FINDING SPACE FINDING PLAC E race, gender, and sexuality in the built environment.VVMAGAZINE.ISSUE01.2022.THEPLACEISSUE.“a new culture of transparency”p. 26 BECCA DUGAS
andAMAGAZINEVISIONVOICEself-madepublicationbornoutofdissatisfactioninspiredbypeople. EDITOR, DESIGNER, & WRITER BECCA DUGAS STAFF LIST ISSUE 01. AUGUST 2022. ISSUE 01. THE PLACE ISSUE FIND VV ON INSTAGRAM @VOICE_VISION_MAGAZINE 2
FINDING SPACE FINDING PLAC E Jagonari Asian Women’s Centre: Exterior facade. Project by the Feminist Matrix Design Co-Operative. p. 25 3
CONTENTS “I DON’T THINK IT CAN LOOK THE SAME, SMELL THE SAME, TASTE THE SAME. I THINK WE HAVE TO SOMEHOW REINVIGORATE THE IMAGINATION OF THIS COUNTRY TO THINK ABOUT OURSELVES AS BECOMING SOMETHING OTHER THAN WHAT WE ARE” P. 14 MoMA Recon... ISSUE 01. THE PLACE ISSUE 4
Letter from the Editor Let’s Talk About Everyone PART I For the Public, for Us All A Century of Black Space in MoMAAmericaReconstructions PART II Feminism Queer,ProfessionalismVersusQueered, Queering Read this To...3026221614120807 5
FINDING SPACE FINDING PLACE What is the purpose of privacy? Privacy is a kinder word for ‘exclusivity’. NORMATIVE COLLAGE SERIES IMAGE NO. 1, PURPOSES OF PRIVACY Digital collage of stereotypical images of postwar housing promoted by the media Created by Becca Dugas 6
“born
BY BECCA DUGAS 7
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
On Wednesday, as the ritual went, my professor entered the studio near the end of class announcing the lecture that day. I began to tune out. As I left the conversation, he proceeded to announce another lecture. Something about room 5401, tomorrow, a book review, race––wait... Did he just say race? Confused, I quickly tuned back into the conversation to get the full story. Apparently, Charles L. Davis II would be giving a lecture the following day about race and architecture. As a person who craves to understand the ins and outs of social justice and culture, this was right up my alley. And besides, Thursday was my day off. No classes. The lecture was happening at 2pm. I had missed every lecture up to this point. I had no excuse not to attend. Thursday afternoon I entered room 5401, sat towards the rear of the auditorium beside a row of friends, and I was a little excited. Architecture has kind of bored me lately. But this– this peaked my
Week after week, I skipped the lecture. I skipped a lot of things that semester. As if on cue near the end of Wednesday studios, a myriad of professors would pop their heads inside the classroom doors and chant:“There’s a lecture today at 4:30!” “Room 54-0-1, don’t miss the lecture today!” This happened every few weeks or so. I never paid enough attention to catch on to the pattern. The University would bring in respected architects to give various lectures that were made available to really anyone at the school though they were only ever announced to architecture and interior design students. From what I heard, some of them were pretty interesting, but nothing ever enticed me enough to stay another hour after having been on campus since 9am.
Davis’sinterest.lecture began. With all his big words and academic language, much of the lecture went over my head. I focused hard trying to soak up every bit I could. Midway through the lecture, I picked up a key point: architecture is full of racial bias. What was at first an interest motivated by curiosity quickly grew to an interest motivated by concern. That was a pretty bold statement. Countless questions ran through my mind; the one that spoke the loudest: “Why have I never heard this before?”. In this modern age, you cannot tell people that something is racially biased and then simply turn the page. I, like many of my peers, am invested in solving these problems. Davis identified, to me, a new problem. As the lecture progressed, I anxiously awaited a solution, but to my disappointment, I was left wanting. Davis concluded his lecture by speaking directly to the educational institution. He spoke of solving inequality with a more diverse and honest education taught by a diverse staff. As much as I agreed with Davis’s solution, it was dissatisfying. This solution spoke to the future of education, not right now, not my education. As a student, I felt left out of the conversation, viewed as a passive entity subject to the whim of the university, not an active being in control of my education. Davis’s solution to this problem did not help me, and I could not help this solution. Let’s be realistic, solutions like this take time. In that time, I will have completed my education and left this institution for the next phase of my life. I don’t have time to wait for the andinstitutions,frankly, I
JUST HAVE NO INTEREST IN BEING PATIENT. In the months that followed the conclusion of that spring semester, I began a search. I dug through library books, digital archives, print magazines, any source that came my way. What was I looking for? I had to have been asked that question at least 30 times, and I still have trouble giving an answer. My go-to line was, “inequality in architecture, specifically inequalities of race, gender, and sexuality.” I was searching for problems that would likely never be taught to me in a classroom and solutions for those problems that I could understand and support. Furthermore, I knew that whatever discoveries I would make needed to be shared. If these problems were not being taught to me, they were not being taught to my peers either. As much as I want to digest and interpret issues of social justice, I want more to see these issues change. For that, I cannot work alone. Today, as I write this, I hope that I have piqued someone’s interest. Not in hopes that someone reads this entire magazine, though that would be nice, but in hopes that a seed has been planted. Today, as I write this, I’m glad that I didn’t skip another lecture. out of dissatisfaction” p. 02
Equal representation should not be in terpreted as everyone everywhere all the time. Instead, equal representation should be interpreted as equal attention paid to the needs and wants of each per son and not placing one person as lesser than another. In terms of architecture, recognizing the purposes of spaces is cru cial for this. Purpose identifies who is in tended to occupy a given space, and it is then the duty of the architect to design a space that appropriately serves that ‘who’. I believe that serving, in this context of architecture, goes beyond function. For space to properly serve people, it must function but also connect. Human ex istence consists of more than biological survival; it consists of culture. Successful architecture functions for the needs of people and engages with their cultures. Today, most architects will say that their work engages with culture, but I would not agree with many of them. Unless, that is, the culture to which they refer, is our culture and system of modern American capitalism that promotes architecture as a business and suppresses the practice as an art. Besides this, in the instances where I would agree that a work engages with culture, the culture at hand most often has a limited audience and consistently neglects the same groups of people. Most often, this limited audience is white, mid dle-class, and heteronormative while peo ple of color, women, and queer individu als are consistently left neglected. Black culture, women’s culture, and queer culture have not been allowed to inform architecture other than in niche instanc es. The practice of architecture has con sistently painted everyone with the same white, heteronormative brush for so long that it is difficult to identify bias within the design practice. White and heter onormative have become our default po sitions and, in turn, appear neutral. This routine of limited culture has developed out of and is sustained by a lack of diver sity within the professional industry and a lack of representation and diversity with in the narrative history of architecture. The solutions for this design inequity are too often unclear and almost never uni versal, and unfortunately, our task list as architects that seek out equitable design solutions remains rather ambiguous. To
LET’S TALK ABOUT EVERYONE BY BECCA DUGAS 8
Not all space can represent all people.
Aessary.space
The idea of creating a space that rep resents everyone equally is a utopian idea. Personally, I believe it is unachievable. But, more than that, I believe it is unnec
that represents everyone equal ly would have to be one of two things: containing everyone or containing no one. This space could manifest as an overwhelming collage of every style and culture in existence piled with so many layers that the content becomes illegible and unrecognizable, a space where each individual is lost. Or this space could be a form, plain and empty, with no represen tation of anyone; a space where nobody is found. Neither of these images depict the equality that we seek.
evolve the practice of architecture that it may fully serve a greater and more diverse audience, we architects must be willing to explore new territory, listen to alternative voices, and examine our own practices. It is the responsibility of the individual ar chitect to define exactly how to go about each of these tasks. This magazine is my definition. Hopeful ly it is the first of many. With an explo ration of architecture’s neglect through the examination of architectural history, research of alternative methods of prac tice, and contemplation of space, this magazine is the pursuit of equality within architecture.
