New York University and the Center for Architecture will present “Outing the Water Closet: Sex, Gender, and the Public Toilet” on Sat., Nov. 3, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Center for Architecture (536 LaGuardia Place, betw. West 3rd and Bleecker Sts.). Subway Lines: A, B, C, D, E, F, V (West 4th St.) The conference, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) New York Chapter. For a complete schedule of speakers and presentations, go to:
http://sca.as.nyu.edu/object/scaeventsfall_2007.html
The event brings together scholars of sex and gender with leading design professionals and activists to consider, critique, and reconstruct the public rest room. For more information, call the Center for Architecture at 212.683.0023. RSVP to Nicole DeRise at nicole.derise@nyu.edu.
The day will include a pre-screening of the film “Q2P” (11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.). Set in Mumbai, the work observes who has access to toilets and who doesn’t. It shows how gender, power, and the need to “go” make up public space and bodily well-being. A question-and-answer session with the director, Paromita Vohra, will follow the screening.
Other event speakers include the following: Beatriz Colomina, professor of history and theory at Princeton University’s School of Architecture; Barbara Penner, director of architectural studies, University College London; Deborah Taylor, chief sustainability officer, New York City Department of Buildings; Matthew Sapolin, executive director of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities; Bronwen Pardes, sexual health educator, HIV counselor, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital; David J. Lewis, partner, LTL Architects; Charles McKinney, chief of design, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation; Lori Pavese Mazor, associate vice president for planning and design, NYU; and Harvey Molotch, professor, Departments of Social and Cultural Analysis and Sociology, NYU.