kristen mimms scavnicky

The Micro-worlds project explores the intersection of architecture, culture, and cinema through the creation of miniature architectural spaces that reflect significant everyday moments in Black diasporic lifestyle and identity. Inspired by cultural heritage, cinematic environments, and the creator’s most influential childhood toy, the project uses culturally significant containers to hold these miniature spaces, functioning as vessels of memory, narrative, and spatial imagination. By engaging with themes of displacement, resilience, and cultural preservation, this research demonstrates how architecture and design can embody and preserve the diverse experiences of the Black diaspora. By shrinking cultural spaces into handheld forms, the project challenges conventional architectural representation and invites reflection on architecture’s role in shaping identity through the built environment.