QUEER by William Creighton

Q UE ER William Creighton ARCI491 thesis proposal

Contents 1.

“WHAT IS THE ROLE OF QUEER FOLKS ON THE LAND OUTSIDE OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTS? THERE’S A DESIRE TO NOT REPLICATE THE BAR CULTURE OR ASSIMILATION.” Endora - Member of Faerie community (“Faerie Tale”, 2010)

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 2

Methods and Methodology

- Timeline - Methods of Working - Research Methodology - Aims / Goals / Working Method

Motivation, Context and Background

Research Agenda

Limitations and Scope

Research Question

Literature Review

Installation Precedents: Art and Exhibitions

- Felix Gonzalez-Torres - Untitled (Fortune Cookie Corner) - Mateos, Teyssou, Myrup and Perrault - Cruising Pavilion - Georden West - Queer Body in Ecstasy - Analysis - Comparison

Mid-Scale Precedents: Queer Hippie Communes

- Wolf Creek Sanctuary - Susan B. Anthony Memorial Unrest Home (SuBAMUH) - Analysis - Comparison

Queer Projects: Existing Disciplinary Work

- Adam Nathaniel Furman - Nagatacho - Choi Kian Lek - Structuring the Tradition: Reinventing the New Queer Space for the Contemporary Society - John Philip Sage - Queer Objects

Proposition of Project

Abstract - Where to Next?

References

Figures

Fig. 1: Cruising Pavilion, Bench Room- Stockholm (Dehlin) Fig. 2: Research Timeline ->

<- <- Fig. 3: Methods of Working Diagram <- <- Fig. 4: Overall Research Methodology Diagram <- Fig. 5: Detailed Research Methodology Diagram <- Fig. 6: Action Research Methodology / Aims and Goals

Fig. 7: Stonewall Riots: 1969 (Getty Images)

COUNTRIES WHERE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS LEGALISED (29)

Research Agenda While queer culture has historically taken place in the shadows of social and architectural constructs, the current rise of urban acceptance for queer people has led to a streamlining of physical spaces used for queer identity formation. The aim of this research is to approach the problems surrounding identity through a speculative and critical architectural outcome.

COUNTRIES WHERE QUEER EXISTANCE OCCURS (195)

Motivation, Context, Background Heteronormative upbringing allows the formation of authenticity for non-queer people through the systematic normalities which give rise to binary understandings of behavior, identity and acceptance. Adulthood for many queer people consists of unpicking the falsely formed parts of themselves which are developed to protect from the non-thetic prejudices of the everyday. Only 29 countries currently allowing same sex marriage, illustrating the fragility of queer liberation (fig. 8). Due in part, to increased political conservatism in western culture, which has become increasingly ingrained through the commodification of architecture. This environment perpetuates prejudice towards queer aesthetics, which aim to deconstruct parts of the industry through plurality, experience, expression and ‘queerness’.

Fig. 8: Existence of Queer Experience

LGBTQI+ rights in New Zealand are considered globally progressive, however not all queer identifying people have the opportunity to authentically express one’s queerness. This experience is especially true for those outside of the constructs of metronormativity. Queer anti-urbanism is a deeply underrepresented offshoot of the image of queer people. The palatable image, so often expressed as a middle-class urban centric collective does not accurately portray the variety in context in which LGBTQI+ people sit within. While LGBTQI+ existence in rural New Zealand is undeniable, the continual public display of urban centric queer people furthers the idea that ‘rural’ represents a locus of queer absence. To deconstruct this, the sites of rural and urban must be instead seen as social spaces, rather than geographical, to shift the understanding from quantitative to qualitative. From this research, the aim is to tangibly engage with an otherwise taboo topic, through installation, architecture and public engagement, in order to confront issues surrounding the understanding of non-urban queer folk.

