DIORAMAS

Background:

Now that you have been introduced to the site and you are well acquainted with the theme of this semester, queer politics, and the intersectionality with other forms of politics. How can we draw, reveal, or explore the relationship to the site Newtown and queer politics? In this workshop we will explore ways to imagine and make alternative scenarios through model building. No not the conventional grey cardboard models, we are using paper cut-outs.

Tasks:

1. Build a box the size of an A4 sheet of paper and ½ its width in depth. The box must only have one large side solid and the rest a framed structure (open sides)

2. Using the supplied images of:

• Site photographs

• Internet images of scales elements (people, buildings, public furniture, props, landscaping etc)

• Newspapers and magazines

3. Choose one A4 size image from the site section to use as your background. Glue this image onto the inside of the solid panel of your box.

4. Through a series of layered cut outs from the other images, build an alternative scenario to the one presented by your background. Do not change or glue these cut out on to the background. Use the construction technique of a peep hole or paper theatre to build the scene. Make sure to use your architectural discipline to create depth, perspective and experience. Remember to link your alternative scenario to the theme.

A SAMPLE OF VARIOUS STUDENT OUTPUTS FROM DIORAMA WORKSHOP

“QUEERING THE CITY, HERE, MEANS CONSTRUCTING A PLACE “WHERE PEOPLE WITNESS AND APPRECIATE DIVERSE CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS THAT THEY DO NOT SHARE OR FULLY UNDERSTAND… CITY LIFE AND URBAN KNOWING, IN THIS SCHEMA, DOES NOT ASPIRE TO COMMUNITY BUT TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF CITY LIFE WHEREIN THE TENSIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT GROUPS AND THEIR VARIED UNDERSTANDINGS OF SITES MAKE COMPLEX POLITICS OF PLACE VISIBLE. AS KATH BROWNE NOTES, QUEER “SEEKS TO RECONSIDER HOW WE THINK [OF] OUR MODES OF BEING AND OUR CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF POLITICS.” IN THIS WAY A QUEER DESIGN METHODOLOGY IS A MEANS BY WHICH CULTURE IS SEEN AS A PROCESS, NOT PRODUCT, THAT DERIVES FROM THE ENACTION OF SPACE, NOT PRIORI TO IT.” (WORTHAM-GALVIN, B.D, 2016. TOWARDS A QUEER URBAN DESIGN METHODOLOGY)

IMAGE FROM (GAYSI) L SPEAK TO FREE. FREE TO SPEAK

SOURCE: HTTPS://GAYSIFAMILY.COM/LIFESTYLE/THE-TYRANNY-OF-THE-CLOSET-METAPHOR-OR-WHY-COMING-OUTSHOULDNT-BE-AN-IMPERATIVE/