Queer Space

The intended audience refers to two user groups: first are those who identify themselves as queer, or do not prescribe to binary gender identities, and second are those who have difficulties understanding that they do not have to be bound by the identity they were assigned by external pressures. The purpose of queer space is to allow for identity to become fluid yet clear, and yet perceived only so in a good-natured manner. It is imperative to address the increasing polarity between those who are comfortable in normative society and those who are not or simply not accounted for. To blur the division that separates our way of being and understanding, would be a step towards a more socially equitable society.

Figure 1.5 Concept Map establishing connections between the topics discussed in the literature review. Green: Primary, Blue: Secondary, Grey: Tertiary (Zachary Gaudet CC BY). The structure of the book is as such: the literature review, design research, outcomes of design research and critical reflection. The literature review discusses how the above mentioned key terms have accumulated in a historical and conceptual context, as well as how each of them relate to the topic of queer space. Figure 1.5 establishes the connections between each topic that is covered in the literature review. The most important terms are spatial perception and queer space, with each term terminating within them.

Furthermore, the design research conducted over the course of the Fall 2021 semester refers to more specific realms layed out in the structure of the concept map in—those being the difficult whole, inflection, and liminal space. Each of these categories are the more concrete architectural concepts that drive the thesis and are informed by the more conceptual categories such as the different ways of perceiving space. I also explore multidisciplinary perception in one of the design tests as a method to create an abstracted space through composite photography. Each design test will later be critically analyzed in order to assimilate a holistic conclusion for the outcome of design tests.

Theotetical Framework Theoretical Framework

Figure 2.1 View of a nightclub in Moscow. Image by Alexander Popov. 2021. https://unsplash.com/photos/exboerLBhxc

Queer Space:

It is at the intersection of binary oppositions such as gay or straight, that one finds themselves in queer space, whether it is mentally by attempting to assert one’s identity by “coming out of the closet,” or literally, through rainbow adorned rooms, co-opted in the late 70’s as a symbol of gay pride.1 After being in spaces informed by their occupation of queer people—I have always been curious, if not concerned when confronted with my own identity in light of another's who is aligned opposite mine within the binary structure of heteronormative society. I find myself wanting to understand the implications of being gay beyond one’s sexual preference—such as if queer perception can be used to inform the construction of space in order to create a perceptual entity to the binary who often disassociated from it.

Queer space is the process of occupying normative territory and claiming it as your own.2 It is a way of existing between binary oppositions, finding space on the periphery or the intersection and behaving differently. It is few and far between where spatiality is able to evoke queerness on its own—in the sense that it does not rely on queerness to activate it. And even then it is a subjective perception grounded in an individual’s mental space. Creators of these spaces are more so—and most often unknowingly— creators of a particular sensation, capable of constructing an inclusive space acceptable and valued not only by queer users but by the binary as well. Over the last decade or so, society has seen a shift in support for the opposition of binary and heteronormative positions.

Whether or not the physical manifestation of an inherently queer space is possible, its evocation is the result of a composition of architectural elements that either lend themselves to user appropriation or trigger an awareness of oneself within a space. In this regard, spaces known for their layered meaning—such as the Querini Stampalia in Venice by Carlo Scarpa—suggest a determinant factor in the ability to encourage spatial awareness.

1 Jacob Shamsian, “How the rainbow became the symbol of LGBT pride,” Insider, 2018, https://www.insider.com/why-rainbow-lgbt-gay-pride-2017-6 2 Evan Pavka, “What Do We Mean By Queer Space?,” in Azure Magazine, 2020, https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/what-do-we-mean-by-queer-space/