DISCO_ARCHITECTURE

DISCO ARCHITECTURE

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Figure 1. VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF BLACKNESS. Montage of a) Photograph of Sun Ra. b) Photograph of “A Subtlety” by Kara Walker, 2014. c) Pyramids of Giza. d) Elephants e) Sculpture of Grace Jones by Jean Paul Goude. f) Illustration of Sylvester. g) LaBelle. h) Beyoncé. i) Solange. j) Desert landscape. k) Cloudy sky. l) Francis Kéré structure. m) Clouds. (Darrell Grissum, 2018)

DISCO ARCHITECTURE: Centering Femininity & Queerness within Black Aesthetics

by Darrell LeDeux Grissum The Design School, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY Professor Elena Rocchi, ADE 499_F18

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ABSTRACT There are five main aesthetic tenets of Disco architecture. The first of which is that it is always adaptive re-use. Disco architecture is not interested in the complete destruction of the old as with postmodernism, but rather in the expansion and customization of past precedents to serve the needs of the present. Related to the first principle but with variation, Disco architecture is always interested in the sampling and remixing of spatial, visual, and sonic elements. This is the established method by which the aesthetic achieves the impression of infinite newness. Thirdly, Disco architecture is always subversive. It engages the consciousness of hegemonic culture through the confrontation and subtle but effective deconstruction of problematic stereotypes regarding society’s marginalized demographics. The fourth principle is that Disco architecture is always politically active. Specifically, that it is always essentially both feminist and anti-racist.

The last principle of the aesthetic is that it always provides space for unobstructed movement.

This is the primary tenet of the aesthetic, and it advocates for the idea that the construction of space must be determined by the structure’s ability to support and encourage life represented through movement. Without the inclusion of all five principles a work cannot be considered of the Disco aesthetic. For this reason the misappropriation of the aesthetic by western society’s coalition of whiteness, popularly manifest through rave culture, has proven itself problematic and culturally destructive. However, a close study of each element reveals not only why the Disco aesthetic is effective and relevant, but also why it has promise of artistic prominence within our institutions.

INTRODUCTION On the evening of December 13th, 2013 Beyoncé released her self-titled visual album via iTunes promotion-free and simultaneously changed the world of art, academia, and

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entertainment forever. Suddenly, those who had little-to-no access to, or formal knowledge of, design, art, architecture, film, or aesthetics had been given access to a multimedia masterpiece for less than the price of a meal at Red Lobster. The album, with its eclectic visuals, sonic experimentation, and complex themes made something reserved for high culture accessible to the most marginalized: Black, queer, femme, and working class. For many, “Beyoncé” was their initial introduction to feminism, minimalism, modernism, post-modern pluralism, but most significantly to themselves, and their potential. With her autobiographic album, Beyoncé worked to emphasize her creative process, and as a result chose to include individuals who would normally be invisible working behind the scenes within the final production. The result was industry-shifting. The mainstream world was introduced to queer Black creatives like Frank Ocean, Todrick Hall, Ty Hunter, Shaun Ross, and Nigerian Black feminist author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. “Beyoncé” can be described as personal, large scale, accessible, and multimedia.

The work inhabits that special place in art where the intensely personal becomes universal.

Which for a work that centers queerness, Blackness, and femininity is even more innovative because it expands the global consciousness. Over 4 years later, people are still grasping to appreciate the social significance of this work and others like it. Universities all over the world are dedicating entire courses to its exploration. Nevertheless, within discussions of Black aesthetics there persist a disregard for the contributions of queer and femme artist. As time progresses and more African-American artist and designers achieve access to artistic mediums and institutions in which they were previously excluded such as film, fashion, and architecture, it remains of prime importance that this worked be centered on queerness and femininity. It is only through such an effort that Black aesthetics can avoid internalizing the dysfunction of the hegemonic white culture. As in the words of the great American author and queer Black icon

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James Baldwin, “this world is white no longer” and as an extension of that principle, it is also no longer cis, hetero, or male. Furthermore, Baldwin warned that those “who shut their eyes to [this] reality simply invite their own destruction”. In an effort to contribute to the shift within discussions of Black aesthetics, and expanding and critiquing the ideas presented by Michael Ford through his concept of “Hip Hop Architecture”, I have chosen to classify work centered on Black queerness and femininity as Disco architecture, with the intention of expanding the aesthetic tenets of the art form to encompass the construction and usage of space.