9
BECAUSE
Part I is a mission in pursuit of understanding Black space. History and personal experience are required to examine Blackness and space in America. Part I consists of explorations into American public policy’s historic and modern manipulation of Black space. By listening to stories told by Black artists and architects in the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) exhibition, Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America, truer context can surround these explorations and newer futures can be envisioned. The topic of “Race and Architecture” is extremely vast and has been narrowed to Blackness and space in America due to an abundance of resources, cultural relevancy, and duration of research.
HEAD, CHANGING YOUR POINT OF VIEW MAKIN YOU
BLACK IS MESSIN WIT’CHO WANT TO STOP OCCUPYING ENGULFED BY BLACK SPACE BEING IN BLACK SPACE IS ALWAYS BEING BLACKAPPOINT BECAUSE BE IN
IBLACK SPACE IS MESSIN WIT’CHO HEAD, CHANGING YOUR POINT OF VIEW MAKIN YOU WANT TO STOP OCCUPYING BLACK SPACE BUT YOU ARE ENGULFED BY BLACK SPACE BECAUSE BEING IN BLACK SPACE IS ALWAYS BEING TWO PLACES AT ONCE BLACK SPACE SHALL BLACKAPPOINT YOU BECAUSE BLACK SPACE IS TO BE CONTINUED IN YOUR MIND YOUR MIND IN YOUR MIND IN YOU —EXCERPT FROM THE POEM “DIRECTIONS TO FREE BLACK SPACE” BY AMANDA WILLIAMS
TWO PLACES AT ONCE BLACK SPACE SHALL
YOU
BLACK SPACE BUT YOU ARE
BLACK SPACE IS TO
CONTINUED
SPACE
YOUR MIND YOUR MIND IN YOUR MIND IN YOU 10
CHANGING CHANGINGMINDBEINGSPACEUPINBECAUSEINUPSPACEBEINGINBECAUSEMINDIN SCI-FI RENDER. “PLANT SEEDS, GROW BLESSINGS”. THE FROZEN NEIGHBORHOODS. OLALEKAN JEYIFOUS. 11
Public Policy’s Hand on Architecture Collaged Drawing by Becca Dugas
I.IFORTHEPUBLIC,
Rent control is a common example. Public policy has a long history of being used to further people’s racist agendas.
BENEFITS AND BURDENS
it is often clear who will by occupying the given building. In cases of privately funded architecture, public policy will intervene when the priorities of the building owner are unsuitable for or harmful to the public.
The process of policymaking has always involved “efforts by competing interest groups to influence policy makers in their favor,”1 favor that has often-included racial exclusivity or supremacy. The benefits and burdens of public policy have been strategically distributed according to peo ple’s favor. More often than not, White communities have been the recipients of those benefits while Black and immigrant communities been the recipients of those Publicburdens.policy that regulates architecture is no different. Public policy has been used to decide who gets new architecture, who gets to advance. One of the most detrimental examples of racist public policy in architecture is red lining, “a discriminatory practice by which African Americans and other people of color were blocked from purchasing and Public policy is a general term referring to rules that govern a society and deter mine the allocation of resources to that society. As the name implies, these pol icies are made for the betterment of the “public”. Each law, regulation, course of action, and funding decision responds to an issue or problem with the intention of bringing the public to a desired state or goal. While policy decisions are ultimate ly decided and enacted by governments, the ideas on which policies are based of ten arise from the minds of the public or from conversations between governments and the public. Every policy made, or not made, comes with benefits and burdens. It is the job of policymakers to assess and revise existing policy according to its con sequences and develop new policy when Architecturenecessary. is vital in developing and sus taining a society as it satisfies the basic human need for shelter, creates culture, tells the stories of history, and provides structure, both physically and socially, for human life. With public policy’s goal of improving society, it is natural for pub lic policy to intervene with architectural practices in response to this great effect on Architecturesociety. finds itself subject to public policy in each stage of its life. From con ception onto design, construction, and use after completing construction, public poli cy regulates architecture and architectural practice. The conception of a building, in this instance, refers to the ideation and decisions on what buildings will be con structed and where they will be located. Public policymakers will make these de cisions in response to the needs of their community (to understand this further read “The Cheriville Scenario” on p. 13).
However, public policy does not hold such influence over all architecture as privately funded architecture is conceptualized in response to the market, not public policy. Though, this does not mean that this form of architecture is immune to public policy. Every building’s design is subject to the rules and regulations commonly known as building code. This form of public pol icy ensures that architectural designs are developed in compliance with standards on safety, accessibility, environmental ef fect, districting, and more. Public policy regulates then the processes of construc tion based on these same concerns which are often seen played out in the forms of permits and inspections. Lastly, public policy’s control over a building’s use af ter construction is often tied to the poli cy’s decisions on conception. By deciding what buildings are being built and where,
FOR US ALL
I.I 12
BY BECCA DUGAS
1 2 3 4 5 13
4. Demolish the existing structures to widen the adjacent road
3. Renovate the public school
come, “run-down” areas being replaced by modern transportation, businesses, and middle-class neighborhoods makes an area “better” according to the metrics by which our society is currently measured: crime rates, economic class, social status, etc., but there is another side of the story that our current metrics are not telling us.
Following with the trends of American culture, American society views these expansions as improvements. Lower in Above is an image of the (imaginary) town of Cheriville. Lots of new people have been moving to Cheriville for the great weather, booming economy, and its classic “old town charm”. The Cheriville City Council is excited but realizes that their town is not yet equipped to handle this growth. Without any improvements, soon there will be a housing shortage, traffic will worsen, the public schools and other public services will become overpopulated. The Cheriville City Council has proposed five solutions to prepare their town for its new incoming residents.
1. Repurpose the vacant building as a new wing of the public school
While most modern public policy no lon ger wields any racist intent, racist conse quences are still often found. Recently, a large focus of modern policymakers has been on restoring lower income areas of their communities, typically Black and im migrant areas. This, in theory, should be great for the lower income individuals that reside in those areas, but, in practice, the area is restored at the expense of those in Asdividuals.thriving cities and transportation net works expand, they mow down the low er income communities in their paths.
2. Demolish condemned buildings and rebuild the lots as a public park
1. Kilpatrick “Definitions of Public Policy and the Law” 2. MoMA Coursera. “Week 1: Key Terms” 3. Race and Modern Architecture 302 owning homes”2. This practice came out of the New Deal’s National Housing Act of 1934 which began the government back ing of housing loans through the Federal Housing Administration. In the process, fi nancial institutions and real estate agents had to decide who qualified for a loan and who did not for fear they would default on their mortgages. In accordance with the racist character of the 1930s, “Black neighborhoods were marked as “risky” in vestments solely on the basis of race and the belief that Black people would default on their mortgages.” Red lines were physi cally drawn on maps around Black and im migrant neighborhoods, “neighborhoods where they discouraged investment”2. This practice kept Black and immigrant communities at a disadvantage for gener ations confining them to poor, undesirable areas and preventing them from advancing economic status as “homeownership func tions as a primary tool of wealth building”2.
Changes in public policy have been made since the 1930s in an attempt to eliminate and prevent racial discrimination. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was intended to end discriminatory housing practices, but, rather than be eliminated, discriminatory practice has evolved. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was successful in preventing red lining in the sense that red lines were no longer drawn on maps, but this did not mean that financial institutions and real estate agents stopped following “red Inlines”.the 1940s after the rise and fall of Ad olf Hitler, American racism began to shift away from Jim Crow racism to system ic racism. No self-respecting American wanted to be like Hitler in any way. Since Hitler was blatantly racist, this meant that America could no longer be blatantly rac ist. Instead of evolving past racism, peo ple evolved with racism. In public policy, new language was adopted: “racial occu pancy” changed to “living standards”, “user groups”, and “cultural traditions”3. The policies, institutions, and systems in place no longer explicitly stated their nature to wards White supremacy, but the agenda lingered, nonetheless.
