iykyk
iykyk proposes alternative medical spaces which respond to the social issue of misdiagnosis in people using gynaecological services through the spatial embodiment of current internet linguistic development. Through the memetic use of traditional saddlery techniques, the project blends forms found in the unchanged world of gyno-medical diagnosis, affected organs and horse racing. It draws from ‘algospeak’, a coded online language, as design methodology and translates it into spatial qualities.
The project’s materiality is rooted in the exploration of leatherwork. This responds to my own background and practice as a leatherworker. Its organic qualities, and tactile responsive nature, contrast the current medical space materials which are used. Current designs for medical spaces reflect the requirements which have arisen from medical research. If women have been almost completely left out of these studies, then why should we assume that the design choices made are suitable for all?
Current medical spaces centre on the historical prioritisation of clinical function over human experience. Instead this project speculates a new typology of care intended for intuitive use rather than specific functions. Today’s hospitals are designed for reductionist function; In striving for maximum functional efficiency, spatial layouts often reduce patients to “targets of repair” which fragment the body.
Through my knowledge of leatherwork and research into racehorse saddlery and equipment, I studied the various pattern forms used. Visually, I would look out for overlap between the two subjects. Early experiments include the Thyroid gland explored at the scale of 4:1. Techniques presented in online culture are incorporated to generate a spatial response that is ambiguous and coded. Therefore, the aesthetic and techniques found in horse racing are utilised throughout. The reason for horse racing becoming the ‘Trojan horse’ decoy for the project is reflective of where we are today with female misdiagnosis, in particularly its relationship to online culture. We still see shame and judgement, in the form of algorithmic surveillance. Parallels are drawn between self-diagnosis and gambling: both involve acting on uncertain information and satisfying through feelings of almost winning and the mental state of rolling the dice. Here, algospeak and decoy subjects become tools for indirect communication. The project draws on visual similarities between existing medical aesthetics and horse racing in a memetic way.
MA Architecture thesis project at RCA, nominated for the MA Architecture Head of Programme Award.
