Voyeurism: Deriving Sexual Gratification Through Architecture

Abstract

mu·se·um (myōō-zē’əm) n. A building, place, or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, or artistic value. val·ue (vāl’yōō) n. An amount, as of goods, services, or money, considered to be a fair and suitable equivalent for something else; a fair price or return; Monetary or material worth; Worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor; utility or merit. tr.v. val·ued, val·u·ing, val·ues To determine or estimate the worth or value of; appraise; To regard highly; To rate according to relative estimate of worth or desirability; To assign a value to. voy·eur (voi-yûr’) n. A person who derives sexual gratification from observing the naked bodies or sexual acts of others, especially from a secret vantage point. An obsessive observer of sordid or sensational subjects. A museum typically houses some representation of a culture. A natural progression from that is for it to house an actual culture in itself. An ant farm of sorts, a museum could become a way to observe people just as they are, right now, and to learn from them in a much unique way. Creating a museum about people in itself is not an extremely radical idea. Creating one about voyeurism, sexual desires, stalking and exhibitionism, however, is a way to explore what causes people to behave in such inappropriate ways toward one another. People crave gossip, images, audio of others. Reality TV is the current fad, and tabloids cover the checkout aisle of the grocery store. Why are we so fixated on watching other humans? Why don’t we want them to see us doing so? What would happen if we could no longer carry out this activity? What would happen if we were forced to? These questions will be explored in this thesis through the design of a museum.