Limitations and Scope Queer pedagogy runs the risk of becoming esoteric and intangible. This is, in part due to the reduced group of people usually most interested, however the taboo nature of content around sex, sexuality, expression and identity also adds to this. The limitations on a proposal in part comes from institutions, such as universities preference to avoid controversy which terms such as ‘queer’ often cause (Allen, 2015). Due to the non-conforming nature of the topic, people’s comfort towards the project presented may well cause a level of unease. This discomfort places additional limitations on the potential outreach of the project objectives, including public engagement and education. For these reasons, the scope of the research is to focus equally on public understanding, alongside the architectural research (through design). Meaning a bookend thesis structure, designed to begin with an installation, followed by architectural design and finish with a publicised exhibition. While previous theses within this school have explored urban binaries, both through designed interiors, architecture or installation from the likes of McNab and Caldwell. Expression of non-binary identity formation in non-urban conditions remains an represented vein of queer existence (Caldwell, 2017) (McNab, 2014).

HOW HOW CAN CAN A A RADICAL, RADICAL, ANTI-URBANIST ANTI-URBANIST ARCHITECTURAL ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH APPROACH TO TO IDENTITY IDENTITY FORMATION FORMATION FACILITATE FACILITATE A A BETTER BETTER COMPREHENSION COMPREHENSION OF OF QUEER-ECOLOGY? QUEER-ECOLOGY? 16

Literature Review Disassociation between urban, effeminate queers and queer people that live rurally has previously been exploited through film. This is most prominent in Brokeback Mountain by Ang Lee, in an ongoing narrative of shared refusal to the self-branding of ‘queer’ despite the protagonist’s intimate gay relationship (Lee, 2005). This Anglo-Americentric approach attempts to diverge the queer collective from one another through geographical and cultural differences however its romanticist approach to closeted relationships fails to assess how “nature-spaces are often designed to regulate sexual activity” (Erickson & MortimerSandilands, 2010). The Americanised discourse lays the foundation for the interplay between rural identity formation and the separation from the queer urbanisms found in places like New York City. This ambivalence has been increased, with prominent gay public individuals like Didier Eribon, who stated “Cities have always been the refuge of gay people,” implying, the opposite, the rural, needed to be left in order to seek such refuge. (Herring, 2010) The development for many rural queer people can be summarised by Eribon’s discussion over identity, in which he states “I was becoming incomprehensible to her (mother), and she readily commented that I seemed “eccentric.” This does not however, refer to his sexual identity, but rather his class and social identities. (Eribon & Lucey, 2009) This process of othering from his own family, in the formation of personal development, has only become more intense for those who see urban queer culture as the primary source of LGBTQI+ acceptance.

This is not to say urban migration is only about finding oneself, but rather the lack of both architectural and social exploration into queer-centric ecologies has caused queer people to follow the most heavily extrapolated concept of a ‘queer’ environment. Furthermore, Natalie Oswin suggests that since queer space remains rooted in the conception of identity, that we rather view it as a “queer approach to space.” (Gandy, 2012) According to Sara Ahmed, queer spatiality is object, orientation and other. While this is easy to base within an urban context, where the application of phenomenological assessments are well documented, the process in rural environment’s is without mention (Ahmed, 2006).

INSTALLATION PRECEDENTS Fig. 9: Cruising Pavilion, Swing Room - Stockholm (Dehlin)

HOW HAS QUEER SUFFRAGE BEEN EXERCISED THROUGH INSTALLATION, IN ORDER TO GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR ‘SELF’?

Drawn by author to represent the artist explaination of regeneration heightened only by the experience of loss.

FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES

“Untitled’’ (Fortune Cookie Corner), 1990Project location: Various “Places’’ Around the World Project scope: Through his original installation, Gonzalez-Torres addressed the capacity for immortality through regeneration during the AIDS crisis, which has now been regenerated in this isolating pandemic (Nast, 2020).

Fig. 10: “Untitled” (Fortune Cookie Corner) Diagram

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Fig. 11: Untitled (Fortune Cookie Corner) (Doan Ly)

Fig. 12: Artist Portrait

HOW CAN WE QUEER ARCHITECTURAL REPRESENTATION?

