Today, I want to be a man. I want to be me as a man.

Today, I want to be a female. I want to be me as a female.

Today, I don’t want to be seen as male or female. I want to be judged on the merits of my ideas

We propose two ideas for our future:

The first is an identity shield. This would conceal gender, race, personal style and voice. It would consist of a cocoon like outer shell and voice modulator. The wearer’s physical form and gender would be completely obfuscated so that the only information other people have about them is their words. These could, perhaps, be mandatory for job interviews, or as school uniforms.

In this future you can choose which gender to be, how to dress, or whether or not to identify as either. Our physical appearance is how we are judged first, and there is currently no way to undermine this. In the identity neutral suit, ideas are the only things that show through.

The second is a gender reassignment suit. This will be custom made for the individual. Mine will bind my breasts and hips, expand my shoulders, raise me 6 inches higher, lower my voice, and provide me with a simulation of functional male anatomy. Meaning that in my man suit, I can use the men’s room.

We are inspired by 70s science fiction authors like Samuel Delany, Philip K. Dick, and Isaac Asimov. We are inspired by the cyberpunk aesthetic of Transmetropolitan. Especially Delany’s Triton, in which identity reassignment surgery is an outpatient procedure. Any person can have their physical presence, and sexual preference totally remodeled – a five foot tall Caucasian female can become a six foot tall African man. The idea of fashion as identity, as performance, as self imposed definition of self is the most interesting thing about getting dressed. And carrying this to the extreme would be an absolute super power. To be able to wear a race or gender like a pair of pants. Today, I’m feeling like a lady in a short skirt. Doing so would allow people to escape the limitations of their physical form, allow them to reinvent themselves daily. In our future, identities are mutable, and physical forms assume a less important roll in defining the self.

In our future, gender concealment suits might be mandatory in the workplace, which causes increased creativity in social dress. Choosing to dress as a man, a woman, a hybrid. Hypersexualized, absurd prosthetics, creams that grow temporary facial or body hair, creams that remove hair just as easily.

It’s a multipurpose space, as it’s one of the only places in the library where you’re allowed to make a fair amount of noise, and, the only place where food is allowed, and provided.

As you enter the room from the upstairs, there is a large black couch on the right, and a fairly active walkway between the entrance and the room on opposite it. The room is packed with round tables surrounded by a jumble of armed plastic chairs. There are also several taller tables with high stools. The room is so crowded that it’s difficult to walk through it. It smells like food. It is loud. There is a small round room, enterable only from this area, with vending machines and microwaves. There is a flat screen television on one of the walls.

As I observed and photographed the space, I noticed several people using the black couch and walkway area to make telephone calls. A couple were watching the news on the television. Two tables were occupied by groups of students working on projects. The rest of the people in the room were eating while watching television on their computers, or studying and eating.

Observed uses:

Group/loud study

food/eating

vending machines/microwave

break from studying

watching tv (on laptop or on wall)

phone calls

Needs:

The space must be conducive to group work.

It must allow for people who want to work, sit, or eat alone.

It must fit a lot of people, as it is a space in high demand.

It must be comfortable, but not too inviting. No one should park themselves there to study for 10 hours. No one should come there to nap.

It must be easily cleaned.

It should not be intimidating to navigate.

I photographed this space and drew a sketch of a redesign before reading the chair article, and strangely enough, the big thing I changed, was removing the chairs and replacing them with benches.

I think the round tables work well for group work, but the chairs make the space unwieldy. I imagine differently sized round tables with round benches attached. If a member joined a group already at work, they would not need to drag over a chair, they could just squish in.

I imagine a counter across the back of the room, and along the right side. Also with bench attached. People on their own, or in pairs, could find a space for themselves without having to squeeze into a round table with an existing group.

Benches are appealing because they would reduce clutter in the room, allow more people to use it, and discourage long term studiers (I think). Even if there were room in this space, I would seek out a chair with a back if searching for space to hole up. A bench feels like more of a temporary seating option.

The couch in the room seemed strange, at first, but I think it works well as a weigh station. The area between the existing couch and the tables is a high traffic area. People came out of the quiet computer room, or quiet study rooms surrounding the eating room to make phone calls on the couch, or wait for friends. It’s bizarrely right angled, which makes it unappealing as a nap spot. I’d keep the big black couch, and maybe tilt the seat forward even more.