WHAT IS DISCO? Disco, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, is the name given to define a genre of beat-driven dance music that was very popular during the 1970s. The name is derived from the word discotheque, which is a type of nightclub that caters to dancers. These clubs initially began to make an appearance in the 1960s. Disco as an art form was developed by queer Black and Afro-Latinx dancers and performers in the United States, and was, relatively immediately, both interracially and internationally popular. Disco evolved through the fusion of funk, soul, and gospel with the politics of inclusion and self-love. The genre was helmed by a collective of darkskinned, queer, and feminine artist. Namely, Grace Jones, Donna Summers, and Sylvester. Jones brought to Disco an edgy, imaginative, yet sophisticated fashion sense along with genderbending performance and an androgynous vocal tone. Her work was and is provocative in the sense that it always induces commentary on race, gender, and sexuality while simultaneously disarming audiences through humor and entertainment. Summers contributed to Disco her incredible skill and control as a vocalist and song interpreter. She was able to sing with power without ever compromising the smooth texture of her voice, or the specific emotion she was trying to convey within a song. The lyrics of her hits, namely, “Love to Love You Baby”, “Bad

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Girls”, and “She Works Hard for the Money”, focused on sex-work positivity, the celebration of female sexuality, and economic equity for women. Sylvester can, in a way, be viewed as the fusion of qualities pertaining to both Jones and Summers. A powerful and highly skilled vocalist, Sylvester’s work existed within a futuristic realm in which self-determination and acceptance as a gay and gender-queer performer would not be considered controversial, but rather perfectly and commonly natural. His work also embodied an element of body positivity. Never really able to be classified as thin himself, he is responsible for discovering Izora Armstead and Martha Wash of the Weather Girls, and introducing them to the world as his background singers, as well as giving them the name “Two Tons O’ Fun” to playfully accentuate/celebrate their womanly curves. Sylvester’s co-written and produced hit entitled “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” can be interpreted to describe a part of the heterosexual trans experience in which one’s gender is affirmed through attention and affection from the opposite sex. Each of these artists had a multidisciplinary consciousness that enabled their ideas to be translated across various artistic mediums without a loss in consistency. They were each equal parts sonic and visual. Other artist that significantly contributed to the art form were Gloria Gaynor, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross. The principles of Disco are quite radical within the context of the western world’s white, cis-hetero, patriarchal, capitalistic society. Therefore, it wasn’t long before whiteness sought to colonize the genre. By the late 1970s, hegemonic culture had manage to insert itself within the Disco conversation with acts like the Bee Gees and through the 1977 film “Saturday Night Fever” starring John Travolta as the machismo and unabashedly racist raver Tony Manero. The film features an almost completely white cast and offers people of color no dialogue. The pejoratives “nigger” and “faggot” are used prominently, and the protagonist sexually assaults his love interest. Whiteness had managed to appropriate the sonic and visual markers of Disco while

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simultaneously draining the art form of its aesthetic substance. Disco then became associated with repetitiveness as opposed to innovation, banality over creativity, and white male leisure; drugs and sexual promiscuity as opposed to Black femme work; both literal and psychological.

This appropriation led to the general public’s regurgitation of the genre. Ultimately contributing to the motivation of 50,000 people who gathered on a summer night in 1979 at Comiskey Park in Chicago to destroy Disco records, in an event known as the Disco Demolition Night.

Nevertheless, Disco has never truly gone anywhere, and has remained within our popular culture through the constant maintenance of the genre’s true gatekeepers. Although the term Disco is rarely used in contemporary discussion to describe it’s current iterations, the aesthetic principles have remained consistent. As a matter of fact, in that very same city, and around the very same time as the Demolition Night, a queer Black creative by the name of Frankie Knuckles was innovating within the genre, and developing what the world would come to know as House music.

