Brookes (Revisited)

Brookes (Revisited)
EXHIBITION
THU, oct 10 – wed, nov 20

GALLERY TALK & RECEPTION 
fri, nov 15
12PM (ET)
CAMPBELL elmaleh gallery

_mpathic design’s Brookes (Revisited) is the first design exhibition to accurately visualize the iconic 1788 drawing Stowage of the British Slave Ship Brookes under the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788, created by British abolitionists and politicians using architectural techniques. The exhibition uses an innovative empathic design to humanize 5,122 captured ancestors in voyages of Brookes' Middle Passage Atlantic crossings. The work melds architecture, art, history, and contemporary thought, sparking new conversations about the confinement of ancestors in the ship's hold. Using research from slave trade and British naval databases, the work visualizes Brookes' 11 voyages, providing a new understanding of the ship's untold narrative.  

Image	Image
An empathic design approach was used to make new visualizations of the slave ship Brookes. Models by _mpathic design, with support from Iana Ishrat (BSArch '25), Alex Fry (MLA '25), and Ben Edlavitch (BSArch '25).

Brookes (Revisited) was previously presented at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning and will travel to Toronto Metropolitan University in spring 2025. A permanent installation of Brookes (Revisited) is on view at the Royal Museums Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum as part of the Atlantic Worlds exhibition.

This work has been generously supported by University College of London’s Centre for the Study of British Slavery, MacDowell, Art Omi, Anderson Center at Tower View, Good Hart, Loghaven, UVA Center for Teaching Excellence, UVA Center for Global Inquiry & Innovation, and UVA School of Architecture. 

Special thanks to Iana Ishrat (BSArch '24), Alex Fry (MLA '25), and Ben Edlavitch (BSArch '26) who supported the project's fabrication. 

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Elgin Cleckley, NOMA, is an Assistant Professor of Architecture with an appointment in the School of Education and Human Development and the School of Nursing. He is the Undergraduate Architecture Program Director, Director of Design Thinking, and the Director of Design Justice at UVA’s Equity Center (Democracy Initiative Center for the Redress of Inequity Through Community-Engaged Scholarship), where he leads the school’s NOMA Project Pipeline: Architecture Mentorship Program. Cleckley is founding principal of _mpathic design, a multi-award-winning pedagogy, initiative, and professional practice.