THE CHERIVILLE SCENARIO
5. Re-zone these lots from Commercial to Residential
I.I
America’sLevittown:first suburban town, built from 1947-1951, Levittown was exclusively for White people. Suburban homes Heterosexualsuitable US Gypsum Research Village Media PortrayalCampaign:ofWhitedomestic bliss. “White identity, privilege, homeownership, and spatial freedom.” (Race and Modern Architecture 230) “Ethnic identity... to be left as one future purchasingPurchasingidentity”aan
JIM CROW ERA
LOWER VALUESPROPERTY
DISGUISING RACISM
The Great Migration 1915-1930: Rural Blacks migrate to Northern, Western, and Southern cities. Harlem Renaissance 1920s
The Media’s Black v. NegativeClutteredPublicCrowdedDirtyUrban
FEW BLACK ARCHITECTS
City Growth Essentials 1928 “Colored people must recognize the economic disturbance which their presence in a white neighborhood causes.”
“ENDING”EQUALITYPOLITICAL RACISM PERSISTS
Sundown Towns: Exclusively White towns resistant to people of color.
BLACKFREEINGSPACE
BLACK CULTURE SPREADS
POSTWAR ASSIMILATIONCULTURALHOUSING Only White folks are pictured in housing marketing and advertising.
One Hundred Years of Land Values 1933 Ranked race and nationality with respect to their effect on land value.
Death of Emmett Till 1955: A Black 14-year old, Emmett Till, is brutally murdered by the hands of white men. A graphic photo of his open casket circulated the media. White coloredidentityidentity
World War II Ends 1945: Hitler’s reign caused Jim Crow racism to fall ‘out of fashion’. Racism becomes undemocratic.
FHARedlining:explicitly describes mortgage loans in predominantly Black areas as “risky”. Red lines are drawn on maps between white and black neighborhoods, between who receives loans and who does not.
SEGREGATIONSPATIAL
PRESERVING WHITE SPACE New Deal’s National Housing Act of Promote1934:homeownership through the federal backing of loans.
THE MEDIA PORTRAYS
Paul Revere Williams becomes first Black architect member of AIA in 1926. Black space must exist in white men’s architecture.
RACISM RESPONDS
WHITE SPACE AS IDEAL Resisting Racism: From blight to “blight” Brown isState-sanctionedv.aviolation
WHITENESSMARKETING
IDENTITYERASING ruling.loop-holeTheMixedVirginiaRacestateUltimately,CentralHighTheFederalenforcedpublicschool.
RACISM EVOLVES
OPINIONSOCIALSHIFTS
POLITICAL LANGUAGE Promoting Racism: From “racial occupancy” to “living standards”, “user groups”, and “cultural traditions” (Race and Modern Architecture 302)
COLORED PEOPLE
I.II A CENTURY OF BLACK SPACE IN AMERICA DAY.MODERNTHETO1920FROMAMERICAINSPACEBLACKOFMANIPULATIONPEOPLE’STHEANDPOLICY’SPUBLICOFTIMELINEWORKINGA 14
2020
PERSISTS identity is the standard, identity is primitive. homes were made for WhiteHeterosexual
Board of Education 1954: State-sanctioned segregation of public schools violation of the 14th amendment. SEGREGATION
identity...Christians.athingofthe past... one advanced toward a (Little White Houses... 61) suburban space is an identity. HOUSING
Euro-Centric Curriculum In architecture universities, student bodies and teaching staffs are predominantly white males. Black students have a legacy in architecture, but it is not taught. There are few mentors of color available to students. Leads to Black students not seeing themselves in the architecture profession. Architecture is still a White-Man’s Profession. White is still “ideal”. Obama Elected President George Floyd Protests Kamala Harris Elected VP and
EQUALITYPOLITICAL EXERCISING THE RIGHT TO SPACE
2008Black Lives Matter Movement 2013
THE CIVIL AFFIRMATIVEMOVEMENTRIGHTSACTION
Legislature Closing Race Schools 1958: of Virginia attempts to find a around the Brown v. Board Ultimately, this was unsuccessful.
Strike at Columbia University 1968: Colored members of the architecture class created study and social groups to prevent isolation from stamping out students of color. Architect and faculty member, Max Bond, worked to recruit 30 new students of color. This began a legacy of colored mentorship. Shirley Chisholm for President 1972: Though Shirley does not go far in the running, she makes the statement that Black people have a place in politics.
urban Enviromentalrenewal.Racism “POST-SEGREGATION” ERA “POST-RACISM” ERA NarrativesWhiteSuburbanCleanSpaciousPrivateTidyPositive THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 1968ASSASSINATED Diversity of Licensed Architects HispanicAsianWhite2019: or Latino African AmericanUnknownAmericanIndianandAlaskaNative 13.8%71.3%9.9%2.8%1.9%0.3% VICTORIES.ANDRESISTANCESPACE’SBLACKTRACETOLINESBLACKTHEFOLLOWEVOLUTION.RACISM’STRACETOLINESWHITETHEFOLLOW 15
ACADEMIC DISCRIMINATION Barack
2021 Gentrification, eminent domain,
IDENTITYASSIMILATIONCULTURAL=ETHNIC
Blight Removal Task Force Plan 2014 EQUALITYSOCIAL RACISMSYSTEMICPOLITICALPARTICIPATION PRACTICESDISCRIMINATORYDISCRIMINATIONPROFESSIONAL FIGHTING FOR SPACE
The Black Panther Party Jesse Jackson 1984: Jesse Jackson encouraged Black voters to participate in American politics by exercising their rights to vote.
High School Integration 1957: Federal Government intervened and racial integration in an Arkansas school. Civil Rights Act 1964 Voting Rights Act 1965 The government attempts legal reparations for Black individuals and Black space. Fair Housing Act 1968 After 3 decades, red-lining is finally deemedMeetingTheActCommunityoutlawed.Reinvestment1977BakkeDecision1978a“racialquota”isaformofdiscrimination.
BY
BECCA DUGAS 16
Rather than adhere to every individu al’s definition of “better”, public policy has devised its own definitions meant to encompass everyone.
BUILDING “BETTER” What kind of car do you drive right now? Do you want a better one? Of course, you do. Maybe you want some thing newer, faster, and sexier. Today’s gas prices are pretty rough; maybe you just want something with better gas mileage. How about a more spacious car? Or less spacious? We all want “better”, but what does “better” actually mean? Truthfully, we cannot definitively answer that ques tion because “better” means something different to everyone. Public policy is supposed to make soci ety “better”, but if “better” is so personal, how can public policy satisfy everyone?
Reconstructions: Architecture and Black ness in America Feb. 27-May 31, 2021. Museum of Modern Art, NY. (MoMA) Exhibition of work from 10 Black artists and architects. “I.II MoMA Reconstructions” features 3 of the 10: Black Tower Black Power by Walter Hood, The Frozen Neighborhoods by Olalekan Jeyifous, and Fabricating Networks: Transmissions and Receptions from Pittsburgh’s hill district by Felecia Davis.