THE PROLIFERATION OF DISCO Like it’s parent genre, House’s popularity spread globally, and remained popular throughout the 80s, into the 90s, and even today. It has also experienced its own version of white appropriation but has managed to maintain its soulful roots even after all these years, affirming even further the timeless quality of the Disco aesthetic. By the time RuPaul burst onto the scene in 1993 with his debut single and house classic entitled “Supermodel (You Better Work)”, the world had already had decades of priming for his pop cultural ascent. Like his hit “Supermodel”, RuPaul’s career can be summarized as an homage to the Black feminist understanding that gender is one’s performance and not one’s sex, and therefore gender equality can only be gained through the appreciation of those naturally inclined to perform femininity. He famously stated,

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“we’re all born naked, and the rest is drag”. Presently, the Disco’s aesthetic is represented by a plethora of cultural icons. Namely: Beyoncé, Rihanna, Solange, Olivier Rousteing, Kehinde Wiley, Azealia Banks, FKA Twigs, Kelela, and Janelle Monáe. The Disco aesthetic is stronger than ever and is expanding to encompass new artistic mediums and institutions almost daily. The art form is casually and positively influencing our way of life, despite being largely ignored within artistic discussions.

THE PRINCIPLE OF ADAPTIVE RESUSE Studio 54 is the most famed and, in some ways, most infamous institution to be synonymously associated with the Disco aesthetic and cultural phenomenon within the common discourse. Despite the problematic components of this reality, there remains poignant insights to be gained from an analysis of the nightclub as a place. Studio 54 was an adaptive reuse project.

Originally, the structure housed a television-broadcasting studio for CBS. After the company abandoned the building, architect Scott Bromley, and Tony award winning set and interior designer Jules Fisher, were commissioned with the task of converting the space into an imaginative destination that was conducive to the form of participatory theatre that is Disco culture. The designers talk about achieving this effect mainly by two methods: The conversion of the studio’s stage into a dance-floor, and the use of artificial light. They understood that the Disco aesthetic is primarily relational, and accentuated this quality by providing space for nightlife participants to both see and be seen. It was a type of theatre in which the symbolic fourth wall was completely obliterated, and their design intervention physically accomplished this feat. Like the designers of Studio 54, this technique of adaptive reuse has and is being employed by Black artist, designers, and place-makers who are interested in initiating spatial transformation. Furthermore, these artist are often inspired by Black queerness and femininity,

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and do work that centers their contributions as opposed to marginalizing them. The work of Rick Lowe with Project Row Houses is one such example. The initiative was originally inspired by the work of renowned painter and sociologist Dr. John Biggers who often explored the relationship of femininity to Black architectural forms, specifically the shot-gun house. He made paintings to emphasize this idea, but he also did work to canonize the connection between the shotgun house and similar architectural forms from the Caribbean and West Africa. Ultimately, his work added perspective to the shotgun house, by placing the form within the larger context of design traditions within the African diaspora. It also affirmed the significant architectural contributions of Black slaves in the western context. However, Dr. Biggers was most interested in the relational components of architecture: The intersections in which fashion meets function.

Specifically, how the arrangement and close proximities of the structures, and prominent porches allowed for femme bonding and encouraged a great sense of community. Dr. Biggers taught these concepts to the many Black artist he mentored as he worked within the art department that he founded at Texas Southern University in Houston, TX. Among those artist were Lowe, James Bettison, Bert Samples, Bert Long, George Smith, Jesse Lot, and Floyd Newsum. Lead by Lowe, who was also inspired by Joseph Beuys’ concept of “social sculpture”, they formed a coalition, and set out to revitalize a row of abandoned and dilapidated shot-gun houses in Houston’s third ward, which is historically an African-American community. Many years later, they succeeded in their vision with a campus that now encompasses 5 city blocks and 39 structures in which they facilitate arts programing, a low-income housing project, a business incubation program, and a special free-housing project for single mothers. Their intervention has enriched their community through the design, reorganization, and strategic use of space. A young Beyoncé and Solange and are among the many third-ward residents that have benefited from the gesture since its origin

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in 1993. Beyond its immediate context, the project has made waves within the art world resulting in Lowe being awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, and invited to develop similar programs in other communities, even outside of the U.S. The work of the artist Theaster Gates in Chicago, IL is inspired by the work Lowe and his artist companions at Project Row Houses.

