Introduction

This chapter makes connections between gender and sexuality within the disciplines of architecture and urban design through interrogating spaces, pedagogies, people, and practices that challenge heteronormativity-the world view that heterosexuality is the norm, including how it organises gender and sexuality. To view the application of non-heteronormative thinking to how we understand and design for cities, an overview of its deployment in architecture and urban design through the lens of sexuality, and in particular, the concept of queer space over time, is needed. The study of sexuality within architecture and urban design rose to prominence in the 1990s with publications that made vital connections between gender identity, sexuality, and the design of the built environment. Vallerand observes a shift in design pedagogy, particularly in wealthy universities in the anglosphere, that moves beyond considering the designing of spaces of self-identification, or introducing more diverse voices.