I.III I.III ↑ MODELS.TOWER”“BLACKSCALE BLACKTOWERBLACK POWER. HOOD.WALTER ↑ DETAIL DRAWING. BLACK TOWER BLACK POWER. WALTER ↑ SITE DRAWING. BLACK TOWER BLACK POWER. WALTER HOOD. ↑ MODEL MAILBOXES. THE FROZEN NEIGHBORHOODS. OLALEKAN JEYIFOUS. ↑ RENDERS.SCI-FI NEIGHBORHOODS.FROZENTHE JEYIFOUS.OLALEKAN M oMA RECONSTRUCTIONS
In public policy’s pursuit of “better”, a prac tice commonly seen today is gentrifica tion: “the process of change experienced by a neighborhood that was previously undervalued and neglected by institutions of power and social services”2 While the process varies based upon each communi ty, the practice consistently “involves the displacement of a marginalized commu nity through the settlement of non-mar ginalized groups”2. Typically, gentrification involves White inhabitants moving into
I.III historically Black neighborhoods and dis placing Black individuals. Urban renewal is a similar process, but specific to cities. Both gentrification and urban renewal re develop neighborhoods so they may be come “better”. As these processes contin ue to be adopted by more policymakers, it is clear that society views these practices as successful, and according to our cur rent metrics, these processes have been successful: the area’s housing improves, there is more economic opportunity, crime rates lower, etc. However, in reality, that understanding of success is debatable. Within the physical area that has been redeveloped, quality of life has improved, but amongst the original residents of the area, quality of life has not improved. In fact, it often has gotten worse. The ques tion to ask, here, is on the purpose of each practice: is the goal to improve the area’s quality of life or the people’s quality of life? If the goal is on the people’s quality of life, then these processes have failed. The original inhabitants that were undervalued and neglected have simply been moved, not Therehelped.are some instances where public policy works to improve quality of life in Black, minority, and low-income commu nities without managing to displace the original residents, but these efforts are often largely unsuccessful in making last ing positive changes. Moving forward, to remedy the downfalls of public policy and these practices, society’s concepts, meth ods, and metrics of “better” must be re interpreted and revised to accommodate an area’s original inhabits. “Better” must become more individual.
Walter Hood changes this narrative in Black Tower Black Power from impoverished and dete riorating to powerful and magnificent. Hood’s office is located beside San Pablo Avenue in Oakland, California. He has been at this spot for over 20 years pro viding him with a clear understanding of the landscape. One particular stretch of road is home to “one of the highest con centrations of nonprofit organizations, poverty reduction zones, social services, and low-income housing in the San Fran cisco Bay area”4. Despite this abundance of organizations focused on bettering the community, Hood has seen no improve ment in the area. In fact, he claims to have witnessed more deterioration than Hoodimprovement.callsitironic.
17
Walter Hood, in his project for MoMA’s Reconstructions Exhibit, Black Tower Black Power, envisions a reinterpretation of “better”. Too often, when society envi sions bettering a lower-income, Black, or minority neighborhood according to the neighborhood’s inhabitants, society imag ines simple and poor architecture.
While the purpose of these organizations is to facilitate a more positive future, “they have this inability to think of a different future [and]… the future they know is tied to the past”4, a past that consists of poverty. Hood’s project envisions a different future. “I don’t think it can look the same, smell the same, taste the same. I think we have to somehow reinvigorate the imagination of this country to think about ourselves as becoming something other than what we are”4 Hood proposes a series of ten high-rise towers each servicing a program “inspired by one of the ten points in the [Black] Panthers’ program”4. The towers are each an impressive 30 stories express ing unique and original designs that reflect Black culture. This vision of “better” not only focuses on the specific needs of the Black community, but it also celebrates Black culture, history, and art through im pressive architecture.
2. MoMA Coursera. “Week 1: Key Terms” 4. MoMA Coursera. “Week 2: Walter Hood, Black Towers/Black Power”
Today, after the decades of damage, re searchers have come to understand the fatal damages that industrialization has caused to both the environment and hu man health. While every area suffers from these damages, the effects grow consid erably worse around industrial districts. Today, due to historic red lining, these en vironmental effects are felt more intensely in many Black and minority communities than in White and majority communities. This is environmental racism. A term not stating that the environment has racist intentions, but, that due to established racial practice, the effects of the environ ment are consequently racist.
The Frozen Neighborhoods, Olalekan Jey ifous plays out environmental racism to its logical conclusion. He imagines a future in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York where environmen tal damage has led the government to limit vehicular transportation in the Unit ed States by issuing a limited number of mobility credits. To preserve their way of life, the wealthy have purchased up all of the mobility credits leaving none for lower income individuals. These individuals are then unable to travel outside of their own community causing neighborhoods, specif ically Crown Heights, to become “Frozen Zones” isolated from the surrounding city. Isolation can be a death sentence to com munities, but Jeyifous does not envision Crown Heights as falling victim. Instead, the community of Crown Heights shows up for itself and “develops robust systems, technologies, and sustainable practices…
So, with this newly understood phenom enon, what does the future hold? In his project for MoMA’s Reconstructions Exhib it, The Frozen Neighborhoods, Olalekan Jey ifous envisions a future amidst the healing Inprocess.
ACTIONS HAVE CONSE QUENCES Sometimes, the future looks bleak. For every step we take forward towards prog ress, it is as if we are dragged three steps backwards with the gray clouds of envi ronmental damage and systemic racism looming over our heads. Recently, a new cloud has formed in the American sky, environmental racism, yet another conse quence for the decades of discriminatory public policy. Environmental racism refers to “the ways in which neighborhoods pri marily populated by Black and brown peo ple are disproportionately affected by neg ative changes to the environment…[being] more exposed to toxic emissions and pol lution, environmental hazards, fatal dis eases, and the harmful effects of climate change such as flooding and heatstroke”2 Public policy’s history of displacing Black, low-income, and minority communities
has caused continuous marginalization, a lack of upward mobility, a culture of economic despair, and, most recently, environmental racism. This newly under stood phenomenon can be traced back as a direct descendant of red lining where Black and immigrant communities were confined to neighborhoods and districts deemed undesirable being adjacent to industrial areas and distant from valuable resources. These people were forced to accept the leftovers, the scraps, of White and majority communities.
The Hill needed help. The Hill needed to be released from the chokehold of ra cially discriminatory public policies that confined the district both physically and economically. The area did not need to be bombarded with more discriminatory policy. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened. When Pittsburgh’s city council looked at the Hill, all they saw were the crammed houses and streets, not the value of the lively and influential culture. “Ap proximately 90 percent of the buildings in the area [lower Hill] are sub-standard and have long outlived their usefulness, and so there would be no social loss if these were all destroyed,”6 stated a council member.
“The area was caught in the grips of urban renewal” and eminent domain, “tool kits for racial discrimination”, words of artist and architect, Felecia Davis, “[this process] destroyed over four hundred businesses and displaced more than eight thousand individuals from their homes.”7 Eminent domain “refers to the right of a municipal, state, or federal government to take over private land for the purposes of public use, in exchange for payment”2 Policymakers will not make decisions where the costs outweigh the benefits. Therefore, in the process of eminent domain, policymakers will select private land that is valued as less than that of what will be construct ed in its place. This value is subjective and consistently racial. More often than not, private land is taken from Black, low-income, and minority communities and given to the agendas of White and majority communities. Eminent domain is justified as a transac tion. When people’s land is taken, they are given in return a payment. According to policymakers, this payment makes up for these people’s loss, but “oftentimes, these payments are not seen as adequate compensation for the loss experienced by those who are displaced”2 Displace ment destroys established culture and any chance at upward mobility leading Black, low-income, and minority communities to remain marginalized and disadvantaged. The displacement of residents from the Hill district diminished the thriving culture and condemned Black residents, both cur rent and those to come, to poverty.
All actions taken by public policy have a cost, an amount of money, labor, land, time, etc. Each of these resources must be taken away from something, somewhere, or someone. This is considered an accept able sacrifice when the matter at hand is a necessity. The overpopulation of the Hill District was a matter of necessity, and city council took dramatic measures to solve this problem. Their solution was the con struction of an interstate road and new Civic Center. What did this solution cost? It cost them the Hill District.
