New Exhibition Explores Immigrant Architecture

Boston, MA—On July 9, Samuel Walusimbi: Immigrant Hostel opens at the West End Museum and will run through August 10, 2013 in the Members’ Gallery. Both the exhibit and the reception are free and open to the public.

​Immigrant Hostel focuses on Samuel Walusimbi’s architectural work and studies, specifically the architecture of Boston’s Old West End. Mr. Walusimbi’s work demonstrates the strongly bonded relationship between a city’s architecture and its memories. When the Old West End was torn down due to Urban Renewal, many of the city’s memories were lost, as was the identity of the West End. This new exhibit attempts to depict not only the void and empty characteristic of new West End but also offer potential alternatives to how the current void could be filled with voices and memories from the old West End. “The aim of the Immigrant Hostel project is really to show how new architecture could actually help to preserve the old architecture and spaces it replaces” says Samuel Walusimbi.

Samuel Walusimbi received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the Wentworth Institute of Technology and later received his Masters of Architecture. He is currently the Editorial Director of .DAT, an online architectural journal that links emerging discourse on architecture, technology and urbanism. His main theoretical interest is the relationship between architecture and the city.

Immigrant Hostel is free and open to the public during regular Museum hours: Tuesday through Friday, 12:00 to 5:00 p.m.; Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.TheWestEndMuseum.org or call 617-723-2125.

About the West End Museum:
The West End Museum is dedicated to the collection, preservation and interpretation of the history and culture of Boston’s West End neighborhood. The Museum’s permanent exhibit, The Last Tenement, highlights the immigrant history of the neighborhood through its decimation under Urban Renewal in 1959; two additional galleries feature rotating exhibits. Hours: Tuesday – Friday 12:00pm – 5:00pm; Saturday 11:00am – 4:00pm. The Museum is located near North Station at 150 Staniford Street, Suite 7. Admission is free