queer community from the mid 19th century on. I have used the scrolling acanthus as a matrix for how it co-ordinates as a pattern. Referencing Graeco-Roman history is also really important for the gay male community: there was this idea of hiding in plain sight by justifying your interest in sophisticated Graeco- Roman history. Demonstrating a love of classicism was effectively a way of allowing yourself to be gay and these motifs became very important for queer culture, from the 17th century to mid 19th.’ For Furman, who spent the late 1980s/ early 1990s as a budding architect in the then predominantly male, chauvinistic British architecture scene, working with the Kew
Gardens curatorial team on this project was a breakthrough moment. ‘For most of my career I’ve absolutely hidden the queer parts of my work. And then people haven’t been interested in it. So to have a team of really knowledgeable people who know about the subject from their own perspective approach me and then be able to have really in-depth conversations… it’s not something I’ve really experienced before apart from when I was doing the NGV (National Galleries of Victoria, 2020 Triennial) installation in Melbourne. It was just so nice.’ With the Kew commission, Furman says:
‘Te silk fabric and the patterns are an enjoyable twist on how people tend to think about
Victorian decorative culture as old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy, whereas for me, it’s deeply radical in terms of sexual liberation politics. Te domestic, in the 19th century, was a site of great tension and anxiety – as was the decorative.’ Flamboyance in texture and hue was ‘regarded as… undermining the masculine Spartan creed of the British male that was integral to going out and running the empire. It was seen as feminine and queer. Te rhetoric of justification to sideline anything seen as non-masculine was never just against queers, or just against women, it was always against both.’* In the light of Furman’s insights, the
preponderance of boring, colourless/bronze male statuary (by male sculptors) adorning
CASE STUDY A PARK FOR TEENAGE GIRLS
Waterden Green Space is set to be a radical re-imagining of recreational public space in the emerging East Wick neighbourhood within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, designed to be safe and appealing primarily to teenage girls. As part of London Legacy Development Corporation’s (LLDC) commitment to gender-inclusive public spaces, Studio Gil were appointed as lead consultants. Along with the charity Make Space for Girls, they have steered workshops with local residents aged 12-19 and representatives from east London’s Elevate Youth Voice collective, to ensure that the design meets all their criteria for flexibility, inclusivity and female-centred design. A report and methodology has been published and used to inform the brief. The LLDC’s co-clienting approach, which integrates members of the engagement group into the core client team, ensures that these youth representatives are present at all key decision-making moments. Care has also been taken to ensure the various design teams include members of the global majority, which includes Studio Gil, Black Females in Architecture (engagement leads), Untitled Practice (landscape architects), Simple Works (structural
engineers) and Light Follows Behaviour (lighting designers). As for the brief, the instruction is
for the design to comprise four zones or ‘pods’ that allow for a number of different teen-focused activities. There should be a mixture of covered and open-air spaces to allow for activities in bad weather. Lighting and materials have been chosen to make women feel safe and welcome. Pedro Gil, founder and director of Studio Gil, says: ‘Psychology is part of it. Inclusivity is another. Secure by design is something else. We’re playing with all these different aspects.’ Gil hopes the final designs will accommodate both the younger girls’ desire to inspire play and the older girls’ requirement for varied social spaces. Gil also hopes to make the space inter-generational – relatives, friends and family should feel equally welcome. ‘We as a practice are also very interested in inter-generational play – it shouldn’t just be for young people or children. To some cultures around the world play is a very valued commodity.’
Client LLDC
Design teams Studio Gil Black Females in Architecture, Untitled Practice, Simple Works and Light Follows Behaviour
Delivery 2025
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