HyperSext City

Nicole Kalms (Designer), Gene Bawden (Designer), Jess Berry (Designer), Gill Matthewson (Designer), Timothy Moore (Designer), Isabella Webb (Designer)

Research output: Non-textual formDesign / ArchitectureResearch

Abstract

Research Background
HyperSext City investigated the conditions of urban spatial inequity that limit the participation of women, girls and LBGTQI+ identities in our cities due to fear of violence, harassment and assault. The project sought to generate data based on lived experience and to make that data visible, contextualised, accessible and impactful. Data and statistics on gendered harassment is often overlooked, hidden from public view or presented in a way that dislocates the reader from empathising or taking responsibility.

Research Contribution
HyperSext City was an immersive exhibition, series of videos, and interactive website first shown at Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney. The exhibition brought together a vast array of global data sources to question and make visible and visceral the prevalence of gender-based violence in our cities. Striking floor to ceiling info-graphics immersed audiences in data and statistics with which they could identify. Viewers were invited to contribute to the research collection via a simple, user-friendly web interface, helping to create a unique repository of data regarding gender injustice and its relationship to urban development. The video series made powerful connections between the data walls’ hypergraphics, the repository and the lived experiences of women and members of LGBTIQ+ communities, positioning them as important consultants on urban development.

Research Significance
HyperSext City was the Gold Winner for Communication, Branding and Identity in the 2021 Good Design Awards. The work won the Interact category of the 2021 Designer Institute of Australia Awards and was awarded a Distinction in Spatial/Exhibition Design by the Australian Graphic Design Association. The work featured in a number of media outlets including Yellowtrace, Wallpaper, Vogue Living and received a substantial profile in The Australian newspaper's monthly magazine Wish. The exhibition was restaged in Perth as part of Fremantle Design Week 2022. A Gender Justice Workshop aimed at architects, urban designers, planners, local government, and anyone involved in city making accompanied each exhibition.



Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationSydney, NSW, Australia
PublisherTin Sheds Gallery, The University of Sydney
Sizedimensions variable
Publication statusPublished - 2021
EventHyperSext City - Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Duration: 4 Mar 20219 Apr 2021
https://www.sydney.edu.au/architecture/about/tin-sheds-gallery/past-exhibitions/hypersext-city.html
  • Hypersext City

    Kalms, N. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Bawden, G. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Berry, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Matthewson, G. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Moore, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Webb, I. (Chief Investigator (CI))

    4/03/219/04/21

    Project: Research

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