The public realm has been historically conceived, constructed, and construed as heteronormative. The architectural and urban typologies of bathrooms, sports fields, and campuses have spatially reinforced strict gender binaries and prohibitions of various sexualities. More recently, the contemporary city has seen a growing discourse on design beyond its heteronormative origins. Queering Public Spaces convenes conversation on the role of design and planning in the curation of public spaces and landscapes that are accessible and welcoming to all, across the dynamic and vast spectrum of sexual and gender identities and lived experiences.
Queering Public Spaces features architect Joel Sanders, landscape architect Sami Meylnas Sikanas, and author, educator, and activist Kimm Topping. The Larger Landscape Conversation is hosted by Gardner Museum Ruettgers Curator of Landscape and Harvard GSD Professor of Landscape Architecture Charles Waldheim.