So many exciting achievements—being part of the Love Letter program and being named 30UNDER30 by ADR! Looking ahead, what aspects of design are you most eager to explore, and how do you see yourself contributing to the future of design as part of the next generation of designers and innovators?
I believe architectural education has had a significant cultural shift in recent years. Gone are the days when we were forced to sit through hours-long lectures about “iconic” starchitects. Instead, I was encouraged to think more broadly and design spaces considerate of people, not to design the next great shiny building. No topic was off the table, and consequently I was supported in exploring topics that I never dreamt would be feasible in architecture school. The next generation of designers and innovators will be more sensitive, compassionate, and empathetic people, armed with the tools to tackle greater social and cultural issues facing our industry.
What is your favorite part of celebrating Pride Month?
It took me many years of self-reflection and self-improvement before I could say with confidence that I am proud of my identity. While outwardly, Pride Month appears to be a celebration of queerness (and it certainly is), I encourage everyone to use this time to pause, take a moment, and to reflect on the tireless work of our queer fore-theys. Today, we have the privilege of being proud, due to the challenges faced by those before us. Celebrating Pride Month is a chance for our community to gather in masses, reflect on the past, and claim space.
Matthew presenting his Love Letter.
“The next generation of designers and innovators will be more sensitive, compassionate, and empathetic people, armed with the tools to tackle greater social and cultural issues facing our industry.”
Matthew with Diana Espiritu, associate at W-B (left) and Ben Peake, principal, Carter Williamson Architects (right).
Diana Espiritu, an associate at Woods Bagot, has actively participated in Love Letter and now plays a crucial role in advocating for AWP as part of the committee. Diana shares, “To date, W-B’s engagement with AWP has not only prompted collaboration between the different studios; it has also allowed us to connect with a wider network of LGBTQI+ architects and designers.”
Established by SJB, the Architecture with Pride (AWP) collective unites practices from across Australia, and this year, Woods Bagot participated in the immersive program in celebration of the LGBTQI+ design community. AWP’s essence lies in challenging the status quo, while also celebrating the thriving diversity within our industry. Can you tell us what AWP means to you?
AWP has been a game-changer for the built environment in Sydney and Melbourne. I feel AWP strikes the perfect balance, cultivating safe spaces for the queer architecture community and its allies to gather and celebrate with each other. Simultaneously AWP hosts more educational events like Love Letters, where we can see the spectrum of queerness in a platform that is light-hearted but thought provoking. My hope is to work with AWP to establish similar events here in Western Australia, locally to regionally.
“Celebrating pride month is a chance for our community to gather in the masses, reflect on the past, and claim space.”
Love Letters to Our Future gathered twelve of Australia’s most diverse design practitioners and creatives to share their experiences exploring, designing, creating, and celebrating queer futures. Could you share a bit about your experience participating and presenting your empowering (and humorous) Love Letter?
This year, Love Letters was made possible by W-B’s generous sponsorship. In addition, W-B and AWP made it possible to send me to NSW for the event with additional funding. Love Letters was hosted at Palms on Oxford, a long-standing institution for the queer community. The brief to the speakers was something to the effect of “make us laugh, make us cry, share your experiences exploring, designing, creating and celebrating queer futures”. I took the opportunity to share a home I designed in 2022; the message was on looking to the future, and the research methods I used in the project can be used to design spaces that are considerate of the nuances of queerness, adaptable to different sexualities. My favourite love letter: a disabled comedian highlighting the inaccessibility of the stairway to heaven due to the lack of handrails.
Below is a snippet of Matthew’s thesis project “MAKE IT CAMP” and Love Letter presentation. Matthew’s work focuses on incorporating queer theory into architecture and the built environment. By examining the spatial requirements of queer individuals through qualitative research and studying influential queer designers, he seeks to create spaces that cater to the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Courtyard, render by Matthew McGivern.
Shared Wing, render by Matthew McGivern.
“Architecture is the act of placemaking, but if we are not designing our spaces for difference, who are we designing for?” Matthew’s thesis asks. “This work interrogates the values typically prioritised in the built environment, using queer theory to offer valuable frameworks for design that go beyond the binary of hetero-normativity and cis-normativity to an inherently human-centric place.”
Matthew’s research looks to translate queer theory to architectural practice, expanding on this emerging field to present how the built environment can be a tool for social change. In understanding how queerness manifests in the built form, we can start to formulate a prospective architectural future, asking: What value does a queer approach have for our industry?
Understanding queer architecture informs the future of architecture in many ways, from small-scale domesticities to understanding the queer histories of entire cities. Fundamentally, understanding queer architecture is understanding the relationship between [queer] people and space. This lesson transcends sexuality and gender, having implications to people of all races, religions and abilities and their interactions with the built environment.
“I feel AWP strikes the perfect balance, cultivating safe spaces for the queer architecture community and allies to gather and celebrate with each other.”
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