Sinister in Situ: Gendered Abjection in the Architectural In-Between

PDF of Thesis

Master of Architecture Thesis, 2020
Abstract

This thesis explores women’s experiences of fear in architecture’s liminal spaces through the lens of Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection. Kristeva describes abjection as an emotional response encompassing dread and repulsion that one experiences when encountering imagery, objects, or situations that portend possible bodily harm or death. I theorize that “abject space” is an architectural phenomenon arising from the synthesis of aesthetic, conceptual, and physical characteristics that, together with sociological factors, compose sinister experiences that are most often gendered.

To understand this spatial phenomenon it is critical to examine the alleys, stairwells, tunnels, and parking garages that are not only stereotyped in horror films, but that are also widely identified with violent assault by women (Day 1999, Valentine 1990). The experiences of fear occurring within these transitory zones are associated with innate sensory responses, sociological and psychological constructs, and aesthetic qualities, and a review of scholarship in these fields allowed me to determine key features impacting perceptions of dread. These traits often include sub-optimal spatial dimensions (e.g., long, narrow, easily blocked, with limited visible exits and concealed niches), poor lighting, material decay and unidentifiable staining, low and infrequent occupancy, and physical evidence signaling previous use of the space for illicit activities. Visual signals trigger a primordial sense of self-preservation, which in turn taps into perceptions of danger (e.g., who and what one has been socialized to fear, specific knowledge of local crime, true and fictive accounts of violence, etc.) and ignites the narrative of fear that many conjure when attempting to determine the dangers that may lie in wait.

This research directly impacted the outcome of the final visual design, which fuses these qualities with the physical realities of uncomfortable architectural spaces to create a simulation of gendered abjection. This filmic simulation layers footage captured from first-person experiences in several locations, endoscopic recordings of exaggerated aesthetics inside an architectural model, and horror film footage depicting women’s hypervigilant navigation of space, to represent the narrative of fear that haunts the mind of one woman traversing the architectural in-between.

PDF of Thesis Project, lightly edited in 2023 for clarity.