Educated as both an artist and urban planner, his work includes music performance, ceramic sculpture, and adaptive reuse projects. His projects entitled the Stony Arts Island Bank, the Dorchester Project, the Black Film House, as well as the Listening House, which features an archive of the work of Frankie Knuckles, are direct offshoots from the legacy of Project Row Houses. Gates uses the practice of adaptive reuse as a tool for community revitalization and well as a method to institutionalize the appreciation of the contributions of Black artist to our collective culture. It’s mainly about de-marginalization in all facets of the word, and for this reason the principle of adaptive reuse is primary among the tenets of Disco Architecture.

THE PRINCIPLE OF SAMPLING AND REMIXING Like the principle of adaptive reuse, the principle of sampling and remixing involves the use of pre-existing material. However, the difference between the two is that adaptive reuse is in regards to the final product and use of Disco Architecture, and the principle of sampling and remixing concerns the creative process of developing Disco Architecture. This principle translates directly from the practice of producing Disco music. Within musical production, the term ‘remixing’ refers to the process of taking a pre-existing song and changing aspects of the production to the point that the song feels new, different, or superior to its original form. The term ‘sampling’ refers to the process of taking elements from one or more songs to create a new song, like a sonic collage. All creatives working within the Disco aesthetic employ this principle to some degree because the benefits of its usage is significant to the creative process. Mainly

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because the principle is efficient and sustainable. The recycling of previously used materials allows for creatives to focus their attention on the particular effect they would like to achieve with their work over the presentation of their work as completely new and original. Which is an inherently problematic approach to artistic production because it stems from the western tradition of colonization in which work stolen from outside the context of their nationalistic tribe is presented as their own fresh inventions. There is a Bible scripture that reads, “…there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9b) and to a large degree that statement holds true. The placement of high value upon the mythical quality of complete originality inhibits creatives from focusing on the primary aim of artistic production. Which is the raising of the collective consciousness. Who cares whether or not a vehicle is new when it effectively serves its purpose of transportation. According to a renown book written by Keith Sawyer on creativity research entitled “Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity”, he writes in so many words, that true creativity is measured by one’s ability to make new connections through “the discipline of fusing [diverse materials/ideas]”, not so much in one’s ability to develop new material. Through this understanding, we are able to envision all creatives as curators of their own particular collection of knowledge and experiences, specially skilled with the ability to create meaningful experiences within the lives of their audiences. Artist/designers working within the Disco aesthetic have a particular understanding of this. They are all DJ’s in some sense, mixing and matching diverse materials in an effort to create something that speaks to new socioenvironmental and cosmic context and phenomenon. Nicholas Bourriaud, a prominent art critic and curator, often talks about the model of artists as DJs. In his essay entitled “Postproduction: Culture As Screenplay: How Art Reprograms the World”, he describes the work of DJs as “both [the] proposing [of] a personal orbit through the musical universe (a playlist) and of connecting

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these elements in a certain order, paying attention to their sequence as well as to the construction of an atmosphere (working directly on the crowd of dancers or reacting to their movements)”.

Grace Jones’ own words reflect that of Bourriaud’s when she describes DJs as “sculptor[s] of atmosphere and mood, [who setup] through sound the charm of possible encounters”. The nascent Disco aesthetic was carved out by these sculptors. Individual DJs that are credited for pioneering Disco sonically are Nicky Siano, Guy Cuevas, Larry Lavan, along with Knuckles who was mentioned earlier. However, each of these individuals possessed a multidisciplinary brilliant consistency that could only have been achieved through a clear aesthetic consciousness.

