11-20-2023
Out in Architecture: On Design and Identity
Out in Architecture, 2023
Out in Architecture, a collection of reflections by LGBTQIA+ individuals within and adjacent to the field of architecture, is now available for purchase at Blurb: https://www.blurb.com/b/11721565-out-in-architecture
Ranging from identity within and beyond practice to reclaiming space and redefining systems, these essays are a cache of struggle, celebration, hope, and wisdom - while aiming to propel conversation into action and institutional change. The book features an essay from FXCollaborative Partner Gustavo Rodriguez, AIA, CODIA, LEED AP, excerpted below:
"There is something I have to get off my chest from the start: I had never really thought about how being gay influenced my design. The fact that this never happened is enough to write a whole other article, but here are some insights.
For a big part of my life, including my formative years as an architect, I was not able to fully process my gay identity. It was always something in the dark folds of my inner thoughts, repressed and feared: I grew up in the Dominican Republic in a very conservative environment and as a result of this, I developed a very layered and compartmentalized identity where I hid or repressed parts of myself and I carried this all through my mid 20s. It was only after I graduated from graduate school that these barriers and layers started to break down and I was able to step out into a more integrated life, I started being my whole self.
This embrace of my identity coincided with the start of my professional life and my first explorations of how my identity as a gay man intersected with my identity as a practicing architect. I was lucky enough to work in a welcoming firm where I was able to be myself (something many people are not able to have), but even in this setting I never really stopped to think about how these two parts of myself influenced each other. It is only 25 years into my professional practice that these thoughts have started to emerge in various conversations and panels, the focus of which were about practice and identity. Conversations centered around how being "out in architecture" had influenced my career path and my growth. This story, however, is different; it is about how being gay has influenced my creativity, my process and projects. How my identity, in all its
layers, fuels my design."
Ranging from identity within and beyond practice to reclaiming space and redefining systems, these essays are a cache of struggle, celebration, hope, and wisdom - while aiming to propel conversation into action and institutional change. The book features an essay from FXCollaborative Partner Gustavo Rodriguez, AIA, CODIA, LEED AP, excerpted below:
"There is something I have to get off my chest from the start: I had never really thought about how being gay influenced my design. The fact that this never happened is enough to write a whole other article, but here are some insights.
For a big part of my life, including my formative years as an architect, I was not able to fully process my gay identity. It was always something in the dark folds of my inner thoughts, repressed and feared: I grew up in the Dominican Republic in a very conservative environment and as a result of this, I developed a very layered and compartmentalized identity where I hid or repressed parts of myself and I carried this all through my mid 20s. It was only after I graduated from graduate school that these barriers and layers started to break down and I was able to step out into a more integrated life, I started being my whole self.
This embrace of my identity coincided with the start of my professional life and my first explorations of how my identity as a gay man intersected with my identity as a practicing architect. I was lucky enough to work in a welcoming firm where I was able to be myself (something many people are not able to have), but even in this setting I never really stopped to think about how these two parts of myself influenced each other. It is only 25 years into my professional practice that these thoughts have started to emerge in various conversations and panels, the focus of which were about practice and identity. Conversations centered around how being "out in architecture" had influenced my career path and my growth. This story, however, is different; it is about how being gay has influenced my creativity, my process and projects. How my identity, in all its
layers, fuels my design."