Olivier Vallerand

Olivier Vallerand is a community activist, architect, historian, and assistant professor at Université de Montréal’s School of Design. His research focuses on self-identifications and their relation to the use and design of the built environment, on queer and feminist approaches to design education, and on alternative practices of architecture and design. His book "Unplanned Visitors: Queering the Ethics and Aesthetics of Domestic Space", winner of the 2021 IDEC Book Award, discusses the emergence of queer theory in architectural discourse. He also regularly writes for Canadian Architect.

Queer Looks On Architecture: From Challenging Identity-Based Approaches To Spatial Thinking - Featured Image — Paul Rudolph, Rudolph Apartment at 23 Beekman Place, New York (1977-1997). Perspective Section, 1997. Digitized drawing | 4732 x 3416 px. The Paul Rudolph Archive, Library of Congress, Print and Photograph Division, LC-USZ62-123771. The cut shows the complexity of the space that Timothy Rohan describes as exemplary of Rudolph's approach to the private domain.

A growing number of theorists and practitioners have been discussing the impact of gender and race on the profession and theory of architecture. Issues linked to the relationship between the built environment, sexual orientation, and gender identity, however, remain particularly understudied, perhaps because of their relative invisibility and less clearly identifiable discriminatory consequences. Moreover, they are also completely neglected by design theory in the Francophone world. This article partially remedies the situation.

Olivier Vallerand •••

Queer Looks On Architecture: From Challenging Identity-Based Approaches To Spatial Thinking

Olivier Vallerand