Body therapy and the built environment

Abstract

In trying to decide whether theory and practice should be amalgamated, a lot of people fail to account for the fact that this debate is the luxury of those mainly unaffected by the factors outside of architecture that define its social structure. Critical theory as it pertains to feminism is necessary because of the disparity of violence faced by women in society both historically and currently; Many of these sites of violence are mundane until a person is forced to confront it consciously after an assault. This brings up the question of what architecture can do to prevent such assault and how an architecture or typology may start to form for the rehabilitation of survivors. Through addressing the failures of the current typologies for sexual assault preventative design, this thesis aimed to uncover opportunities for modifying already-existing architectural styles to have safer qualities for assault prevention. It also aimed to find ways to educate the public in hopes that it could evolve the community past sexual shame and lessen sex related crimes. I believe that by exploration and consideration of the connections between design and sexual safety, we may be able to create a more open conversation about sexual violence and a safer community