In this world, storefront churches become seed vaults and farmer’s markets. Black coders transform the subway system into kiosks where people can engage in virtual travel, take online courses, or get job train ing.”8 Crown Heights becomes “a neigh borhood where Black people are safe and have their needs met”8
to undergo a housing shortage, and due to the rigid, discriminatory housing practices in the United States, the Black people of Pittsburgh were unable to expand their territory being confined almost entirely to this one district. Squeezing into the lim ited space available, single men are cited “cramped in boarding houses where work ers slept in shifts”5
2. MoMA Coursera. “Week 1: Key Terms” 5. aaregistry.org. “The Hill District (Pittsburgh, PA), a 6.story”hilldistrict.org. “Developers”
7. MoMA Coursera. “Week 6: Felecia Davis, Fabricating Networks: Transmissions and Receptions from Pittsburgh’s Hill District” 8. MoMA Coursera. “Week 4: Olalekan Jeyifous, The Frozen Neighborhoods”
Felecia Davis, through her project or Mo MA’s Reconstructions Exhibit, Fabricating Networks: Transmissions and Receptions from Pittsburgh’s Hill District, depicts the immense damage eminent domain can cause by telling the history of the Hill Dis trict through textiles. Davis’s project em ploys “computational textiles” to create a structure that can “sense and respond to bodies or to the environment”7. Photo graphs of the Hill District during the 1950s and 1960s are featured on the textiles’ sur faces telling the history of this community and recalling the district’s once thriving textile industry. Today, the Hill District is still recovering from this damage inflicted by discrimina tory public policy and may never again be that vibrant hub of Black culture. In 2012 the Civic Center was torn down, and to this day, that area is simply a parking lot. The world may have moved on and for gotten the Hill, but Felecia Davis has not. She “plans to take the quilt into the Hill District community, inviting residents to add their own panels and record their own stories.”7 Davis holds out hope as her proj ect acts as “an opportunity to reimagine, to dream a new world order. [From here] a new fabric could emerge.”7
I.III
While the setting of Jeyifous’s future is fic tional, the nature of this future is a very real dream. Jeyifous has been a resident of Brooklyn for decades. He has watched the neighborhood gentrify and Black people be pushed out of the area. He cites neigh boring streets, one gentrified and one not, that never interact with one another. The spaces in which Black people feel safe in this neighborhood have shrunk and disap peared. Using speculative fiction, Jeyifous reimagines his home having repaired itself from the many years of gentrification and environmental racism to once again be come a sanctuary for Black people.
WHAT’S YOURS IS MINE It is 1955. Imagine you are a young Black man exp riencing the Hill District in Pitts burgh, Pennsylvania, commonly referred to as “the Hill”, a hub of Black culture com parable to the neighborhoods of Harlem and Now,Chicago.imagine you are a member of Pitts burgh’s city council. Imagine wanting to tear it down, wanting to tear the Hill, the “Crossroads of the World”, down. The Hill District was established in 1758 as a collection of historically Black neighbor hoods. In its early years, the district was populated by middle-class free Blacks. Black individuals migrated from all over the United States and the world to the Hill. A wave of migrants came to the area around 1804 following the rebellion and indepen dence of slaves in Haiti. Another wave came in 1910 with the Great Migration, a mass migration of Southern Black individ uals to the North. In the years leading up to World War I, the Hill became a thriving cultural center of Black life in the city and a major Jazz center of the world, but as the vibrant culture grew larger, space grew tighter. In 1890, the area’s population was 10,000. By 1920, that number had grown to 37,000. With this influx, the area began
18
Last weekend, it was Mary Lou Williams. Tonight, it’s Duke andBlackoperatingBlackWithplaceencounter.JazzWhoAndEllington.nextweekend?knowswhichlegendyou’llIsn’tthisincredible?!itsthrivingbusinessesbyday,ownedbarsnightclubsbynight, and the Jazz scene, it’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. The Hill District is an epicenter of modern Black culture. The radio calls it the “Crossroads of the World”. This is it. As a young man of color, this is exactly where you want to be. PITTSBURGH’S PROPOSED PLAN FOR URBAN RENEWAL. AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE LOWER HILL DISTRICT, 1956. ↑ DISTRICTHILLTHEWITHINCAPTUREDPHOTOGRAPHS ↑ COLLAGED TEXTILES. FABRICATING NETWORKS: TRANSMISSIONS AND RECEPTIONS FROM PITTSBURGH’S HILL DISTRICT. FELECIA DAVIS. I.III SOURCES PART Anderson,I Sean., ed. Wilson, Mabel O., ed. Reconstructions: Ar chitecture and Blackness in America. Museum of Modern Art, 2021. Exhibition catalog. A., Molly. “Jazz in Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Tourism.” Visit Pittsburgh, 22AD, https://www.visitpittsburgh.com/blog/ Benz,jazz-in-pittsburgh/.Kate.“Musicin the Hill Was a Way of Life until ‘Progress’ Silenced Venues.” Trib Live, 20 Feb. 2015, Harris,2jt?si=48a980a62fa942a3https://open.spotify.com/episode/68zReK56Bs4qSTDQhhSFreakonomicsDubner,trict.org/developers.“Developers.”ress-silenced-venues/.com/aande/music/music-in-the-hill-was-a-way-of-life-until-proghttps://archive.triblive.HillCommunityDevelopmentCorp,https://hilldisStephenJ.,host.“453.ARescuePlanforBlackAmerca.”(podcast).March2021.AccessedMay9,2022.DianneSuzette.
Structural Inequality: Black Architects in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Kilpatrick, Dean G. “Definitions of Public Policy and the Law.” Main Web-v. MUSC, Tatum,lowerhillredevelopment.com/site-history.html.“Sitepolicy/definition.shtml.https://mainweb-v.musc.edu/vawprevention/History.”LOWERHILLREDEVELOPMENT,https://www.BeverlyDaniel. “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: And Other Conversations about Race. New York: Basic Books, 2017. “The Hill District (Pittsburgh, PA), a Story.” African American Registry, 25 Nov. 2021, https://aaregistry.org/story/the-hill-districtThepittsburgh/.Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). “Reimagining Blackness and Architecture.” Coursera, 2021, Wellington,blackness-architecture/home/info.https://www.coursera.org/learn/Paul.
Little White Houses: How the Postwar Home Constructed Race in America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013. Hartt, David. “Reconstructions Special.” PIN-UP MAGAZINE: ISSUE 29, 2022. “Jim Crow Era.” Ferris State University, Kaplan,MLS/news/jimcrow/timeline/jimcrow.htm.https://www.ferris.eduHTVictoria.
Black Built: History and Architecture in the Black Community. United States: Paul Wellington, 2019. “What Is Public Policy?” Project Citizen, https://www.civicedorg/ project-citizen/what-is-public-policy.
19
II FINDING GENDER, AND SEXUALITY IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT. Jagonari Asian Women’s Centre: Interior Photo. Project by the Feminist Matrix Design Co-Operative. p. 24 1 20
“We often got asked what a feminist architecture looked like– it felt like people wanted us to say that phallic towers were male and organic buildings were womb-like and female.”
- Jos Boys p. 22 21
NORMATIVE COLLAGE SERIES IMAGE NO. 2, EXISTING STRUCTURE Digital collage of promotional material from the “Matrix Open: Feminist Architecture Archive” Created by Becca Dugas To access original content visit: http://www.matrixfeministarchitecturearchive.co.uk/
Early members of the Feminist Matrix Design Co-operative
In 1981, a groundbreaking force emerged in the field of architecture. Founded in London, the Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative was the first architectural group to take a boldly feminist stance on the architecture profession. Matrix’s in tent was to create an all-women’s practice focused on using skills as designers and builders in non-sexist and non-stereo typed manners in pursuit of a feminist architecture. The group maintained an environment of equality both internal ly within the structure of the group and externally in their client relationships. Throughout the group’s lifetime, Matrix shared their research with the design com munity and the general public through their many publications and events. Even in death, their content remains available to everyone in a free, digitally accessible open archive. Matrix walked into revolu tionary territory with the aim of uncover ing inequalities and made an example out of themselves by practicing solutions. Matrix was born out of the second wave of Feminism. Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, this wave first sprouted in America during the 1960s then grew to the Western world in the 1970s. Differ focus from hierarchy to equality. Remem ber, Feminism is the pursuit of equality for all people. The ideology choses to focus on women, as society instinctively places women below men. Matrix’s solu tion focused on lifting individuals within the workplace to be equal with their male counterparts, not only women, but also people of color and queer individuals. Their solution also reached beyond the confinement of the workplace emphasiz ing that the architect’s education does not make the architect superior to the client.
