Meghan Vincenten

Advisor: Brian T. Rex

The image features a collage of abstract, geometric shapes overlaid on architectural blueprints, with winding black lines suggesting pathways. It is paired with a text discussing Meghan Vincenten's thesis, "Queering Winnipeg: Architectural Alternatives," exploring LGBTQ+ spaces in the city.
The image is a stylized map of downtown Winnipeg, highlighting "Queer Landmarks" from the 1880s to the 2000s. Purple and gold stars mark significant sites, with gold stars indicating lesbian spaces.
A map of Winnipeg showcasing the downtown area as a historic queer hot spot from the 1880s through to the 2000s, with bars, community centres, and everything in between. This includes the first lesbian space in Winnipeg, Ms. Purdy’s, one of the longest-running lesbian bars in Canada.
The image is a collage featuring photographs and memorabilia related to local queer public spaces in Winnipeg. It highlights the significance of these spaces with buttons, pins, and a caption emphasizing the legacy of queer community spaces.
A collection of historic queer spaces in Winnipeg, displayed as polaroids with some general information about each location written on them. By gathering a variety of local queer spaces, commonalities start to appear, as well as the variety of spaces that can exist to support the community.

Photos courtesy of the Manitoba Gay and Lesbian Archives by the University of Manitoba Libraries.
The image is a collage combining photographs, text, and architectural diagrams, highlighting the story of two elderly women, Jan and Margot. It includes detailed floor plans, side elevation, and cross-section diagrams of their house.
A beginning study of what was at first presumed to be a queer domestic queer space but instead revealed a beautiful story about feminine friendships. This process lays out a format to scan local queer domestic spaces and catalogue them through 3D scans as shown to provide a personal view into one’s home and their ‘other’/queer way of living.

Queering Winnipeg: Architectural Alternatives

What does queer space look like?  How does queerness manifest in design?  This thesis will investigate the architectural history and potential of how queer theory and experience impacts design to create tangible safe spaces for the 2SLGBTQ+ community within Winnipeg.  Addressing impulses to define queer architecture, this research aims to create a queer typology with design principles that preserve and materialize Winnipeg’s queer heritage.

Focusing on Winnipeg’s historic and present queer neighbourhoods, particularly Wolseley and downtown, this research examine how queerness influences spatial qualities, ranging in scale from private dwellings to community gathering spaces.  The process will include mapping both historic and current queer spaces.  Case studies of local residences and social venues which will be examined through 3D modelling, drawing, and photographing, to create an inventory of queer spaces within Winnipeg that display spatial characteristics of queerness.  Engaging with the community through organizations like the Rainbow Resource Centre will be included to gain insight on personal opinions of local queer spaces.  With these various methods, a structure is established to explore the variety of queer experiences in Winnipeg and test how it can manifest in future queer spaces. 

On January 19, 2023, in an article for The Uniter, Shawna Dempsey, Winnipeg lesbian performance artist, notes that “many cities, including Winnipeg, are losing queer spaces like bars and bookstores.”  As queer spaces are fading, this creates an opening for safe and inclusive places woven into the fabric of the city.  This thesis situates itself within this context, displaying the importance of queer spaces that preserve culture and foster community engagement.  Winnipeg’s history and activism provides a foundation to explore this potential queer ethos of design, demonstrating the impact of queer life on architecture.  By understanding and studying queer space, new definitions of architecture can appear through the lens of queer theory and experience, strengthening the queer community and its connection to its history, ultimately creating a strong sense of pride and belonging.