Placemakers as agents of change: queering institutional spaces through participatory placemaking

This study investigates placemaking as a “queering” practice inhistorically stigmatized urban areas, particularly former mental asy-lums, focusing on Pionta Park, now partly a university campus. Thisresearch employs the “urban bench” as a metaphor and vector forqueering public space, investigating the interplay between subjec-tive experiences and material urban landscapes, and emphasizingthe dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. Placemaking is seen asa transformative act that embraces fluid identities, diverse urbanexperiences, and new community forms. Through university-ledparticipatory action research, this study provides visual and narra-tive insights into urban spaces, positioning placemaking asa dynamic, ongoing “queering” process. It reimagines urban spacesto enhance pedestrian flow and proposes a critical pedagogicalapproach for universities to cultivate queer futures within theircommunities. This study emphasizes how “queering” challengesrigid institutional structures, reshapes place perceptions, and rede-fines public space use.