When researching DJ culture and the history of Black music from that time period, there appears to be an intense segregation between the DJs that are associated with Disco and those who are associated with Hip Hop. Additionally, the segregation is organized across an axis of race, sexuality, and gender. No doubt, this segregation within the common discourse has come about because of society’s failure to embrace an intersectional consciousness. Disco is often thought of as a derivative of Queer culture and Hip Hop is often associated with the culture of Black men.

In both instances there is an erasure of the contributions of Black femmes and queer individuals to these art forms. Furthermore, this erasure results in the mis-categorization of individuals. One such example of this occurrence is the popular narratives surrounding the life and work of JeanMichel Basquiat who was also a DJ in addition to being a visual artist. Prominent Black scholar bell hooks confronts these false narratives with an essay entitled “Altars of Sacrifice: Remembering Basquiat”. In it, she condemns the representation of Basquiat as a “stereotypical black stud randomly fucking white woman” and acknowledges the sexual fluidity that was “central” to his “diva persona”. Basquiat was very Black, very Queer, and very much apart of the Disco aesthetic. His paintings donned the walls of Studio 54 for crying out loud! Furthermore,

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hooks dissects the problematic association of Basquiat’s work with white patriarchal values, when in reality he was engaged in criticism of phallocentricity, and acknowledged himself that his artisitic perspective came from his mother. Basquiat often sampled iconic imagery of Blackness and masculinity within the western cannon in an effort to both confront and subvert the terrifying reality of what it is to exist as a marginalized individual within this context.

Hegemonic culture often fails to appreciate the subversive quality of Basquiat’s work, and this is a common occurrence within critical discussions regarding the work of Disco artist. This is a problematic reality because the practice of subversion is a central cornerstone of the Disco aesthetic.

THE PRINCIPLE OF SUBVERSION The principle of subversion is primary among the tenets of Disco architecture mainly because the aesthetic was developed by Black queer femmes in the overtly antagonistic context of western society. Presently, that antagonism persists through institutionalized discrimination and it’s reinforcement by privileged demographics. Presently, sexually active Black queer individuals who were assigned male at birth have, an extremely disproportionate, 50% chance contracting HIV throughout their lifetimes. Black woman make 63% of what White men make for the same work, despite them being the most educated demographic in the US, and in most of states, an individual can be fired for simply existing as their Queer selves. Throw these factors in with the current state of the prison industrial complex, the school to prison pipeline, police brutality, hiring discrimination, housing discrimination, and redlining among others and one begins to get a picture as to why James Baldwin said that being “Black is a condition” and that being white is “an attitude”. Black queer and feminine individuals are all intensely cognizant of their own “condition”, and that awareness is present within all the work that they produce. In

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order to survive the circumstances presented by dominant culture, Black Queers and femmes are required to acknowledge, seduce, but ultimately undermine the malicious values of this culture.

In terms of Architecture, applying the principle of subversion means that each work must successfully court, entice, but sabotage the ideals of hegemonic society. This looks like the work of Luis Barragan, who subverted the rules of modernism and the racism of “the international style” by imbuing his buildings with fields of vibrant color and particular materials that spoke to his culture. Architect and artist Amanda Williams makes a similar action with her series entitled “Color(ed) Theory”. Such gestures require an expansive knowledge and understanding of white institutions and aesthetics. Michael Jackson once said in an effort to advise young creatives, to “study the greats and become greater”. The advice doesn’t seem subversive, until you confront the idea of who is considered great within this society. Black children are often taught that they must work twice as hard within this society in order to be recognized, however that work refers to the development of a “double consciousness”, initially coined by W.E.B. DuBois, in which Black people are challenged with the task of knowing both themselves and hegemonic culture.

Practitioners of the Disco aesthetic all possess a deep knowing of whiteness and it’s institutions.

