Module: The Architecture of Gay and Dissident Sexualities
October 1 to December 10, 2021
Lecturers: Pierre-Alexandre Mateos, Charles Teyssou, Octave Perrault
HEAD – Genève, Geneva
Cruising Pavilion is a course dedicated to the history of different LGBTQI+ sexual encounter areas, following the eponymous exhibition project presented in Venice, New York, and Stockholm. Whether they are appropriated (parks, toilets, car parks, etc.) or dedicated (sex clubs, saunas, chat rooms, dating applications, etc.), the evolution of these places traces the history of dissident sexualities from their clandestinity to their emancipation. The aim is to analyze their spatial constructions and their influence on the history of forms from the 20th century to the present day. This course presents architectural case studies and artistic projects related to this counterculture. Cruising is presented as an act of politicization of the city, a site of invention and sexual affirmation, and a laboratory for the avant-garde.
The aim of this course is to lay the foundations for a book on the architecture of cruising entitled Cruising Pavilion, an Architectural Reader. From a typology of appropriated and dedicated meeting places, we identify the main spatial installations invented by these sexual countercultures. Architectural plans, accounts, ephemera, design prototypes, and urban interventions are part of the materials used to trace the history of this practice. Alongside this, the course traces the influence of cruising in art, film, and literature. Some of the contributions produced by students will be included in the publication project planned for 2024.
The series of lectures begins with an introduction to the culture of cruising and its various issues. Each session then operates in the form of workshops in which students refine their contributions to the book. They can either conduct a case study of a cruising space (e.g., Mineshaft, New York; Jardin des Tuileries, Paris; Laboratory, Berlin; etc.) or create a visual or textual essay on an issue identified in class (e.g., sexual margins and gentrification, masculinities and ornamentations, etc.).
MAIA: Master of Arts in Interior Architecture (HEAD – Genève)
Head of Department: Javier Fernández Contreras
Scientific Deputy: Valentina de Luigi
Lecturers: Pierre-Alexandre Mateos, Charles Teyssou, Octave Perrault
Image: Cruising Pavilion, 16th Venice Biennale of Architecture
May 24 to July 1, 2018
Photography: © Louis De Belle
