Beyond the Wall: Architecture, Oppression, and Resistance

Can you tell us about what inspired the concept/premise of the exhibition?

Heba Al-Fayez: Beyond the Wall is an exhibition that humanizes people’s experiences with oppressive walls, ultimately revealing that walls are tools for both control and agency. The exhibition shares the stories of 6 walls from different times and places, revealing how they separate people and showing the ways that people transform them to regain agency. 

We pitched the exhibition as a response to the destruction of Gaza and its infrastructure. Given this, the series of case studies begins and ends with stories from Palestine, starting with the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank and ending with the Gaza Blockade. Ultimately, we wanted to question the role of designers in contributing to the problem and the solution. 

In the end, we set out to humanize the experience of people facing oppressive walls. We believed that the best way to build solidarity and hope is to illustrate their experiences and perspectives at the individual level. It was all about understanding each other's shared humanity and using that as a starting point to encourage action. So, our installation is an experiential architectural construct, forcing the viewer to feel the way that oppressive walls isolate people and conceal shared experiences. Simultaneously, the installation frames an inspiring gathering space where people can mingle surrounded by stories of people fighting against the walls that confine them.

Samiha Ali: Our initial approach was looking at colonial land use versus Indigenous land use. When we were looking at colonial structures and how they were used to segregate people, one of the first things that came to mind was the concept of a wall. It's something that's used across place and time, often to control and to divide people. And so that's how the idea of the wall was inspired. When we were looking at what apartheid might look like in the built environment, we were primarily researching South Africa and the West Bank. However, as the thesis became more refined, we ventured further away from colonial structures and focused more on the human experience of facing these structures.

Saskia Scarce: We created a space that physically and conceptually resembles the case studies we were discussing, with the intention of creating a sense of compression and expansion. Our goal was to develop a modular system that could be repeated, incorporating concave spaces that would draw focus to specific images. Visibility between the two sides plays a crucial role: the inclusion of gaps or slivers in the concave spaces reveals bits of colour from the other side and emphasizes that even when isolated by oppressive walls, there is always hope for a better life.

On the oppressive side, we kept all graphics linear and rigid, using stoic, informative lines. On the intervention side, we introduced a more playful, participatory element, reflecting how people interact with walls through acts of resistance. For instance, the Berlin Wall was often covered in graffiti. Similarly, at the University of Toronto encampment, protestors covered the university’s fence with posters. We replicated this idea using red tape—both a reference to the gallery’s signature color and a symbol of urgency—arranging posters of varying sizes to create a sense of agency within the space.

The exhibition title, Beyond the Wall, is not just about physical barriers—it represents the untold stories, the lived experiences that exist beyond these structures. The poem posed a powerful question: Who are we walling in, and who are we walling out? The conversation extends beyond walls to include houses, borders, and public spaces.

Can you elaborate on why you think all of these case studies/examples are interrelated?

Saskia Scarce: By presenting different case studies, we emphasize that these divisions are not isolated incidents—history has shown us time and again that they are harmful. The U.S.-Mexico border wall is something many North Americans are familiar with from news coverage, making it a relatable entry point. The Claiborne Corridor in New Orleans, on the other hand, demonstrates how urban planning has been weaponized to divide and redline Black communities in North America—something the audience may not immediately associate with the concept of “walls.” 

The Gaza blockade and student encampments are also deeply connected. These protests made a powerful impact, forcing governments to acknowledge the realities on the ground and proving that student voices have power. Within an academic space, this discussion is especially important—particularly in architecture, where we are taught that we help shape society.

Samiha Ali: What I found interesting during my research was how all the case studies denied people the opportunity to empathize with one another and work towards a collective and shared humanity. For example, you can see how for decades the Catholic Irish communities were separated and walled off from British Protestant communities because of the Ireland Peace Walls. The groups held a lot of animosity towards one another and the walls only amplified this by highlighting their differences. The same could be said with the West Bank and how Israeli settlers never really see the Palestinian communities that are walled off. They don't see how suppressed the Palestinians are, how they are deprived of growing economically, socially, or culturally. And so that's kind of what's similar across all the case studies: there are two sides and they fail to see each other, they fail to work towards a resolution for whatever conflicts they might have.