One such practitioner is André Leon Talley who’s extensive knowledge of art and fashion history made him the envy of Anna Wintour and a prominent figure within the industry. His most subversive work would likely be a fashion layout he orchestrated for Vanity Fair in 1996 entitled “Scarlett ‘N the Hood”. The photo series features remixed imagery from the film “Gone with the Wind” with Black models in the roles of the film’s protagonist while white male designers were casted in the subservient roles. The images are powerful because they are so seemingly innocuous and playful, while simultaneously being quite darkly political like a vision conjured by a young Malcolm X. This is the Disco aesthetic and as long as hegemonic society

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continues to be antagonistic towards the existence of Black queer and femme individuals it will persist and grow more complex and effective with the promise of eventually achieving its political aims.

THE PRINCIPLE OF POLITICAL ACTIVISM The principle of political activism refers to root purpose of Disco architecture, and that is both the symbolic and physical deconstruction of racist, sexist, and queerphobic structures within society. This purpose also includes the construction of spaces that are both symbolically and physically inclusive. In order to achieve this aim within the discipline of architecture there must be a marriage between the design of public policy and space. One can see this precedent with the work of Theaster Gates, or architect Bryan C. Lee Jr., or through Project Row Houses, but most significantly through the work of the late Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with their Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.) organization. Both trans women of color, they founded the organization in 1969 after initiating the Stonewall Riots to advocate for the well being of the most marginalized, those like themselves: Trans and femme Queers of color; those who had to resort to sex work as a means of providing for themselves and their families due to the environmental factors imposed upon them. Through the organization they established the S.T.A.R. House, which was a safe haven for homeless trans and Queer femme youth in New York City. Rivera and Johnson funded the project themselves through their sex work, and also did work to educate the youth that came into their care. They were also quite aware of aesthetics.

Johnson in particular was an entertainer and a muse of Andy Warhol who created multiple portraits of her. Their intersectional and multidisciplinary approach to art as activism has left an indelible impression upon the world. Their legacy of place making is the principle of political activism within Disco architecture.

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THE PRINCIPLE OF MOVEMENT Creating space for uninhibited movement is vital to the Disco aesthetic because the policing of the movement of Queer people, especially Black Queer people is an almost universal experience. Furthermore, the policing of our movements, most often the way in which we walk, are often our first confrontations with the structure of cis-heteronormativity and sexism. In my personal experience, my walk was often pointed out by father who would take great measures to get me “straightened out”. In conversations with other Queer people, I have learned that this experience is commonplace. In the documentary entitled “Paris is Burning” from the 1990s, the concept of “realness” was introduced to the mainstream world. This idea is defined as one’s ability to “not give away the fact that [they’re Queer]” and “look as much as possible like [their] straight counterpart[s]”. This act is quite subversive, but it speaks to the reality that Queer people must monitor their slightest movements in order to appease the powers that be and avoid being discriminated against. This is not freedom, and requires that great attention be given to mundane activities, such as walking, that can be paid to more beneficial occupations. The Black and AfroLatinx community has a heritage of resisting this discrimination through the creation of their own spaces in which they can find the freedom to live, move, and breath in their own fullness.

These spaces were, and are today, called “Balls” and they are community events that consist of fashion and styling exhibitions, as well as dance competitions in which attendees demonstrate their skills in the culturally specific, but internationally popular, dance style called “Voguing”.

Since before the days of Studio 54 until present, movement, especially dance, has been an important component to the Disco aesthetic. Applying this principle to the discipline of architecture means to imbue spaces with the attributes of the ballroom: Openness, allowance for congregation, and the ability to be customized according to season or use. Disco architecture is

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in no way interested in the practice of guiding/restricting circulation within its structures.