Dark Room Plans: Originally curated by Pol Esteve & Marc Navarro (2007) and used in this exhibition. Redrawn by author to queering the static architectural language (PIN-UP, 2009).

PIERRE-ALEXANDRE MATEOS, RASMUS MYRUP, OCTAVE PERRAULT AND CHARLES TESSOU

Cruising Pavilion, 2018-2019 Project location: Venice -> New York -> Stockholm Project scope: Curatorial project about contemporary gay sex, architecture and cruising cultures (“Cruising Pavilion: Architecture, Gay Sex and Cruising Culture at ArkDes”, 2019)

Fig. 13: Dark Room Plans

Pierre-Alexandre Mateos, Charles Teyssou, Rasmus Myrup, and Octave Perrault (Cruising Pavilion) with James Taylor-Foster (Curator of Contemporary Architecture and Design, ArkDes). 25

Fig. 14: Cruising Pavilion, Corridor (Dehlin)

Fig. 15: Artists and Curator Portrait

HOW IS QUEER IDENTITY FORMATION EXPRESSED IN NON-TRADTITIONAL METHODS OF REPRESENTATION?

Queer Body in Ecstasy - diagrammed Drawn by author to represent the artist explaination of self worth as a queer sexualised being.

GEORDEN WEST

Queer Body in Ecstasy, 2020 (delayed) Project location: Dorchester Art Project - Boston, Massachusetts Project scope: Geordenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ever-evolving perspective of the queer body, moving through space as a sexual being and the implications that come with the queerness of their appearance (West, 2020).

Fig. 16: Installation Concept Diagram

Georden West (They/Them)

Fig. 17: Queer Body in Ecstasy (2020) (Emma Leavitt)

Fig. 18: Artist Portrait

FELIX GONZALEZTORRES

PROS

CONS

Project revamp meant the topical ideas explored are relatable, through generations and different crises.

The material used to create the project would have significantly less meaning to some. Material is associated with race, rather than sexuality or cyclic regeneration as it was first used to explore in 1990.

PIERRE-ALEXANDRE MATEOS, RASMUS MYRUP, OCTAVE PERRAULT & CHARLES TESSOU

PROS

CONS The project cultivates an overly promiscuous image of the ‘gay male’, typcasting them into specified sexual roles & behaviours.

Cruising Pavilion, 2018-2019

Project architecturally explores queer identity in a recognisable fashion, making it straight forward to understand despite a taboo subject.

GEORDEN WEST

PROS

CONS

The ethereal quality of the work allow for personal understanding of the space created, allowing invididual viewer autonomy and relationship to project.

The project is most significant to Georden and their sexualised experience of body in space, rather than an expression of others so can lack engagement potential.

“Untitled’’ (Fortune Cookie Corner), 1990

Queer Body in Ecstasy, 2020 (delayed)

<- Fig. 19: Installation Precedent Comparision Diagram Fig. 20: Untitled (Fortune Cookie Corner) (Doan Ly) Fig. 21: Cruising Pavilion, Main Room (Dehlin) Fig. 22: A box of Rabbit Feet for West’s Exhibition (Emma Leavitt)

MIDSCALE PRECEDENTS Fig. 23: Hippie Commune (John Olsen)

“A VIGOROUS CONFLUENCE OF DIVERSE QUEER IDENTITIES - ROOTED IN FAGGOT CULTURE AND HELD TOGETHER BY UNDENIABLE AFFINITIES OF SPIRIT AND HEART.” Nomenus

Wolf Creek Sanctuary Project location: South Oregon Project scope: Wolf Creek Sanctuary is home to a small intentional community of Stewards, Tenders, and longer-term visitors, who tend the land and offer hospitality to visitors. In addition to the communal buildings of Garden House and the Barn, the Land hosts resident cabins, flower and vegetable gardens, and many altars and holy sites where we commune with the gods and the spirits of the Land and the Dead (“About the Sanctuary – Nomenus”, 2020).

