Webinar • Queer Spaces x Queer Leadership

Queer spaces and the profound forms of inclusion they create are entwined with the professions of the built environment in intriguing and unexpected ways.

with Adam Nathaniel Furman

Artist & designer (& author), Creative Director of Atelier ANF. Pleasure & sensuality, craft & consideration, Hon (RIBA)

This keynote unpacks and broadens the concept of Queer Spaces from Queer-oriented nightlife venues to a whole plethora of urban and architectural scenarios as well as interrogating the topic through the lens of a career spent attempting to address queerness within the world of design and public space procurement.

It will suggest that Queer spaces are both about how people relate to themselves and each other, as well as the look and feel of the multitude of physical locations in which queer life happens which are often shaped by design professions, but which are just as often not.

Attendees will develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for Queer communities, and see the impact of Queer leadership and creativity within the profession and public spaces. Designers will have takeaways they can apply as they design any space that helps their designs be considerate of / inclusive for Queer folks.

* The term Queer is used with the intention of being inclusive of all 2SLGTBQIA+ persons and related communities.

Adam Nathaniel Furman

Artist & designer (& author), Creative Director of Atelier ANF. Pleasure & sensuality, craft & consideration, Hon (RIBA)

Vibrant hues and soft shapes define Adam’s imaginative world. An artist and designer based in London, Furman creates elegant, welcoming spaces that encourage free expression and creative wonder. Their work plays with genres, themes, cultural references, and materiality to craft immersive experiences rooted in history and pleasure.

Furman's spaces reject sharp edges and judgments, aiming instead to provide safe havens where people can escape and feel free. Through their mastery of colour, form and quality craftsmanship, people are invited into gentle, non-conformist worlds that spark the imagination. There are no rules in this universe - only carefree self-expression and a sensual celebration of the human spirit.

Trained in architecture, Furman now works across diverse scales and disciplines, from painting, videos and prints, to large public artworks, furniture, interiors, and beyond. Their vibrant aesthetic combines diverse influences into a distinctive visual language that is singular and very much their own. Exhibited and collected internationally, Furman's work delights in community, inclusivity, and the transforming power of spaces that provide joy, inspiration, and the permission to be purely oneself.

Adam's work has been exhibited all over the world, and is held in the collections of the Design Museum (London), the Sir John Soane’s Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Museum (of Norway), the Abet Museum, and the Architectural Association. They are also co-editor of Queer Spaces: An Atlas of LGBTQ+ Places and Stories published by the RIBA.

Pride Talks 2024 by Framework Leadership

This presentation is the Leadership Keynote of Pride Talks 2024, Framework Leadership's education and employee engagement program for professions of the built environment in support fo Queer inclusion, representation and leadership. While tickets for this presentation are for individual attendees, organizations can also bring in an internal talk to their employees.

See Internal Pride Talk Options >>