Circulation is to be determined by users. Therefore, it must be anticipated to be as random and diverse as the site’s occupants. This principle falls in line with the criticism presented by Michael Ford of the work of Robert Moses within his lecture on Hip Hop Architecture. In it, Ford criticizes Moses for his misapplication of the ideas of Le Corbusier within the urban context of New York, calling his design gesture “the worst remix or sample in history”. Ford criticized the design work of Moses because, in so many words, it restricted the free range of its residents, was boring, and made residents long for chaos by means of violence. For the most part, Ford is valid points within his criticism. Nevertheless, on the other hand, Ford’s implication that violence within the urban context is the complete by product of the design choices of white men is presents an inaccurate picture of the issues at hand. This is problematic, seeing that women and queer people are often the victims of that violence despite also growing up in the same environments as the perpetrators. Specifically, trans women of color are dying at an extremely high rate due to such violence. Ford presents Black masculinity as childlike, and disavows them of any responsibility for the plight of the urban environment. Violence within the urban context, also remembering to note that violence is not a phenomenon specific to the urban context, is most often the result of the internalization of the white patriarchal values by Black cis-heteromen. Yes, Ford is correct to point out that these actions are encouraged by the design and policy of white men, but he is wrong to imply that Black cis-hetero-men have no choice in whether or not to comply with these schemes. Ford defines Hip Hop as “modernism’s post-occupancy report”. However, it is not enough to simply report on the issues at hand. Solid solutions must be proposed. Discipline within an art form requires that hypothesis are tried in the field, and that theories be established through effective use, and this leads us to the most problematic

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component of Hip Hop architecture as presented by Ford: The goal of perpetual speculation and argumentation presented as a solution called the “Design Cypher”. The problems facing the built environment have long been established and there are already many precedents on how to dismantle these issues. The solution that Disco architecture presents is in the implementation of its principles.

CONCLUSSION Former first lady Michelle Obama, who gave the keynote address at the 2017 American Institute of Architect’s annual conference on the impact of design, often talks about the importance of valuing the perspective of Black women saying, “women of color know how to get things done”. What does valuing the perspective of Black women look like in the field of architecture? For one, it looks like the inclusion of more Black women architects within the field.

Currently, Black women “represent only 0.2 of a total population of approximately 91,000 licensed architects” according to Architect Magazine. Western architecture’s centuries old tradition of excluding women that can be traced back to Vitruvius, who admonished his adherents to teach the discipline of architecture only to their sons. Combine this sentiment with society’s structures of racism, and misogyny’s offshoot called queerphobia, and you get the issues we have at hand. The inclusion of the Black queer and femme perspective within the field of architecture means the implementation of the Disco aesthetic, and the reshaping of the field of architecture to one that is accountable for it’s impact upon individuals who fall across the spectrum of race, gender, sexual orientation, and class.

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Reynolds, Simon C.W. (2018, November 27). House Music. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/house-music Garofalo, Reebee (2018, November 27). Disco Music. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/disco Project Row Houses (2018, November 27). Mission + History. Retrieved from https://projectrowhouses.org/about/mission-history/ Lockhart, P.R. (2018, November 27). Tuesday is Equal Pay Day. It Doesn’t apply to most women of color. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/4/10/17221282/equal-payday-women-of-color-disparity-gender-race-wage-gap Fox, Maggie (2018, November 27). Gay and Bisexual Black Men have 50 Percent Risk of HIV. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gay-bisexual-black-men-have50-percent-risk-contracting-hiv-n524366 Osborne, Samuel (2018, November 27). Black women become most educated group in US. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/black-women-becomemost-educated-group-in-us-a7063361.html Bellis, Rich (2018, November 27). Everywhere In The U.S. You Can Still Get Fired For Being Gay or Trans. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/40456937/hereseverywhere-in-the-u-s-you-can-still-get-fired-for-being-gay-or-trans Esquire Editors (2018, November 27). James Baldwin: How To Cool It. Retrieved from https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a23960/james-baldwin-cool-it/ Global Network of Sex Work Projects (2018, November 27). Street Transvestite Revolutionaries found STAR House. Retrieved from http://www.nswp.org/timeline/event/streettransvestite-action-revolutionaries-found-star-house

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Williams, Amanda (2018, November 27). Color(ed) Theory Series. Retrieved from https://awstudioart.com/section/373029-Color-ed-Theory-Series.html Nowill, Rob (2018, November 27). Why Do Gay Men Like Me Walk This Way?.

Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/gydyvx/why-do-gay-men-like-me-walk-thisway Brathwaite, Les Fabian (2018, November 27). Striking a ‘Pose’: A Brief History of Ball Culture. Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/striking-a-pose-abrief-history-of-ball-culture-629280/ The Official Michael Jackson Twitter Page (2018, November 27). Quote. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/michaeljackson/status/927951445067993089?lang=en The Human Rights Campaign (2018, November 27). Violence Against the Transgender Community in 2018. Retrieved from https://www.hrc.org/resources/violence-against-thetransgender-community-in-2018 Boddi, Tommaso (2018, November 27). The Gospel According to RuPaul: 10 Inspiring Quotes Before the Return of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Retrieved from https://www.wmagazine.com/story/rupaul-inspiring-quotes-rupauls-drag-race Ford, Mike (2018, November 27). Hip Hop Architecture: The Post Occupancy Report of Modernism. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4J5Y_4_ddM McCann, Hannah (2018, November 27). 0.2. Retrieved from https://www.architectmagazine.com/practice/02_o Obama, Michelle (2018, November 27). Michelle Obama has a message for woman of color. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=dEIaJPpweS8

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Bible Gateway (2018, November 27). Ecclesiastes 1:9. Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+1%3A9&version=KJV hooks, bell. “Altars of Sacrifice: Re-membering Basquiat”, “Black Vernacular: Architecture as Cultural Practice”, “Architecture in Black Life: Talking Space with LaVerne Wells-Bowie” Art on My Mind: Visual Politics. New York, NY: The New Press. 1995. 35-47, 145-162. Book. 2018.

Crenshaw, Kimberlé. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics” The Black Feminist Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers INC. 2000. 208-228. Book. 2018 Baldwin, James. “Stranger in the Village” Notes of a Native Son. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. 149. 1955. Book. 2018 Sawyer, Keith. “The Sixth Step: Fuse: How to Combine Ideas in Surprising New Ways” Zig Zag: The Surprising Path To Greater Creativity. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 2013. 154.

Book. 2018.

Vitruvius. “Book VI” The Ten Books On Architecture. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.

1960. 169. Book. 2018.

Bourriaud, Nicholas. “Deejaying and Contemporary Art: Similar Configurations” Postproduction: Culture As Screenplay: How Art Reprograms the World. New York, NY: Lukas & Sternberg. 2002. 60. Book. 2018.

Battsek, John. (Producer), & Tyrnauer, Matt. (Director). (2018, November 27). Studio 54 [Motion picture]. USA: Zeitgeist Films.

McCormick, Kevin. (Producer), & Badham, John. (Director). (2018, November 27).

Saturday Night Fever [Motion picture]. USA: Paramount Pictures.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY hooks, bell. “Altars of Sacrifice: Re-membering Basquiat”, “Black Vernacular: Architecture as Cultural Practice”, “Architecture in Black Life: Talking Space with LaVerne Wells-Bowie” Art on My Mind: Visual Politics. New York, NY: The New Press. 1995. 35-47, 145-162. Book. 2018.

This books offers an in-depth exploration of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and addresses hegemonic cultures tendency to erase queerness and femininity within Black artist. I will explore this tendency within my paragraph on the relationship between HipHop aesthetics and Disco architecture. Furthermore, this book also offers critical insights on the principles of Blackness within architecture that I will explore within my paragraph on the history of Black architectural practice within America, and in a paragraph that details what it means to center queerness and femininity within architecture.

Crenshaw, Kimberlé. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics” The Black Feminist Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers INC. 2000. 208-228. Book. 2018 This paper offers insights into the importance of taking an intersectional approach when creating feminist and anti-racist work.

Baldwin, James. “Stranger in the Village” Notes of a Native Son. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. 149. 1955. Book. 2018 I use a quote from this book in the introduction paragraph to emphasize the irrelevance of a non-intersectional approach within Black aesthetic appreciation and practice.