Buser, Sebastian Jack;
(2025)
Developing a Transpoetic Architectural History and Theory of WANC (1998-2011) through Site-Visitations.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This research responds to archival silences within London’s LGBTQ+ histories by producing a history of the Women’s Anarchist Nuisance Café (WANC) – a DIY, trans-inclusive, queer feminist space, which took place in London from 1998–2011. While existing research explores trans experiences in space (Nash 2010) and design (Crawford 2010), there is a scarcity of research on trans-inclusive DIY community spaces. This research addresses the paucity of trans approaches to the discipline of architectural history, by asking which methods are needed to practice a trans-architectural history and theory. It proposes that these can be developed through the concepts of transing (Stryker et al 2008), poesis (Stryker 2008), autopoiesis (Braidotti 2011, Simpkins 2017), affect (Massumi 2002, Ahmed 2014) and the ‘attunement’ (Massumi 2015) that occurs between the researcher’s own body and the spaces and people of WANC. Situating trans-architectural history at the intersection of trans studies, feminist philosophy and architecture, the thesis constructs a transpoetic framework and a new ‘site-visitation’ method for practicing trans architectural history and theory. Site-visitations merge archiving and embodiment to generate subjective and collective knowledge, engaging the researcher's body, archives and affective forms of writing. The research developed through three iterative phases: phase one constructed a WANC archive through new primary evidence (oral histories, site-visits, and collection of ephemera); phase two explored the relation of the archive to embodied research and to theoretical concepts, producing reflexive writing and creative-critical texts to enact a transpoetic architectural history of WANC; and phase three synthesised these processes to provide a new methodological framework through which trans architectural history and theory can be practiced. This thesis presents these phases interchangeably through four WANC ‘site-visitations’, demonstrating how site-visitation methods continuously change in practice and generate new insights.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Developing a Transpoetic Architectural History and Theory of WANC (1998-2011) through Site-Visitations |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | transpoesis, site-visitation, WANC, transing, trans architectural history and theory, transpoetic architectural history and theory, creative-critical writing, Womens Anarchist Nuisance Cafe, affect, attunement |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10204183 |
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