Posted: March 28, 2025
By:Â Solange Richer de Lafleche
One hundred and fifty feet of continuous, hand-drawn tracing paper – at times lying on the floor, pinned to the walls, or draped over wooden dowels – depict a research journey showcasing the transformative role of women in architectural design.
Paulette Cameron’s (BEDS’19, MArch’21) first solo exhibition, Dancing Between the Lines, is the culmination of her Prix de Rome in Architecture research and tells the story of fourteen women challenging patriarchal norms within the design profession. “It was rewarding to see my vision emerge after months of traveling,” recalls Cameron. “I visited seven countries and interviewed and shadowed fourteen women, all while researching, documenting, and synthesizing my findings.”
A roll of hand-drawn tracing paper drapes across the floor, depicting Cameron's research.
Hosted by the Â鶹´«Ă˝ School of Architecture, the exhibition drew great attendance from the local community. Visitors experienced Cameron’s journey through drawings, interactive installations, and a photo display capturing moments from her travels. At the center of the space was what Cameron called the “womb” of her show, inspired by a conversation with  of Mexico City, one of the women she worked with in her research. Cameron inquired how motherhood reshaped Tatiana’s understanding of architecture’s role in society, prompting her to recall a conversation she had with a group of women at Princeton, where one shared that when her body became architecture through motherhood, everything changed. “I wanted to communicate, in a spatial way, how rethinking the origin of architecture with the woman’s body at its core shifts architectural practice toward nurture, care, and listening,” Cameron explains.
Cameron's travel photos hang from the ceiling, inviting visitors to look up and explore.
The “womb,” an intimate enclosure surrounded by white curtains, was anchored by a cocooning, locally made donut-shaped pouf, where visitors were invited to rest, reflect, and record their thoughts on a Califone cassette recorder. Throughout the exhibition, Cameron played the fourteen interviews on a continuous loop, enveloping the audience in the voices and stories that inspired her journey.
The interactive installations invited further exploration. A drawing station encouraged visitors to engage with the design process firsthand, while a projection of a Prada fashion show—set-designed by Ellen van Loon and her team at  in Rotterdam—showcased the impact of interdisciplinary overlap, pushing architecture beyond the silo it has been confined to as a discipline. These elements connected the personal stories of the women Cameron met to the broader cultural impact of their work, while also inviting visitors to contribute, symbolizing the inclusion of many voices and the interconnectedness fostered by the women interviewed.
Cameron shares insights about her work with exhibition goers.
"I was deeply touched by how many people engaged with the exhibition,” notes Cameron.
“Hearing visitors share their own gendered, class-based, or racialized experiences of exclusion within the profession—and witnessing the vulnerability and tears shed—was incredibly moving and has reinforced my commitment to creating platforms for open dialogue and constructive critique."
Cameron’s research and exhibition is based on conversations with: Rosalea Monacella, Ana MarĂa Durán Calisto, Deborah Berke, Dolores Hayden, Lauren Stimson, Wanda Dalla Costa, Claudia Kappl-Joy, Tatiana Bilbao, Ann Nisbet, Helle Søholt, Ellen Van Loon, Alison Brooks, Manuela Luca-Dázio, and Sabine Marcelis, and is part of her ongoing body of work that she continues to lecture on and show. Since the exhibition, Cameron has lectured on her work for the Building Equality in Architecture (BEAT) Panel at the , and at several architectural firms.