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Architecture studio
led by Sasha Topolnytska
in New York City
in New York City
Exhibition at the Center for Architecture, NYC, USA
May 2 - September 3, 2024
Curated by Sasha Topolnytska, Ashley Bigham
& Betty Roytburd
Exhibition Design by Sasha Topolnytska & Ashley Bigham
Graphic Design by Aliona Solomadina
Media Coverage: New York Times, Dwell Magazine, Surface Magazine, The Architect’s Newspaper, Interior Design Magazine, Brooklyn Rail
Image Credits: Jenna Bascom, David Ader, Aliona Solomadina
Curatorial, exhibition design, advocacy, and humanitarian work
Constructing Hope: Ukraine was an exhibition that I initiated and curated to highlight architecture and design as vital forms of cultural resilience during Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. The project brought together architects, designers, and artists whose work addressed destruction, displacement, and reconstruction, creating a space where Ukrainian voices, memory, and identity were foregrounded. First exhibited at the Center for Architecture in New York (2024) and later at the Chicago Architecture Center (2025), the exhibition positioned architecture as both evidence of war crimes and a medium of hope.
By presenting drawings, models, and documentation alongside new design proposals, the exhibition served as a platform for dialogue on cultural survival and the long-term social and ecological consequences of war. It created a space for collective grief, urgency, and solidarity while resisting the erasure of Ukrainian culture, history, and landscapes.
As curator, I framed the exhibition to demonstrate how architecture can operate as both witness and response, translating political violence into spatial testimony and civic imagination. The project reflected my broader interest in architecture's capacity to engage public discourse, collective memory, and forms of social support that emerge during moments of crisis and transformation. It reinforced my belief that design can serve not only as a tool of representation, but also as a platform for cultural resilience, advocacy, and collective action.
“ In the third year of this epochal war — which has destroyed some 210,000 buildings, according to a recent New York Times investigation — Russian forces continue to target civilian habitations in contravention of international law. When the city is a battleground, architecture becomes an act of defense and defiance. — The New York Times