Mary Hale is a designer with a particular focus on ephemeral spatial experiences, animated and brought to life through projection and movement. Mary founded ROYHALE, an interdisciplinary art, design and design-research practice, in 2014 as a vehicle for this work. Mary especially enjoys collaborations with choreographers, video artists and sound artists.
Recent such work includes: inflatable performance environments for “Dance Like No One is Whale Watching” – a multimedia dance, video, sound and architecture installation, and “The Parksville Murders” – the first-ever virtual reality horror opera; and minimalist, three-dimensional video projection set-pieces for Halfway to Dawn: The Strayhorn Project. Recent design research includes The New Inflatable Moment exhibition, co-curated with artist and theoretician, Katarzyna Balug, for BSA | Space. Mary’s work has been widely recognized through books and international art, design and technology publications like Metropolis, Clam, and the MIT Technology Review.
Mary received the AIA Associates Award in 2015 for exemplary design advocacy in the public sphere. Mary holds a Masters of Architecture from MIT, and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Brown University.
Research/Publications Highlights
- Co-Editor: The New Inflatable Moment, Exhibition Catalog, in progress with commitment from Actar Publishers
- Co-Contributor: “On Books” Architecture Boston Boston, MA, Fall 2014
- Contributor: “Considered” Architecture Boston Boston, MA, Fall 2012
- Contributor: Bua, Matt and Max Goldfarb. Architectural Inventions: Visionary Drawing of Buildings London: Laurence King Publishing, 2012
- Contributor: Feireiss, Lukas. Staging space: scenic interiors and spatial experiences Berlin: Die Gestalten Verlag, 2010
- Author: “The Monumental Helium Inflatable Wearable Floating Body Mass”, Arcade, Seattle, WA, Spring 2008
Professional Affiliations
- American Institute of Architects / Boston Society of Architects, Associate member, 2011 – the present
- Common Boston, co-chair, www.commonboston.org, 2010 – 2013
- Boston Architectural College, Studio instructor and thesis advisor, Fall 2010 – the present
Departments
Architecture
Education
- M.Arch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- AB, Urban Studies, Brown University
Awards
- El Salvador Design Workshop, Selected participant, Perqin, El Salvador, Winter 2008
- Advanced Japan Design Workshop, Selected participant, Tokyo, Japan, Summer / Fall 2008
- Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts: Second Prize, MIT Council for the Arts, Cambridge, MA, Spring 2008
- Visiting Artist, The Cloud Foundation, Honorarium and speaking engagement, Boston, MA, April, 2010
- Jury Member, MIT Creative Arts Grant, Cambridge, MA, Spring 2013 – present
- Nominee, AIA Associates Award, National, October 2013, 2014
- Winner, AIA Associates Award, National, April 2015
- Research Affiliate, Art Culture and Technology at MIT, Summer 2017
Professional Experience
- Rhode Island Statewide Planning, Providence, RI Spring Semester 2002
- Mary Oehrlein Associates Architects, Washington, DC, Summer 2002
- Davis Buckley Architects and Planners, Washington, DC, Fall 2003 – Fall 2005
- GreenStreet Design Build, New York, NY, Summer 2007
- Enterprise Community Partners, Inc, Wellesley, MA, April 2009 – August 2010
- Goody Clancy Associates, Boston, MA, August 2010 – August 2012
- Shepley Bulfinch, Boston, MA, August 2012 – March 2016
- Royhale Design, Boston, MA, 2015 – present
Past Clients
- David Rousseve, choreographer and dean, UCLA School of Dance
- Cari Ann Shim Sham*, video artist and professor of Dance & Technology at NYU, TISCH School of the Arts Dance Department
- Emily Beattie, choreographer and Dance Artist
- The Boston Society of Architects
- Enterprise Community Partners
Research Focus
- Design
- Minimalist
- Ephemeral spatial experiences
- Inflatables
