Queer Identity, Housing, and Rethinking the Home
Domestic space can be understood as the space that differentiates the public from private, facilitating familial and personal relationships - the home. As housing needs have evolved with the metropolitan city, a spectrum of housing typologies have emerged to serve various communities. However, these models often adhere to cis-heteronormative frameworks, reinforcing the nuclear family as the default structure of domestic life.
For many queer individuals, the concept of home is fluid and often transient. While the home can function as a space for affirmation and safety, it can also be an oppressive environment that compels individuals to seek alternative spaces that cater to their understanding of belonging and kinship.
This Pride Talk will explore how societal norms have shaped the design of domestic space, perpetuating a “one-size-fits-all” approach that aligns with traditional heteronormative family models. Using case studies designed for the queer community along the housing spectrum, we will examine how alternative housing models can challenge normative design strategies to reveal opportunities and possibilities for more inclusive and adaptive domestic spaces.
Learning Outcomes:
Understand how societal norms have shaped contemporary models of housing
Explore the fluidity of queerness in identity and belonging
Critique the limitations of traditional housing structures to illustrate how a diversity of housing typologies should also accommodate diverse identities and relationships
Explore alternative housing models that intersect with diverse identities
Reflect on how architects, designers and urbanists can create spaces that truly reflect diverse ways of living and being.
Availability: Online (anywhere); In-person (Toronto)
Quan Thai (he/him), OAA
Quan (he/him) is a licensed architect, educator, and Associate, Architecture at SvN Architects + Planners. He is also the inaugural Emerging Practitioner Teaching Fellow at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.
His practice and research are driven by the belief that design is a powerful agent for change. His work spans multiple scales from community and building design to interiors and objects, to bridging practice, academia, and community engagement. With over a decade of experience working in Toronto, Montreal, and New York City, he remains deeply involved in fostering inclusive and participatory design processes.
Quan is committed to amplifying underrepresented voices through teaching, advocacy, and community engagement. He designed and led the Ontario Place: Narrating Past, Present, and Potential (‘23) exhibition, bringing together students, academics, activists, and the public to explore Ontario Place’s role as a public asset. More recently, he has fostered collaborations with The 519 Space for Change and the Toronto Society of Architects’ Pride Initiative to organize various activities and workshops for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, leaders in the community, and architecture students to better understand the impacts of lived experience on design process and methodology. These workshops used mind mapping, co-design, and narrative storytelling to document and celebrate Toronto’s queer histories.
Quan remains actively engaged in the community as a volunteer lead and trainer for events at The 519, a tour guide for the Church-Wellesley Village with the Toronto Society of Architects, and a lecturer at various architecture and design schools, including Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Interior Design, the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto, and the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.