P004 → Blouse
Course: UG3: Death & Architecture, Fall 2022
Instructor: Keith Mitnick
Project selected for the 2023 Taubman College Student Show
“Why do I tell you how I feel, when you’re just looking down the blouse?”
Fueled by the misogyny and objectification faced by female identifying persons, Blouse aims to create a safe space of community and protection. Blouse is a site composed of an exhibition space, library, bath-house, and short-term women’s shelter. Blouse is a memorial site and new beginning to those affected by gender related violence.
With building forms ripping through topography, Blouse allows visitors access to both protected and exposed viewpoints. Visitors will understand the fear and exposure that women feel in a city.
Blouse plays with the idea of where one is “allowed” to walk. With raised trails ebbing and flowing– visitors must decide where they are able to travel to on this Ann Arbor located site.
Stemming from the song Blouse by the artist, Clairo, Blouse is titled with an inherently gendered word. Blouse seeks to reclaim the idea of femininity and add a strength and community aspect to it. Blouse is feminine and is a place to reclaim strength and to prevent further harm and death.