The Threshold Between Transed and Trans Space
Can architecture connect, celebrate and empower transgender lives?
My Thesis Project for the final year of Masters focused around feminism; the personal, political and project. Feminism to me is choice - the choice to be who I am and let others be who they are without guilt or judgement. It is self-awareness, inclusion and acceptance. We can choose to do what ever we want with our lives and bodies without changing our equal rights, and opportunities; irrespective of sex, gender, sexuality or race.
The project focuses on transgender people in Manchester, tackling homelessness whilst trying to spread acceptance and celebrate transgender lives.
Politically, there are issues with the current gender recognition system and gender identity clinics, as well as the perception of transgender lives by outspoken trans-exclusionary-radical-feminists.
Personally I believe that we should question the assumption that the responsibility for disrupting the norm should rest with some of the most marginalised people in society.
Gender Theory
“How we must look, act and dress because of our sex is deeply embedded in our society.”
Gendered Space Vs Sexed Space
To understand the difference between gendered and sexed architecture it is first important to understand the difference between sex and gender, where sex is refers to biological differences and gender is the set of social rules we apply to a sex. A social construct which tells us to look, act and dress a certain way.
Therefore in architecture, gendered space is determined by gender stereotypes - the kitchen is feminine, the garage is masculine.
Sexed space is somewhere like a public toilet or changing room. It is determined by biological sex which makes it extremely binary and divisive. Often single sex spaces will be read as gendered due to the history of sex and gender being read as indivisible. These spaces assign gender to a body as they are entered, how must it feel to be gendered in this way for someone who already experiences dysphoria?
“Neither true nor false, neither real nor apparent, neither original nor derived. As credible bearers of those attributes, however, genders can also be rendered thoroughly and radically incredible.”
Gender Theory and Feminism
“The first questioning of gender was by early feminist who were trying to break free of the social inequalities bestowed upon them, it proved that not all women are feminine, and furthermore that femininity is not synonymous with weakness.”
Queer Theory
Queer is defined as ‘strange’ or ‘odd’ - not normal - it was used as a slur against homosexuals until it began to be reclaimed in the 80’s. Queer Theory responds to this by questioning what normal means, predominantly in terms of sexuality. As ‘normal’ constantly evolves so does queer theory.
What is Normal?
Past
Before homosexual acts were legalised and continuing to this day, being gay is seen as not normal in comparison to heterosexual families and spaces.
Present
As a differing sexualities have become more commonly accepted, queer theory has shifted it’s gaze towards gender. Not only because gender and sexuality have an intertwined history, but also because of queer theory’s evolutionary nature.
Future
The future could see the concept of gender be as strange as homosexuality ever being illegal is to younger generations today.
Location as a Character
Place can be treated like a character with it’s own thoughts, feelings and prejudices; which in turn influence, oppress or liberate those residing or visiting them.
The city offers anonymity in the crowds of people where-as, whilst their is physically more space in the country than the city, the lives of the people living there are often far more intertwined.
Subtle anonymity provided by the city is crucial to the project. As will the network and connectivity offered by such places.
Defining Queer and Queered Space
using Éloise Choquettes theory
Queer Space is a space that is occupied by queer and marginalized people. It is a venue, such as an art gallery or a performing arts hall, that puts the work of LGBTQ+ artists forward.
Queered Space is one that is in reaction to the status quo, to society’s normative standards—a chapter of the queer movement targeted at architecture specifically. It is an exclusive, safe space for Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (QTBIPOC), and therefore only accessible to people identifying both as queer and/or trans and as Black, Indigenous, or people of colour. It proposes a subversion of the norm, a conscious act of resistance, and a rupture in the fabric of society.
In response to this I theorise that the same conclusions can be reached in order to create trans and transed space.
Trans Space being a space that is occupied by trans people; an art gallery or performing arts hall.
Transed Space is one that is in reaction to the status quo; an exclusive, safe space.
Developing the Brief
The Political
The brief is made up from two important parts of research, the first is 'the Political' where I looked in detail at the resources and laws which serve transgender people; in particular, the gender recognition act, the equality act. During this research I found several shocking statistics, including that 25% of transgender people have experienced homelessness; when combined with some aspects of the equality act this becomes particularly worrisome.
“Schedule 23, paragraph 3 of the Equality Act 2010 also allows a service provider to exclude a person from dormitories or other shared sleeping accommodation, and to refuse services connected to providing this accommodation on grounds of sex or gender reassignment.”
This means that ‘normal’ homeless services legally have to right to refuse transgender people access. When statistically they have a high likely-hood of abuse and assault .
‘We have to repeat gender performance on a daily basis. However, we can do something different in how we repeat. We can create gender trouble and subversive confusion through parody...’
The second part of the brief acknowledges the power of celebration and giving people a platform to express themselves in order to spread acceptance. I researched different art exhibitions and performance spaces in order to understand transgender experience and better inform the building programme.
Ball Culture
'actively resists the dominating cultural norms of society. Participants in the community create a new space to directly challenge traditional gender roles and hetero-normative identities. They use balls to express these restrictive categories and to reveal their abuse as transgender, gay, and minority groups. Houses provide a space for queer youth to feel supported.’
The Brief
The project aims to be two things at once; a duality between both a transed space and a trans space, a sheltered and an exhibition space, quiet and loud, anonymous and proud....
It is a conversation between exposed and safe space. Part of the building program tackles homelessness amongst transgender people, the other is an exhibition space which celebrates transgender lives and promotes acceptance. How these spaces talk to each other is the question to be answered.
Through each avenue of research I developed a toolkit to help answer whether architecture can be used to connect celebrate and empower transgender lives through a conversation between trans and transed space.
The Transgender Design Toolkit
