Date of Award

Spring 6-1-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Design (MDes) in Interior Studies / Exhibition + Narrative Environments

Department

Interior Architecture

First Advisor

Jehanzeb Shoaib

Abstract

The awareness of gender inequality in China has begun to awaken, but deep-rooted discrimination against women still exists in society. Under the influence of the thousand-year-old feudal social system, men self-righteously believe that they are superior to women and that women have received more "gender benefits." However, research shows that China’s current gender gap is behind mainstream European and American countries by more than 100 years, indicating that China still has a long way to go before reaching gender equality.

Many exhibitions in China have tried to address the challenges faced by women. However, according to the visitor data, the primary audience paying attention to feminist issues is still women. Men tend to exhibit an indifferent attitude towards related exhibitions. How can narrative environments be used to attract more men to engage in such exhibitions and become aware of the oppression experienced by women in both historical and contemporary China?

This thesis advocates using the contrast and fusion of square and circle, light and shadow to communicate the relationship between men and women, and using a dramatic structure to construct a narrative exhibition. The entire exhibition is divided into 4 parts:

(1) the opening - an outdoor theater, using free street performances to attract visitors, (2) the transition - creating light and shadow corridors and meditation areas, blurring gender boundaries, and achieving tourist identity reshaping, (3) the climax - creating narrative space, allowing tourists to resonate with the female victims in the story. (4) ending and reflection - Creating a lake view, providing outdoor space to process, and prolonging the emotions brought to visitors during the exhibition.

In this way, using the tools of narrative space and theatre design, male visitors will be forced to question their discrimination toward women.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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