Fig. 24: Wolf Creek Illustration

Fig. 25: Wolf Creek House (Saul Of-Hearts)

Fig. 26: Site Location Map

Susan B. Anthony Memorial Unrest Home (SuBAMUH) Project location: Rural Athens County, Ohio Project scope: A 151-acre women-centered intentional living and educational community, providing safe rest and recreation space for women and LGBTQ+ people, camping for individuals and group events, day use of land, retreats, swimming pond, hiking trails. Offer scenic and economical space to live or stay short term (â&#x20AC;&#x153;ABOUT SUBAMUHâ&#x20AC;?, 2020).

Fig. 27: SuBAMUH Illustration

Fig. 28: SuBAMUH Group Meeting (Emily Matthews)

Fig. 29: Site Location Map

Wolf Creek Sanctuary Oregon

Susan B. Anthony Memorial Unrest Home (SuBAMUH) Ohio

PROS

CONS

Provides spiritual exploration for queer people wishing to live outside an urban environment.

Long term stay periods of workers results in little to no outside engagement therefore reducing the ability to engage with topics surrounding queer identity outside their own space which limits growth opportunities.

PROS

CONS

Provides safe space for female eco-centric development and commuity care for both long term and short term stays.

Strong push for female only space limits inter-sex and gender non conforming acceptance process when discussing entering the community.

<- Fig. 30: Midscale Precedent Comparision Diagram Fig. 31: Wolf Creek House (Saul Of-Hearts) Fig. 32: SuBAMUH Entrance (unknown)

A SERIES OF QUEER PROJECTS Fig. 33: Bathroom of Nagatacho

Existing disciplinary work

Fig. 34: Bathroom Sink of Nagatacho Fig. 35: Study Nook of Nagatacho ->

Nagatacho Apartment (2017-19)

Fig. 36: Vauxhall LGBTQ Community Centre Arcade Key Spaces Fig. 37: Vauxhall LGBTQ Community Centre Structure Fig. 38: Vauxhall LGBTQ Community Centre Arcade Key Spaces 2 ->

‘Structuring the Tradition: Reinventing the New Queer Space for the Contemporary Society’ (2017)

Fig. 39: Queer Object Viewing Module

Queer Objectsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (2018)

Fig. 40: Queer Object Viewing Module Guide Fig. 41: Queer Objects ->

“THE STARTING POINT OF ORIENTATION IS THE POINT FROM WHICH THE WORLD UNFOLDS: THE “HERE” OF THE BODY AND THE “WHERE” OF ITS DWELLING.”

Research Proposition The hope for this research is to be able to connect the queer methods of spatial use, to the everyday understanding of body politics. Ideally it will also reduce the taboo nature of LGBTQI+ existence in which the conversation is often avoided. Architecture’s role in this, however, is more passive. Rather this project uses the built language as a prism, to view the topic through. Installation begins to engage spatial understanding, even for those who are not queer, but open to viewing, even experiencing ‘queer’ design. The midscale project views the one-to-others side of queer identity formation. Looking at how architecture can interfere with the relationship process between non-urban folk. Finally, the exhibition process pushes queer experience into the public context, occupying a real, tangible space. This research should hopefully challenge people’s view of the spaces they inhabit, how they’re ‘queer’ in their spatial relationships and how they can queer their next conditions. A point of engagement.

Sara Ahmed in Queer Phenomenology

Abstract While queer existence is undeniable, binary methods of spatial design have resulted in generational static understandings of space. No environment is this more intensified than the non-urban. Identity formation has previously been better facilitated in city conditions, i.e. New York, Berlin, Sydney, or Wellington, the architectural constructs that allow for this to occur do not exist outside the metropolitan framework. As Natalie Oswin suggests earlier, queer space and the conception of identity are rather an approach to space, which begs the question as to why urban LGBTQI+ culture is viewed as the locus for a healthy, rich personal formation? If the space itself is not a factor, but rather the (queer) approach to space that is critical, can this fundimental method of dealing with rural architectural conditions produce equally efficacious outcomes? (Gandy, 2012) Through this thesis, the aim is to tackle these questions, through installation, medium scale architecture, and exhibition. All of which will be approached in a speculative nature, in order to ask more questions than provide answers, in this everlasting conversation surrounding queer folk. A conversation that needs no end. Performative, sensorial and experimental methods will be run in parallel throughout each scale, in order to have a diverse and complex understanding of the similarly complex topic being tackled. I expect to open conversations through this research, some of which will not, and should not, be easy. Queer existence isn’t, and these discussions must fit this. Sensitivities will no doubt create tough questions but hopefully complex responses. It is this, in all its unknown, that will provide a QUEER-ing of space. So now what?

