Architectural standards based around a conceptualized average human body enforce the cultural stigma surrounding bodies that are far from that average; can a built environment generated from body variation promote acceptance and celebration of these bodies?  Non-average bodies disrupt the expected nature of social interaction.  People are both attracted to and repelled by the unusual, and differences spark staring, a type of social interaction that contributes to the prejudice faced by some bodies but also holds the potential for cultural change.  My graduate school thesis project aimed to focus this interactive attention on relationships between bodies and architecture generated from non-average bodies, thereby presenting an opportunity for positive perceptions of difference.



PennDesign, Thesis, Advisor: Annette Fierro, 2012