This exhibition responds to the LGBT+ History Month 2025 theme of ‘activism and social change’ through architecture and place-making. RIBA invited architecture students from across the UK to submit their own work relating to LGBTQ+ history.
18 February to 10 April 2025
RIBA Library - 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD
Open Monday to Thursday, 11am to 5pm (Tuesday, 12pm to 7pm)
In collaboration with Gem Barton, chair of the Queer Educators in Architecture Network (QuEAN), and Architecture LGBT+ Academic Champions Network, the Royal Institute of British Architects is pleased to showcase RIBA Student Member submissions of works that address activism and social change through an architectural lens focusing on the LGBTQ+ community.
Projects featured:
- Alastair Walker – Moments of Resilience: Sculpting Queer Narratives in Flux
- Clarisse Hood – The Peter Tatchell Foundation Centre, Manchester
- Eve Isherwood – Queer[ing] Space
- Georgie Grantham – Radical Reuse: Reimaging the Joiners Arms
- Hannah Gibson - The Peter Tatchell Foundation Centre, Manchester
- Hatty Allen – Bedside tales
- Jamie Baker – St. Ann’s Court
- Joelle Warsono - The Peter Tatchell Foundation Centre, Manchester
- Josh Chambers, Lilly Andrews, Georgia Bills and Hirad mohebi – The Royal Vauxhall Tavern
- Kaylem Alavi - London's contemporary queer nightlife
- Lily Clarke – The Feminist Factory of Pride
- M.D. Michaels - Colonial Legacies and Marginalised Communities in Tangerian Literature, Morocco
- Max Cooper-Clark – Pits and Pansies
- Oliver Simpson – Towards a Transgender Architecture
- Rachel Griffiths – The Hub, Braunstone Gate, Leicester
“LGBT+ History Month in the UK takes place every February. LGBT+ History Month aims to recognise and celebrate all the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people who have contributed to society and to history, and to highlight relevant and important events and issues. Just as with Black History Month (October in the UK, February elsewhere), Women’s History Month (March), or other such heritage months, LGBT History Month seeks to call attention to an often overlooked group of people.
RIBA serves not only it’s members but also society to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities, and a sustainable environment. Inclusion is at the heart of this. Understanding all types of people who turn empty spaces and buildings into homes and communities takes architecture to a new level.”
- Kirk B (He/Him/They/Them) RIBA LGBTQ+ Community Chair
Please note: on occasion 66 Portland Place may be closed to the public. Find our full opening times and plan your journey.
For this exhibition, we have chosen to use the word queer as an inclusive term to refer to those who fall outside of cisgender or heterosexual identities—not as a derogatory term. This language was chosen for its overarching definition of expression after consulting with our internal LGBTQ+ group, and in line with the language used by the exhibition content creators. The LGBTQ+ community—by definition—encompasses a diverse range of identities and experiences.
Interact
Follow/tag us (@riba) on Instagram and share your own ideas for using architecture to create inclusive LGBTQ+ spaces.
RIBA on Instagram: @Riba
Location tag: Royal Institute of British Architects
(66 Portland Place)
Hashtag: #Herequeerandeverywhere