Fig. 42: “Toxic Places” from Museum of Queer Ecologies (2017) ->

Museum of Queer Ecologies (2017)

Future Thoughts Current discussions with Studio Pacific’s Senior Associate in landscape architecture, Mark Fletcher, has lead to the potential for my participation in an NZILA creative panel talk. This conference would take place in Tauranga next May, with the overall theme being “Radical Reorientation”.

References

Figures

ABOUT SUBAMUH. (2020). Retrieved 1 October 2020, from https://subamuh.wordpress.com/

1: Dehlin, J. (2019). Cruising Pavilion 1 [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.cruisingpavilion.com

About the Sanctuary – Nomenus. (2020). Retrieved 1 October 2020, from https://nomenus.org/about/

2: Author, Research Timeline

Ahmed, S. (2006). Queer Phenomenology (pp. 177, 178). Duke University Press Books.

3: Author, Methods of Working Diagram

Allen, L. (2015). Queer pedagogy and the limits of thought: teaching sexualities at university. Higher Education Research & Development, 34(4), 763-775. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2015.1051004

4: Author, Overall Research Methodology Diagram

Betsky, A. (1997). Queer Space (1st ed.). New York: William Morrow & Co. Caldwell, A. (2017). Blurring Binaries: A Queer Approach to Architecture (Masters). Victoria University of Wellington. Cruising Pavilion: Architecture, Gay Sex and Cruising Culture at ArkDes. (2019). Retrieved 1 October 2020, from https://arkdes.se/en/utstallning/cruising-pavilion-architecture-gay-sex-and-cruisingculture/ Eribon, D., & Lucey, M. (2009). Returning to Reims (p. 92). Erickson, B., & Mortimer-Sandilands, C. (2010). Queer Ecologies: Sex, Nature, Politics, Desire (p. 6). Indiana University Press. Faerie Tale. (2010). [In person]. New England. Gandy, M. (2012). Queer Ecology: Nature, Sexuality, and Heterotopic Alliances. Environment And Planning D: Society And Space, 30(4), 730. doi: 10.1068/d10511 Herring, S. (2010). Another country (pp. 5-6). New York: New York University Press.

5: Author, Detailed Research Methodology Diagram 6: Author, Research Methodology / Aims and Goals 7: Getty Images. The Stonewall riots [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/ lgbtq/what-were-stonewall-riots-lgbtq-lesbian-gay-bisexual-trans-pride-a4177926.html 8: Author, Existence of Queer Experience Map 9: Dehlin, J. (2019). Cruising Pavilion 2 [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.cruisingpavilion.com 10: Author, “Untitled” (Fortune Cookie Corner) - Diagram 11: The New Yorker. (2020). Fortune Cookie Pile [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/ magazine/2020/06/22/an-installation-by-felix-gonzalez-torres-honors-sweetness-and-loss 12: Dream Idea Machine. Felix Gonzalez-Torres [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.dreamideamachine. com/en/?p=7645 13: Author, Dark Room Plans - Diagram 14: Dehlin, J. (2019). Cruising Pavilion 3 [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.cruisingpavilion.com