Heba Al-Fayez: We wanted to focus on real stories about real people whose dignity and basic needs are stripped away by rigid barriers that separate people for one reason or another. We wanted to highlight that everyday experiences can be the most difficult, where even the smallest inconveniences compound over time. More importantly, we wanted to highlight how people in each of these case studies consistently find ways to transform or modify the wall to regain some measure of agency. My biggest realization was how interconnected these case studies are. By seeing these stories in parallel we can learn something new about case studies we may think we already understand, and see the shared humanity in the stories.

Why is it important to address these aspects of architecture and the built environment?

Heba Al-Fayez: We should be challenged to use our skills to address current issues in the outside world - not in hindsight but rather in the present moment. That is the bigger goal for this exhibition. It's also about recognizing that each of these walls has a designer–someone who implemented the policy, someone who made the drawings and mapped out its extent, and those who built the thing itself. We all have to be accountable for our role in contributing to oppression or enabling agency. 

This exhibition encourages people to engage in difficult conversations. We didn’t set out to change anyone’s mind; we are showing real experiences and allowing people to engage with the material without being afraid.

Samiha Ali: If we don't learn about these things then what's stopping them from happening again and again? This issue is no different than fighting for gender, racial, or class inequality - because ultimately that comes out in every discipline. This is just how it manifests in architectural practice. So in our industry, we have to address these issues, and that begins in our classrooms before we go off into professional practice. 

Saskia Scarce: Design affects every aspect of our daily lives—from what we buy to what we wear. As architects, we can embed values into our work. We advocate for community spaces and sustainable projects. If we, as designers and storytellers, can sell ideas, then why not advocate for inclusive spaces instead of exclusionary ones?

Samiha Ali: The content and the theme of this exhibition was something I'm really passionate about. Our professor Will Galloway has an urban theories class, and I wrote an essay on the annexation of Jerusalem through geopolitical tools. I approached him and asked if there were any research opportunities and if there was a way I could delve further into this topic. This is why I immediately took action when this opportunity was presented to me, as I knew the experience I would gain from the exhibition could not be taught in a classroom.

Heba Al-Fayez: I also appreciate that this exhibition program is meant to amplify underrepresented voices. Entering the building every day and seeing that my perspective is welcome was incredible.

What do you see as your long-term goals and responsibilities as an architect, as a designer?

Saskia Scarce: I want to focus on the human scale. Exhibitions are a great example of this—spaces that center people’s experiences. I care more about designing environments where people feel connected, comfortable, and safe rather than simply constructing the biggest or most iconic buildings. My goal is to create spaces that foster learning, memory-making, and community-building, rather than spaces that feel oppressive or alienating. Ultimately, architecture should serve people, not control them.

Samiha Ali: I think every architect or designer should strive to uplift the experiences of people, for any project that they work on - even if it's the most boring industrial building. Architecture is so broad, there are so many systems involved, but it should never be about creating harm or inconveniences for people. One of my aspirations during the undergraduate program is to work towards benefiting communities in need. I want to use my skills as an architect to address the needs of people and to understand how I can design in a way that may alleviate their struggles. 

Heba Al-Fayez: I aspire to create architecture and art that speaks for itself. I hope to create spaces for people to be able to think and question how their lives are organized. Ultimately, architects have the responsibility to bring people together, not divide them. The journey of the exhibition ends with a gathering space - we’re excited to hold a panel discussion before the end of the show, to invite people to reflect on the research presented. We also want to have a conversation about how we approach EDIJ initiatives at TMU. What are the challenges and benefits, and how do we continue this work in the future?