![]() ![]() Fittingly, given the performative nature of gender itself, Performance Space New York solved the problem with a simple welcome sign “EVERYBODY,” created by artist Sarah Ortmeyer with designer Erin Knutson.Īccessibility ramp on Fulton Street, Brooklyn, photographed by Daniel Terna for PIN–UP. Should they, as the right would have it, be segregated spaces that at once reinforce the gender binary and “protect” cis women from male rapists? Or should they be structures that allow anyone, regardless of genitalia or expression, a place to fulfill the demands of bodily functions in relative peace? While we wait to see if courts and governments will affirm the basic dignity of people regardless of anatomy, architects and designers are working through how “male” (and “female”) urinals might commingle with stalls, or vanish entirely whether sinks fare better in individual stalls or as troughs in zones removed from the action and which graphic-design solutions will best direct the crowds. In recent years, though, as transgender citizens and their allies work to dismantle roadblocks to their full participation in society, the very idea of what a bathroom should be has come into question. Bathrooms have been battlegrounds for gender, sexuality, and hygiene wars for millennia. Restrooms at the Performance Space New York, photographed by Daniel Terna for PIN–UP.Īs the famous bathroom scene in Kenneth Anger’s 1947 Fireworks and Klymaxx’s 80s hit “ Meeting in the Ladies Room” can attest, what goes on in the most private of public spaces can be both political and interpersonal (and fabulous). Issues of accessibility, gendered space, and abortion clinics, speak volumes about what bodies are valued in this country, and how this value is expressed through architecture. ![]() Would we rather the studs were removed to allow people to sleep there, or would we rather the people who used to sleep there got help? Taking the studs out again won't solve anything presumably a better response would be to make sure that no street design changes can be made without the involvement of qualified outreach workers who can advise and help anyone who'd be affected.The politicization of the human body is physically manifested in our built environment. Media attention has prompted Southwark Council to investigate removing the studs, but this seems like a kneejerk reaction. It's a sentiment echoed in a blog post by a nurse and former outreach worker, which also found traction on Twitter over the weekend. We spoke to Petra Salva, NSNO director, last year and she explained the difficulties in helping people once they acclimatise to living on the streets, which can take a remarkably short amount of time. But in and of themselves, the use of anti-rough sleeping measures aren't wrong. What doesn't seem clear is whether the building's owners have been working in conjunction with local homelessness workers to support any rough sleepers who may have been using the doorway. We need to harness that to help people on the streets now, but also to prevent more people ending up there in the future." People's reaction to this story has shown the depth of compassion and concern for people sleeping rough. However to undertake such measures without providing the necessary assistance to people who sleep rough is wrong - the aim is to help people move in, not just move on. These 'studs' appear a rather brutal way of doing just that. "Part of role is to prevent people adopting a street lifestyle which, on occasions, means adapting the physical environment to prevent people sleeping rough in a particular location on a regular basis. Are city planners just cold hearted bastards? We called the Southwark homelessness outreach team who put us in touch with St Mungo's Broadway, the charity which works on the Mayor's No Second Night Out (NSNO) programme. ![]() has pointed out an article about similar spikes in the Independent - from 20 years ago. Similar measures are everywhere: Jules Birch, writing in Inside Housing, highlights examples of benches that are impossible to sleep on, barriers in underpasses and cute street sculpture that has an ulterior motive. However, we seem to be reacting to these studs as though they're a one-off, dehumanising response to rough sleeping and homelessness. ![]()
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