FEMINISM VERSUS PROFESSIONALISM II.I BY BECCA DUGAS MEET MATRIX II.I 22
The Feminist Matrix Design Co-operative was not all talk. As they were fully oper ational, not only did the group develop an idea of feminist architecture, but they also practiced that idea by committing themselves to a non-sexist and non-ste reotyped practice, a feminist practice. The group was a non-hierarchical orga nization where each member received the same wage. Dedicated to the nature of their organization, a variety of rules and guidelines were instituted to main tain workplace equality. Everyone was required to be informed on issues of rac ism, sexism, classism, and agism. Their Equal Opportunity Policy stated that job advertisements “will appear in the Black and Ethnic Minority press, the women’s and Lesbian press”, detailed records of short-listing and interviews will be kept and reviewed for discriminatory practices, and if anyone complains of discriminato ry behavior, that complaint will be dealt with immediately. Matrix’s clientele con sisted of volunteer-based organizations, primarily women’s and community orga nizations, giving power to disadvantaged groups. Their main concern in all work was the development of spatial designs that properly fitted the unique needs of each individual client. Matrix genuinely listened to their clients. In 1984, Matrix was approached by “a group of Asian women [who had] identi fied the lack of resources for them in East London.”2 These women sought after a woman-only space “which would en able them to carry out a variety of activ ities in a range of different spaces—from ing from first-wave Feminism, the second wave widened the conversation. Sec ond-wave Feminism realized that politi cal equality was deeply intertwined with issues of social and cultural equality and focused its effort on issues of systemic sexism and racism. This wave also ap pealed to a larger audience than the pre vious wave. Credit for this, in part, can be attributed to Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. Published in 1963, the book cri tiqued the idea that woman’s roles were to marry a man and bear his children. Not being the first of its kind, multiple authors had grappled with this narrative before, but none had captured women’s attention quite like The Feminine Mys tique. Second-wave Feminism fought for more than a seat at the table, it fought for every woman, no matter her stature, to be equal with other women and all men. Despite second-wave Feminism’s wide spread appeal, the movement was met with resistance, and Matrix felt this re sistance. In an interview conducted by The RIBA Journal in 2021, Jos Boys, a co-founder of Matrix, recounts society’s perceptions of the architecture group: “We often got asked what a fem inist architecture looked like– it felt like people wanted us to say that phallic towers were male and organic buildings were womb-like and female. None of us was thinking these things, but people wanted us to say things simply like that”. Boys goes on to explain that “audiences of built environment professionals want ed to be given a solution.”
1 Matrix gave them a solution, just not the one they Feminismwanted.doesnot have a ‘look’. There are no required physical qualifications to be considered a Feminist; one does not even have to be female. Why would fem inist architecture be any different? Matrix recognized that a feminist architecture must go beyond physical design and aes thetic. Their idea of a feminist architec ture consisted of a complete structural re design of architectural processes shifting
Jagonari Asian Women’s Centre: Ground Floor Plan: Creche, Courtyard, Main Building Section
Asian dance/drama to computer studies”.2 Matrix’s design consisted of “an Asian sit-down toilet, kitchen facilities that al lowed bulk buying and Asian cooking with seat down sinks to wash large sauce pans”2, amenities specific to Asian culture. These women wanted the space to have “an Asian feel”, remain “culturally and religiously sensitive”, and avoid “the sym bolism of any particular religion”2. The layout of Matrix’s design reflected Asian culture through open and variable spaces. The design’s aesthetic remained appro priate featuring minimalistic shapes and motifs commonly found in Asian design. While Matrix was heavily concerned with the culture within the space, they were also aware of the society living beyond the walls of the building. Because many Asian people had fallen victim to racist attacks, security was prioritized and accounted for in “the planning of the building, the de sign of the windows and the type of ma terials used.”2 In 1987, the Jagonari Asian Women’s Centre finished contruction as “a new, four storey main building with an enclosed courtyard and a two story creche building behind” featuring many facilities that were considered novel in their time, “e.g., sleeping facilities, breast feeding area, play areas, cooking areas etc.”2 Asian Women’s
Front-Rear
1. Buxton. “Work still to be done: Jos Boys on the continuing campaigns of Matrix” 2. MatrixOpen. Archive: Projects: JAGONARI ASIAN WOMEN’S CENTRE (1984 – 87) 3. MatrixOpen. Archive: Projects: WOMEN’S REF UGE, ESSEX (1992) 23
As Matrix served those who had been largely overlooked by the architectural community, much of the group’s work consisted of new and innovative spatial designs. Through the development of new designs, Matrix challenged two pri mary notions of architecture: the built environment is neutral, and design is a rational, objective process. The group be lieved that space was not neutral as archi tects’ unconscious biases were inevitably present in each of their projects. They proved this belief through their design work. Take, for example, the Women’s Refuge, Essex. Reconstructed in 1992, this project was the adaptation of an already existing women’s refuge. The previous architect had failed to meet the needs of this client; Matrix’s role was to correct the space. “The clients felt that the previous (male) architect had not involved women in design development, and had created a very institutional space. With Matrix, staff and residents’ involvement shaped scheme improvements, both in alter ing what wasn’t working and in meeting their focus on privacy, security and better childcare facilities.”3
II.I Jagonari
Centre: View of the Hall
1. Jagonari Asian Women’s Centre: Exterior 2.CourtyardFeminist Manifesto from “Matrix Open feminist architecture archive” 1 24
While the Feminist Matrix Design Co-op erative disbanded in 1994, they have sustained this culture of transparency through the form of an open archive that can be accessed digitally and used as a platform for further collaboration. In this archive, bios on the group’s members and a portfolio of design work can be found along with their publications, promo tional material, and documents. Many of which are still relevant in the culture of the 21st century, most notably, a manifes to (p. 25) addressing evident problems and proposing solutions within architectural 40training.years later, architecture has seen im provements in being more open and equal towards women. The distribution of gender amongst students within ar chitecture universities is now 50-50 male to female. While there are more women entering and dominating the profession al field than ever, gender distribution is still largely unequal amid licensed archi tects being about 80-20 male to female. This massive shift in percentage is what is known as the “missing 32%”. Many women are pressured to leave the field of architecture before achieving licensure to become housewives. The work and home-life balance is one of the next great challenges for feminist architecture. Today, architecture falls short in its gen eral transparency. This has led to little improvement in racial diversity with stu dent bodies and professionals remaining primarily white. Through transparency, architecture can become more profession ally accessible achieving greater diversity within the practice and become univer sally understood giving clients a practical right to participation throughout the de sign process. This, as shown prior, leads to the creation of more unique spaces better tailored to individual and diverse clients. As long as architecture remains exclusive, it will remain unequal. Matrix teaches that feminist architecture is not attributed to a physical form. In stead, feminist architecture is achieved through methods of practice. Practice that is equal, open, and inclusive to en sure a culture of transparency between those inside and out of the profession. By making an example out of themselves, the Feminist Matrix Design Co-operative has taught the architecture community not only how to practice feminism, but also the incredible work that will inevitably follow.
