Patterns of Life
A newly commissioned installation unpacks the material and intangible dimensions of domicide through the stories of three individual families whose homes were destroyed by munitions manufactured in the United States.
Collaborators
Location
Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City
Completion
2024
Throughout the last year, SITU collaborated with artist and data journalist Mona Chalabi to develop “Patterns of Life,” a project commissioned by the curatorial team of this year’s Smithsonian Design Triennial, “Making Home.” The exhibition will be on view from November 2 to August 10, 2025 at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. One of 25 site-specific projects, the exhibition takes the theme of “home” and “housing” as a critical point of departure.
The Triennial is curated by Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, curator of contemporary design and Hintz Secretarial Scholar at Cooper Hewitt; Christina L. De León, associate curator of Latino design at Cooper Hewitt; and Michelle Joan Wilkinson, curator of architecture and design at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Entitled “Patterns of Life,” the work presents three homes destroyed in airstrikes by weapons manufactured in the United States. The reconstruction of the three homes in the exhibition, one from Iraq (2015), one from Syria (2016), and one from Palestine (2023) reflects on both the material and intangible dimensions of domicide: the widespread and systematic destruction of housing. Domicide is currently under consideration by the United Nations for potential recognition as a crime under international law; and as both the largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping initiatives and the world’s largest arms dealer, the United States has yet to reckon with its ongoing legacy and involute relationship to domicide
Developed in collaboration with the affected residents, the large-scale architectural reconstructions show the homes of Basim’s family in Mosul, Iraq; Osman and his wife in Manbij, Syria; and X and her son in Gaza, Palestine. For each home, the exterior facades have been constructed as dimensionally precise architecture models. Instead of a fourth facade, a section cut reveals a view into the interior of the homes. Suspended within the rooms are vibrant illustrations printed on translucent silk providing a view into the intimacy of a home, the fragility of memory, and the patterns of life that existed before the rubble. Through detailed representations of heirlooms, books, toys, and sensorial memories, these models celebrate the quotidian and intimate lives within these homes.
Accompanied by floor to ceiling panoramic landscape illustrations, the images reveal the scale of destruction domicide begets on both cities and individuals–highlighting not only the broader effects of losing shelter and community, but the personal experiences of those displaced and lives lost.
Accompanying the exhibition is a publication that includes an interview between Mona Chalabi, Brad Samuels, Director at SITU Research and Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing. The publication Making Home: Belonging, Memory, and Utopia in the 21st Century, co-published with MIT Press, will be available in February 2025.
To learn more about “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial” at Cooper Hewitt, please see here. To learn more about upcoming events, visit here.
The following text accompanied the introduction of the exhibition:
Patterns of Life reflects on the experiences of three individuals whose homes were destroyed by domicide—the widespread and systematic destruction of housing due to military conflict, urban development, or social upheaval. Domicide is currently under review by the United Nations for potential recognition as a crime under international law.
Advancements in military technology have reshaped conflict in the 21st century. The ability to strike from unprecedented distances has made militaries increasingly reliant on remote surveillance to distinguish between targets and “patterns of life.” Although these tools and methods are employed to identify the enclaves of bad actors, such as terrorists, interpreting this information from afar can also mistake the routines of civilian domestic life as threats.
To better understand the personal, architectural, and cultural impact of domicide, data journalist Mona Chalabi and visual investigations practice SITU Research documented homes destroyed by weapons manufactured in the US during airstrikes in Iraq (2015), Syria (2016), and Palestine (2023). In collaboration with the affected residents, the architectural models displayed here show the homes of Basim’s family in Mosul, Iraq; Osman and his wife in Manbij, Syria; and X and her son in Gaza, Palestine. Through detailed representations of heirlooms, books, toys, and domestic objects, the models celebrate the intimate lives within these homes. Accompanied by panoramic landscape illustrations, the images reveal the scale of destruction on both cities and individuals. The installation highlights the broader effects of losing shelter and community as well as the personal experiences of those displaced and lives lost.
Patterns of Life illuminates the complex role of the US in this issue, as it stands as the leading financial contributor to United Nations peacekeeping initiatives, but also the world’s largest producer of arms.
SITU Research team Gauri Bahuguna, Martina Duque Gonzalez, Sam Rabiyah, Frederick Rapp, Bradley Samuels, and Candice Strongwater.
Special thanks to Rami Alafandi, Feurat Alani, Najib Aminy, Benjamin Aranda, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Brian Castner, Omar Al-Dewachi, Anand Gopal, Anette Millington, Joanna Naples-Mitchell, Hussein Mohammad Samawi, Dr. Naam Riyad-Dent, and Paulo Irani.
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