Lee, A. (2005). Brokeback Mountain [Film]. America: Universal Pictures. McNab, D. (2014). Closets of the Mind: Daniel McNab (Masters). Victoria University of Wellington. Nast, C. (2020). An Installation by Felix Gonzalez-Torres Honors Sweetness and Loss. Retrieved 1 October 2020, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/22/an-installation-by-felixgonzalez-torres-honors-sweetness-and-loss PIN-UP. (2009). DARK ROOMS: SEX RIGOROUSLY DRAFTED INTO ARCHITECTURAL SERVICE [Image]. Retrieved from https://pinupmagazine.org/articles/dark-rooms West, G. (2020). Georden West - Installation. Retrieved 1 October 2020, from https://geordenewest. com/patron-saint

15: ArkDes. ‘Cruising Pavilion: Architecture, Gay Sex and Cruising Culture’ Curators [Image]. Retrieved fromhttps://pressroom.arkdes.se/media/76335/cruising-pavilion-architecture-gay-sex-and-cruisingculture-curators-photo-frida-vega-salomonssonjpg 16: Author, Installation Concept - Diagram 17: West, G. (2020). Chicken wire, 10000 feet ball chain, 1000 rabbits’ feet [Image]. Retrieved from https://geordenewest.com/patron-saint 18: West, G. (2020). Portrait [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/realfakegeorden/ photos/a.345736382502739/758335927909447/ 19: Author, Installation Precedent Comparision - Diagram 20: The New Yorker. (2020). Fortune Cookie Pile [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/ magazine/2020/06/22/an-installation-by-felix-gonzalez-torres-honors-sweetness-and-loss

21: Dehlin, J. (2019). Cruising Pavilion 4 [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.cruisingpavilion.com

39: Sage, J. (2018). Queer Viewer [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.johnphilipsage.com/queerobjects.html

22: wbur. (2020). A box of rabbit feet [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.wbur.org/artery/2020/03/12/ queer-body-in-ecstasy-georden-west-dorchester-art-project

40: Sage, J. (2018). Queer Object Viewing Module Guide [Image]. Retrieved from https://www. johnphilipsage.com/queer-objects.html

23: all thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interesting. (2020). Hippie Commune [Image]. Retrieved from https://allthatsinteresting. com/hippie-communes

41: Sage, J. (2018). Queer Objects Pamphlet [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.johnphilipsage.com/ queer-objects.html

24: Author, Commune Illustration 1

42: Brown, E. (2017). Toxic Places, from Museum of Queer Ecologies [Image]. Retrieved from https:// decordova.org/eli-brown

25: Foundation for Intentional Community. (2016). Wolf Creek House [Image]. Retrieved from https:// www.ic.org/community-as-sanctuary/ 26: Author, Oregon and California - Site Location Map 27: Author, Commune Illustration 2 28: Matthews, E. (2016). SuBAMUH Group Meeting [Image]. Retrieved from http://www. emilymatthewsphoto.com/2016/10/28/womyns-commune 29: Author, Ohio and Surrounds - Site Location Map 30: Author, Midscale Precedent Comparision - Diagram 31:Foundation for Intentional Community. (2016). Wolf Creek House [Image]. Retrieved from https:// www.ic.org/community-as-sanctuary/ 32: SuBAMUH. SuBAMUH Entrance [Image]. Retrieved from https://subamuh.wordpress.com/ exploring-subamuh/photos/ 33: Vranovsky, J. (2019). Nagatacho 1 [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.adamnathanielfurman.com/ projects.php?pc_id=77 34: Vranovsky, J. (2019). Nagatacho 2 [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.adamnathanielfurman.com/ projects.php?pc_id=77 35: Vranovsky, J. (2019). Nagatacho 3 [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.adamnathanielfurman.com/ projects.php?pc_id=77 36: Lek, C. (2017). Reinventing the New Queer Space for the Contemporary Society 1 [Image]. Retrieved from https://cklvincetime.tumblr.com/post/155987156133/behance 37: Lek, C. (2017). Reinventing the New Queer Space for the Contemporary Society 2 [Image]. Retrieved from https://cklvincetime.tumblr.com/post/155987156133/behance 38: Lek, C. (2017). Reinventing the New Queer Space for the Contemporary Society 3 [Image]. Retrieved from https://cklvincetime.tumblr.com/post/155987156133/behance

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