Queer Spaces | Book Review

Book review of "Queer Spaces: An Atlas of LGBTQIA+ Places and Stories" (RIBA, 2022)

Link to the complete review on koozArch is here.

Queer Spaces, edited by Adam Nathaniel Furman and Joshua Mardel is a rich and powerful kaleidoscope of “queer word-making”.[1] It is a daring collection of insightful short texts on spaces of sociality, cruising, but also refuge, activism, resistance and belonging. It also looks at spatial design, interior occupation and decoration of spaces from queer communities globally. Most importantly, through the collection of different voices the book encapsulates the main features of queer architecture. "The ‘queer’ in ‘queer architecture’ is not simply an adjective; it is also a verb that performs.”[2]

The notion of performatives brought forward by Judith Butler[3] highlights the intangible and performative dimension of queer architecture that contributes to the definition of un-built that KoozArch is currently exploring. […]

The book’s value lies not only in the richness of its content, but also in bringing together a series of clever architectural historians and researchers on queer spaces and history like Regner Ramos, Ben Campkin, Ivan L. Munuera, Isola Tong, Elizabeth Darling, to name a few. They explore, from various and unique perspectives, the value and nature of queer architecture. Whilst some uncovered the genealogy of queer spaces, others brought to the fore a series of fundamental questions related to queer architectural history and spatial practices that is worthwhile underlining.

The first, important reflection that emerges from the book is, as Olivia Laing rightly pointed out in her foreword, “the ongoing sense that any space can be turned queer.”[4] In fact, “a defining characteristic of queer space is its deformation, subversion and appropriation of space. In a world hostile both socially and spatially to those who defied norms, adapting existing buildings and interiors (sometimes permanently, more often fleetingly) was a quintessential activity”[5] and this is evident in several of the case studies analysed […].

In terms of research methods for the collection of historical evidence of queer spaces it is worthwhile mentioning the point raised by the editors Helen Smith, who studied the traces of working-class queerness.[6]She highlighted alternative, forensic solutions that could be applied by historians of queer architecture, such as the strategic use of media outlets and legal documents to gather evidence of queer history. Critical archiving is also explored in the book, a notable example is the “Archivio de la Memoria Trans” in Argentina that emerged as a political move towards the valorization of personal, oftentimes tragic histories as opposed to the repression and invisibility that the trans community had and still have to endure.

Furthermore, the editors highlight the difficulty in publishing all relevant case studies, given the necessity to keep some of these places secret. This leads to the most delicate and piercing aspect of this publication, that is the fil rouge that unites many of these chapter, i.e. the political oppression, discrimination and violence that the LGBTQ+ community had and still have to endure across the globe. The book makes clear the discrepancies between the Anglo-Saxon and Northern Global context – where emblematic sites and architectures have been recognised as valuable cultural heritage – and other countries, where non-binary individuals are still prosecuted and their cultural heritage neglected. […]

A good portion of the chapters of this book concentrates on sites of queer memory. […] The heritage listing of the Royal Vauxhall Bar, along with the first rainbow tag of the Holy Trinity Church in London are very important examples that highlight the step forwards made in the valorisation and protection of queer heritage. The “Homomonument” in Amsterdam is the first queer memorial in the world and reached monument status in 2017. The monument was erected in honour of the non-binary community that were deported or died during the Second World War. […]

The section “public” pushes the boundaries of what public queer spaces are, including Zoom events like “Queer House Party” that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, but also sites for activism, streets, squares and parks. In short, Queer Spaces succeeds at compiling a series of important case studies, but also raising compelling issues on queer history and memory. One hidden, and probably overlooked aspect that emerges in the book is the relevance of interior decoration for the making of queer worlds. The femme decoration of the Loverbar described by Ramos is a clear example of contemporary decoration strategies for the queer appropriation of spaces.[7] The modernist counterpart is the interior of Alan Buchsbaum’s Apartment/Office, where Ivan L. Munuera described the hidden queer meaning behind the architect’s use of ceramic tiles in his open bathhouse.[8] These are just two of the numerous examples of interior decoration as form of queer design and appropriation of spaces that is worth of further exploration. It is, in fact, evident that the boundaries between architecture and interior architecture in the context of queer design fall, as the quintessential quality queerness is to question pre-established categories.

The book, however, only partially deals with the topic of new designs. In fact, the publication highlights the fact that very few projects have been designed with a queer user in mind. How can architects finally fill this gap in architectural design? Three projects try to answer this question, they are, respectively, the project for the design of non-binary airport toilets in “Stalled!”, the design of an “Architecture Fringe” and the fascinating “Light Coffin – Dracula’s Den”. […]

From the book it emerged, indeed, that there are some members of the LGBTQ+ community that want to be seen, others who prefer to live their peaceful life, hidden from indiscreet and judgemental eyes. When tasked with the design of the “Dracula’s Den” the architect had to forget all the heteronormative design principles he learned. Notably he said: “the concept of ‘domestic floor plans’ that we learn and are taught as common-sense collapsed, just because a homosexual couple asked me for a house.”[9] The collapse of outdated boundaries and conceptions is perhaps the most important lesson learned from reading Queer Spaces, a lesson that opens to the performative dimension of occupation, hence the potential of the un-built, that all architects should learn if they want to design increasingly inclusive spaces.

Notes:

[1] Regner Ramos, “El Hangar en Sartuce”, Queer Spaces (London: RIBA, 2022), 94.

[2] Ivan L. Munuera, “Palladium”, Queer Spaces (London: RIBA, 2022), 136.

[3] Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (New York: Routledge, 1999).

[4] Olivia Laing “Foreword”, Queer Spaces (London: RIBA, 2022), IX.

[5] Elizabeth Darling, “The Cave of Harmony”, Queer Spaces (London: RIBA, 2022), 74.

[6] Helen Smith, “Two-up, Two-Down”, Queer Spaces (London: RIBA, 2022), 18.

[7] Regner Ramos, “Loverbar”, Queer Spaces (London: RIBA, 2022), 110.

[8] Ivan L. Munuera, “Alan Buchsbaum’s Apartment/Office”, Queer Spaces (London: RIBA, 2022), 70.

[9] Alyssa Ueno, “Light Coffin – Dracula’s Den”, Queer Spaces (London: RIBA, 2022), 8.