Katie Rotman
Katie Rotman is a second-year M.Arch candidate at MIT. After completing a BA in Studio Art at Oberlin College in 2014, Katie spent the following years pursuing her sculptural practice while working in arts and architecture non-profits, artist studios, and art education. Most recently, she worked as Manager of Operations & Special Projects at The Architectural League of New York where she oversaw League Mentorship, produced the Beaux Arts Ball and coordinated US Architects Declare.
Her research on play and engagement in public space aims to better define methods for encouraging inclusive, sustainable and impactful design that result in truly democratic public spaces. Katie is interested in architectural projects and interventions that empower and give a sense of autonomy to all users, specifically children and alternative user groups. Her architectural approach is grounded by her sculptural practice and interest in balance, weight and implied forces.
Marble Wobble: Dudley Triangle, developed for Ana Miljacki’s Collective Studio, is set in the neighborhood of Dudley, home to DNI, a community land trust in Roxbury, Boston. The game highlights the challenges, pitfalls and thrills of working as a collective. There are four playing modes: collectively toward a common goal, together against a common adversary, competitively or contemplatively.
Tilting the Scales, the second in the series of wobbles, was developed for Gediminas Urbonas' course Art in the Public Sphere which had as its site Herter Park Community Garden. This iteration focuses on the cadence of gardening formed by individual labor toward the care of a shared space. The rhythms of gameplay demonstrate the dynamics between advocates for the community garden and larger city bureaucracies as they navigate the challenge of shepherding an un-comforming space in the public sphere.