Matrix’s reach extended beyond their own practice and clientele. Making a long-lasting impact on equality with the architecture profession was not a task they could complete themselves. To achieve this level of impact, a new culture of trans parency had to be adopted throughout all architectural design. Matrix worked to establish this culture through their work shops and publications. The group would teach people outside of the profession to read technical architecture drawings, model making, and the processes of build ing design. They provided career advice to women within the field of architecture and those looking to enter. According to a Matrix pamphlet, these workshops and publications were a free service to a vari ety of volunteer groups.
II.I
II.I 2 25
II.II QUEERED,QUEER,QUEERINGQUEERING BY BECCA DUGASHope Outdoor Gallery. Public graffiti yard. Image captured by Becca Dugas 26
BEEN LEFT UNATTENDED
According to a poll conducted by Gallup in 2022, 7.1% of Americans identify as queer or LGBTQ+; that percentage has doubled over the course of a decade. 1 In response to the increase of queer identity in America, many professions, mostly humanities, have begun to engage with queerness: anthropology, sociology, political theory, etc. The architecture and design professions have yet to join this conversation on queerness. Architecture and design may be classified under a different genre of humanities than say anthropology, but they are humanities professions, nonetheless. Remaining outside of this conversation would be a Themistake.few members of the architecture community that have begun to engage with queerness often attribute architecture’s overall lack of involvement to the largely conservative nature of the profession and a general confusion around the topic of queer. Within this group attempting to ignite the conversation, most of their discussion is focused on: how can we study queer? Everyone seems to agree that our usual methods of research are not up to the challenge. For their “Queering Urbanism Lecture Series”, Bartlett School of Architecture hosted Amin Ghaziani and Matt Brim who, together, gave their lecture on “Queer Methods – In Conversation”. During this lecture, they discussed how we may go about studying queer in architecture:QUEER METHODS: Develop entirely new methods that accurately reflect the topics of study QUEER ING METHODS: Adjust the methods that are already established to suit the topics of study QUEER ING METHOD OLOGY : Alter our processes of data collection and analyzation to achieve a more realistic depiction of the topics of study Gen Z is the most queer identifying generation in American history, 21% according to Gallup. Previous generations may have consisted of just as many queer individuals, but many would have remained closeted due to cultural reasons. So, it may or may not be accurate to state Gen Z as the queerest generation while it is definitely accurate to state Gen Z as the most queer identifying generation. As I am a member of Gen Z and have been surrounded by queer individuals and culture for the entirety of my adult life, I do not find this conversation to be as difficult or confusing as other professionals would have me believe. However, I am aware this is unique in that the generations before my own are decreasingly familiar with the queer community making sense of why our current professionals may be having trouble with the idea queer space. In the following article, I will speak to my own perspective as a member of Gen Z on identifying and defining queer space with the intention of bringing everyone to the same level of understanding. 1. Jones. “LGBT Identification in U.S. Ticks up to 7.1%.”
II.II
27
BEEN LEFT UNDEFINED
Let us again expand our idea of queer. This time from sexual and lifestyle practices to an entire narrative culture which then could define queer space as spaces of counterculture. Since het erosexual and homosexual are, by definition, opposites, some theorists define queer as anything opposite of heteronormative, a counterculture of heteronormativity, making queer space any space that opposes heteronormative ideas, anything that is dif ferent or out of the ordinary. This is by far my least favorite definition of not only queer space, but also the entire commu nity, as it attributes a motive to all queer culture that is not universal and implies a level of hostility and rebellion. First, yes, queer culture is often ‘opposite’ of heteronormative culture, but it does not exist with the sole purpose of opposing heteronor mativity. This cultural nature is a correlation not a causation. Queer culture is repeatedly different because people happen to like things that are different, not because everyone wants to be opposite. Being ‘opposite’ is hard and rarely welcomed. The idea of an entire culture of people intentionally living a life ul timately causing them to be marginalized just so they can rebel is nonsense. Second, not all queer space is opposite. Take av erage suburban queer couples. Most of their homes blend in with the surrounding heteronormative neighborhood; they are not existing in opposition to their neighbors. And third, queer culture is not the only culture of gender and sexuality capable of being ‘counter’. Heterosexual couples are just as capable as queer couples at defying heteronormative ideas: stay-at-home dads, working moms, couples without children etc. This defini tion portrays queer culture and therefore space as dependent and responsive to heteronormative culture when that simply is not true.
As discussed, prior, this definition is restrictive as it relies on the idea that in order to be queer you must look the part. So, with everything said, ... II.IINORMATIVE COLLAGE SERIES NO. 3, URBANIA Digital collage of ambiguity that may or may not be queer space. Created by Becca Dugas 28
Queer culture is a very visual and iconic culture; representing this seems imperative. However, when discussing queer iden tity, one does not have to look a certain way to be queer. Why should queer space be treated any differently?
To start, we know that queer space does in fact exist. That is not up for debate. Every large city has their gay neighborhoods. We are all aware of the presence of gay bars. If you have experi enced a queer space such as these, take a moment to re-imagine that space. What made it queer? Was it the people within the space, the physical appearance of the space, the location of the space, or something else entirely? Queer space can be identified by a wide variety of traits. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss various existing definitions of the term “queer” and the larger queer culture followed by the definition of queer space that arises in response. By using these definitions to explore various methods of defining queer space, the architectural com munity can come to realize the cultural importance of under standing queer space as creators and designers of space. Our first method of defining queer space is by people’s occu pation and performance within a space, what people do within a space. From this, queer space could be defined as a space in which a person practices their queer sexuality. This definition is derived from the idea that queer refers to a range of sexualities. I find this definition to be limiting in its disregard for people that identify as queer due to their gender and not their sexuality. For example, a transgender woman who identifies as straight. Let us expand this idea of queer from just sexual preference to broader lifestyle and community practices. Queer space, then, could be defined as spaces that are occupied by queer people or where queer activities take place. Examples would include smaller spaces where queer people gather, larger spaces where queer parties, parades, or demonstrations occur, and neighbor hoods where queer people reside. While this definition does make sense, we find fault in its natural conclusion: if a space is considered queer when queer people are occupying that space, then the space must no longer be considered queer when these people leave the space. Here, queer individuals are like a light switch, but instead of turning the lights on and off, it is spatial queerness they turn on and off. Another debatable fault is this definition’s lack of dependance on any visual aspects of space. By this definition, queer space could ‘look queer’ or blend with heteronormative space. This may or may not be appropriate.
For our last method of defining queer space, let us return to the idea of the visual components of space. First, queer space could be defined as spaces that are marked as literally queer. This would be institutions and businesses that have been named queer, such as gay bars, LGBTQ+ centers, or queer monuments. Spaces that have been marked symbolically by flags or icons could fall under this definition as well. While it can be agreed that all the spaces listed above are queer spaces, it is not nec essary for a space be literally marked “queer” to be considered a queer space. Think about a doctor’s office. The fact of that space being a doctor’s office does not depend on whether or not there is a sign outside that says, “doctor’s office”. It is either the practice, equipment, or layout within a space that would make it a doctor’s office. This definition is too literal capturing only a small portion of queer space. The final definition focuses on queer visual culture defining queer space as space that portrays queer design aesthetics through either fashion, décor, or design.
IMAGE
↑
29
To prove a point. As architects, definitions appeal to us. They are fact, they are constant, and they are containable. All great architecture is bound by its own set of rules and definitions. But my point being, that as reliable as definitions are, they do not al ways work. None of the discussed definitions above can be used to universally define queer space. Each definition can be used to help in identifying queer space, but none is a sure indicator. We could attempt to combine all the discussed definitions into a single all-encompassing definition, but queer identity and cul ture is so complex and ever growing that this all-encompassing definition would eventually also fail. We are experiencing a wave of people that are undefined, and as architects and designers it is our job to figure out how to design space for this undefined wave. We can attempt to do as we have always done, and define the wave, but by this, we will fall short in our service to the queer community. Instead, we should spend our efforts searching for and analyzing existing spaces that have proven successful for the queer community, studying how certain spaces have failed the community, and imagining new processes for designing architecture around this community.
how do we define queer space?
