Danton Derksen

Re-Framing the Closet: Coming Out and Performing Architectural Space

As a queer person, the concept of “coming out of the closet,” holds so much power over our individual stories and yet, the evidence of these stories has been largely left out of the built environment. My broad research interest lies in looking at how we can intertwine the narratives of the queer community within the built environment. Within that context, this thesis aims to take a critical and imaginative look into the significance of the closet throughout history as well as the origins and evolution of the expression, "coming out of the closet." My own transformative experiences as a queer individual will serve as the driving force behind this exploration.

Reflecting on my own journey and those of many others, I find that the closet has played a complex role in shaping our identities. It's not just a place of concealment but also a space of safety, fear, a space where we constantly rewrite ourselves for others, and a space where we (hopefully) discover and embrace our identity. Looking at the closet as a performative space highlights how many of us spent our time in the closet performing the heteronormative character that we felt society expected us to be. For me, this space has blurred some of the lines between performing and expressing identity. How can we bring the stories of the queer community into (and out of) the very spaces that have played such a profound and complex role in our lives?

To understand the physical and metaphorical space of the closet better, it may also be important to ask, "what would it mean for the world to come into the closet?" This provocative reversal may help to reimagine the possibilities. What if society could fully understand and embrace our experiences on our own terms? What if our stories could reshape the built environment, making it more inclusive and representative of our diverse experiences?