FUTURE OF STUDENT HOUSING

Student Housing

Syracuse, New York

Autumn 2021 in collaboration with Andrea Hoe advised by Gary

Bates of SPACEGROUP https://youtu.be/DX_EwXT8mQQ

Over the past several decades, there have been more conversations challenging the white maledominated heterocentric culture. Society has long been organized around a binary opposition of “masculine” and “feminine” spaces, where the “masculine” is privileged and the “feminine” is disprivileged. This category of space needs to be deconstructed for us to imagine new ways of structuring society and reclaiming the value of women and non-heteronormative roles.

The Office of Student Living at Syracuse University states that their student housing is a safe place for students to grow as a community. The reality of the dorms, however, suggests otherwise. The university dorm disregards the safe spaces for people outside the male heteronormative agenda; issues linked to the relationship between gender identity, sexual orientation, and the built environment, remain largely ignored and understudied in academic spaces.

We propose a student housing complex that centers around women and the queer community. Our project addresses how boundaries of the existing university housing are limited by the normative majority. It considers the fragmented roles of gender and sexuality in the built environment — the solution is one that involves intersectionality — race, class, gender, and sexuality are considered together, rather than individual elements.

Heteonormative spaces have been the source of mental health problems in many female and queer youths. To combat this issue, our project places an emphasis on the five senses. This incorporation will help students feel more at peace and less stressful. Our project is a healing space that allows its residents to choose what to bring to the surface, whether it is expressing themselves fluidly, acknowledging their identity, or being supportive. By tying feminist and queer visions of safety in architecture, our project acts as a catalyst for future student housing across the United States.