Architecture - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Trans Issues in Architecture

diller scofidio + renfro’s Brasserie restaurant sets the scene for this article’s overarching question: what are the stakes of absorbing “the washroom” into our affective habits as trans people? This article uses architectural theory to show that some hygienic models of transgender—such as “original plumbing”—are less about explaining our genders to ourselves and more about (1) communicating our “fuckability” to (presumably non-trans) others and (2) codifying subtle and often problematic beliefs about the relationship between architecture and the body.

The article discusses issues on creating a gender-inclusive restroom in library buildings. Topics discussed include the role of signage in creating a gender-inclusive restroom, recommendation from HCMA Architecture + Design on making signage, and mandate from the University of California (UC) system for all-gender restrooms going forward.

Of the dozens of standards, which are reviewed during a PREA audit, three have a remote bearing on physical plant design: * 115.18(a) When designing or acquiring any new facility and in planning any substantial expansion or medication of existing facilities, the agency shall consider the effect of the design, acquisition, expansion, or modification upon the agency's ability to protect inmates from sexual abuse. * 115.18(b) When installing or updating a video monitoring system, electronic surveillance system or other monitoring technology, the agency shall consider how such technology may enhance the agency's ability to protect inmates form sexual abuse. * 115.42(f) Transgender and intersex inmates shall be given the opportunity to shower separately from other inmates. PREA Audit. Because the act applies to all confinement facilities, jails and other correctional facilities must be audited in order to be in full compliance with the standards (the only exception is for lock-ups that do not house arrestees overnight).\n In fact, the standards are probably more specific about developing an adequate staffing plan that most other standards.

There is a gap in homeless youth services in the United States. A vulnerable population, LGBTQ+ individuals comprise nearly 40% of all homeless youth and are particularly susceptible to repeated victimization, trauma, and violence from their community. Current shelters re-traumatize and fail to address the needs of this unique population triggering an extreme aversion to the institutional design aesthetic that many of these services inhabit. LGBTQ+ youth enter a cycle of homelessness and disengagement that perpetuates into adulthood as a result. Why do existing shelters fail to meet the needs of LBGTQ+ homeless youth? Utilizing a series of diverse theories including the Trauma Informed Care model (TIC), architectural theory, case studies, and psychological theory, five domains for why homeless youth shelters fail LGBTQ+ youth are identified and expanded upon. From this an architectural program comprising a kit of parts is created to guide future design of homeless LGBTQ+ youth shelters to resolve identified issues. The success or failure of the implementation of the design guidelines will be measured through the creation of an assessment tool. Titled the Empathy Through Design Assessment Tool, it will be refined through being used on an LGBTQ+ friendly youth shelter before then being applied to half a dozen other youth shelters to see how many incorporates these design guidelines.

What is our expectation of architecture when our cities, buildings - their programs, connections and interfaces - reinforce essentialist and cisnormative notions of gender? For some, that is not an architecture of safety, nor of belonging or identity; rather of hostility, othering and privilege.
Relationships between form, space, program and function have unique political and spatial meanings for gender-nonconforming people. When program is the enemy of function, one adapts as they disconnect to seek belonging, safety and find identity. What can be learnt about architectural
emotion, space and practice through the lens of trans and gender diverse experiences?