersectionality of people and place and the role of design in catalyzing change. The CDRC’s partnerships with leaders across Houston has led to an expansive and diverse body of work that reflects the extraordinarily rich landscape of the city.

José Mario López, a graduate of the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston, believes in equity as a fundamental part of the planning and design process. He is committed to working with neighborhood leaders to identify opportunities and challenges and co-developing place-based strategies. Mario was part of the CDRC team for four years and is currently working as an urban planner with Huitt-Zollars in Houston, Texas.

The exhibit is supported by the Community Design Resource Center team at the University of Houston: Diana Arias, Natalie Armstrong, Kai Wen Chua, Eric Goldner, Sharon Lott, Davone Morgan, and Regyna Palacios. Architecture Center Houston is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.