II.II
BIBLIOGRAPHY PART II Buxton, Pamela. “Work Still to Be Done: Jos Boys on the Continuing Campaigns of Matrix.” RIBAJ, https://www.ribaj.com/culture/matrix-feminist-design-co-operative-barbican-inclusion. Colomina, Beatriz, et al. “Untitled: The Housing of Gender.” Sexuality & Space, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, NY, 1992, pp. 327–389. Ghaziani , Amin, and Matt Brim. “Queer Methods – In Conversation.” Queering Urbanism Lecture Series. Queering Urbanism Lecture Series, 17 June 2022, London, Bartlett School of Architecture. Jones, Jeffrey M. “LGBT Identification in U.S. Ticks up to 7.1%.”Gallup.com, Gallup, 10 June 2022, https://news.gallup.com/poll/389792/lgbt-identification-ticks-up.aspx. MatrixOpen, 13 Dec. 2021, http://www.matrixfeministarchiteturearchive.co.uk/. Reed, Christopher. “Imminent Domain: Queer Space in the Built Environment.” Art Journal, vol. 55, no. 4, 1996, pp. 64–70., https://doi.org/10.2307/777657. Roberts, Marion. Living in a Man-Made World: Gender Assumptions in Modern Housing Design. London: Routledge, 1991. Stanton, Janice, et al., directors. Making Space. Amici Productions, 2014. Vallerand, Olivier. “Queer Looks on Architecture: From Challenging Identity-Based Approaches to Spatial Thinking.” ArchDaily, ArchDaily, 18 June 2021, https://www.archdaily.com/963534/queer-looks-on-architec ture-from-challenging-identity-based-approaches-to-spatial-thinking#send-validation-email.
Well, that is a bit of a trick question and maybe not even a good question in the first place. Since the premise of queer is all-ac cepting and all-inclusive, limiting queer space to a single or even to a set of definitions is against the nature of the idea. Then, if, “how do we define queer space?”, is an irrelevant question, why did I just spend 900 words trying to define queer space?
Due to a male-dominance in the professional field and a lack of unity amongst varying feminist groups, as Marion Roberts explains, there is a lack of attention paid to the effect of the gender division on British culture and economy. Living in a Man-Made World is Roberts’ effort to pay attention. This book is an examination of housing policy makers’ and housing designers’ assumptions and perceptions of their female audience. In focusing on white, heterosexual women, Roberts uncovers the nature of the relationship between gender division and popular British housing.
READ THIS TO...
Black Built: History and Architecture in the Black Community Book By Paul Wellington Black Built interjects Black culture within architectural history, two topics that are not often put together. Paul Wellington covers over 40 works of architecture varying from churches and museums to offices and residences all completed by Black architects throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. With no political undertones, Wellington has developed an inspiring collection of work describing each project’s technical details and cultural consequences from the initial design phases through building usage.
“Imminent Domain: Queer Space in the Built Enviroment” By Christopher Reed Queer space has long remained an under-discussed topic within the architectural discipline. Christopher Reed attributes this to the contradictory natures of queer and space and a widespread conservatism found within the field of design. In his article, “Imminent Domain: Queer Space in the Built Enviroment”, Reed makes his effort to break that silence. By walking through multiple theories and definitions, Reed gives readers context to queer space pushing the message that this is only an introduction to an area that requires greater EXPLOREattention.APORTFOLIO FROM BLACK ARCHITECTS
“Untitled: The Housing of Gender” Sexuality & Space
Making Space: 5 Women Changing the Face of Architecture Film Directed By Janice Stanton, Alice Shure, & Ultan Guilfoyle
COMPARE THEORY ON MASCULINE AND FEMININE SPACE
FIND QUEER WITHIN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
We are amongst a new era. Women, for the first time in history, are not only visible within the field of architecture, but also on top of the field. Making Space interviews five women: Odile Decq, Farshid Moussavi, Kathryn Gustafron, Marianne McKenna, Annabelle Selldorf, who are at the top. This documentary film follows the stories of these architects working as women and not striving to be accepted as men. This film inspires viewers not only by the accomplishments of these women but also the incredible creativity and innovation of their work.
Living in a Man-Made World: Gender Assumptions in Modern Housing Design Book By Marion Roberts
FIND YOUR NEW HEROINE OF ARCHITECTURE
9 RESOURCES WORTH YOUR TIME & ATTENTION * * Editor’s Choice Resources BY BECCA DUGAS 30
Chapter By Mark Wigley
“Architectural discourse is clearly defined more by what it will not say than what it says” (329). In this essay, Mark Wigley discusses what has been left unsaid about gender and space. By following the waves of feminism, Wigley explores the woman’s evolving relationship with the home and domestic life focusing on confinement and freedom. He explains how masculinity and femininity have been pitted against one another in the built environment. Through the comparison of multiple architectural theories, Wigley conveys the necessary overlap between disciplines to truly understand the relationship between sexuality and space.
STUDY HOUSING PREDATING “THE WORKING WOMAN”
UNDERSTAND MODERN SYSTEMIC RACISM
“Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: And Other Conversations about Race Book By Beverly Daniel Tatum Why are conversations about racism so awkward, even in the company of like-minded peers? Beverly Daniel Tatum answers this and other common questions about race related behaviors in “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: And Other Conversations about Race. Defining basic terminology and ideology, Tatum explains the psychology of race. She digs into various contexts of blackness and whiteness to walk readers through the processes of establishing one’s racial identity answering just why all the black kids may be sitting together in the cafeteria.
Structural Inequality: Black Architects in the United States By Victoria Kaplan In Structural Inequality, Victoria Kaplan passes the torch to voices from which we rarely hear. Follow along, as Kaplan shares stories from 20 successful black architectects to identify the role played by systemic racism in the modern field of architecture. By explaining individuals’ journeys in academia and professional practice, the narrative format of this book reminds readers that this is not a collection of data; this is a collection of human experience to facilitate a conversation about the increasing diversity within architecture.
* 31
REACH INTO THE MIND OF RACIAL BEHAVIOR
Little White Houses: How the Postwar Home Constructed Race in America Book By Dianne Suzette Harris The media acts as a cultural force instructing society on where to look and how to think. In Little White Houses, Dianne Harris dissects architectural media from the postwar era to reveal the media’s racial messages about the single-family home. Harris tells the side of history that architects overlook: “Although historians have focused on architectural modernism’s innovation in this period... most architects persisted in imagining within the social box–one that implicitly accepted racially restrictive covenants” (109). An abundance of white folks pictured in the media shapes Harris’s argument on how society came to associate the single-family postwar home with whiteness, shaping the American perception of middle-class identity and furthering a housing market rooted in racial segregation.
FOLLOW THE RACIAL POLITICS OF HOUSING
FURTHERYOURRESEARCH
DEEP DIVE INTO ADVANCED RACIAL HISTORY & THEORY
Race and Modern Architecture: A Critical History from the Enlightenment to the Present Book Edited by Irene Cheng, Charles L. Davis II, and Mabel O. Wilson Race and Modern Architecture engages race in a manner that is unprecedented. As a collection of advanced research depicting the relationship between race and the built environment, this book starts with the Enlightenment and ends with the modern day to not only document history, but follow the path of how modern structures, both architectural and institutional, came to be. Each chapter works to deconstruct practices that are assumed to be “universal, modern, and transparent”(4) while employing new methodologies and archives. The authors speak to a vast range of time and topics making it clear that this is not only a collection of information, it is a depiction of race’s widespread importance in architecture and a demonstration that modern architectural history cannot be discussed without discussing race.
FINDING SPACE FINDING PLACE P LACE FOUND.VVMAGAZINE. HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Email VV: voicevisionmagazine@gmail.com LIKE WHAT YOU READ? Please Donate: https://gofund.me/1c9e061b 32
