space of the week: Kyle Bella
each week queerchitectures will spotlight the spaces, places, visual documentation and histories of an individual(s).
where was the first place you lived in?
i was born in Wisconsin and i grew up there for the majority of my life
how do you occupy queer space?
that is sort of the intention of my project, Queer Embraces.
i don’t really know yet. i don’t want to get too far into the project early on.
ask me in a month and i’ll get back to you.
what would be an ideal living space for you?
an apartment maybe?
…i’m really not prepared to answer this question.
do you have any requirements for a space?
i think as long as it’s moderately comfortable-
i’m not really able to be that picky.
as long as i’m in a neighborhood that i feel safe in too.
i’ve lived in a lot of cities.
what would be the qualities of a city that you would live in?
most important is public transportation- number 1.
number 2 is coffee shops! seriously- it has to be a city that has good coffee otherwise it wouldn’t be worth it.
but the first one is definitely- i mean i wouldn’t live in Los Angeles because it doesn’t have a very good public transportation system.
did you grow up in a suburban area?
it was a decent size city; i live in cities now.
that is the sort of lifestyle i want to have; there is something in terms of accessibility that happens in the city that doesn’t happen in the suburbs.
do you have any constants in your living spaces?
i’ve largely gotten rid of most things. i guess books- that’s about it.
but yeah, they always go with me even if they’re a pain to ship.
they are.
what are some structures or buildings that you are drawn to?
what i don’t like- let’s start there. this whole ugly 90’s skyscraper architecture in Portland and in Seattle. it’s all so ugly…all glass, not very cool.
i think what makes buildings exciting is how long they’ve lasted.
if there is some sort of enduring building in the city, say a landmark or monument it’s not necessarily the structure itself but the relationship that people have to a particular structure or building that is particularly interesting.
i mean i think the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the examples, outside of the Empire State Building (and maybe a few other buildings) that define an identify of a region.
-and then there’s the interiors of the buildings since they often get redone-
modernized.
modernized, in some ways.
i’m not necessarily interested in flashy buildings.
have you ever felt at ease in a space belonging to a friend, or a friend of a friend’s?
i haven’t felt comfortable in any of my friends places.
how about a public space?
Dolores Park.
what kind of colors do you like?
you know i like a lot of colors.
yes i do.
what was your last living space like?
i didn’t have a lot of furniture.
so it was sparse?
yeah, it was sparse.
as far as the distance between where you lived and the places you liked or needed to go to- how far would they be?
the last place I lived in was within 15 minutes of everything i needed.
where did you live last?
San Francisco.
what neighborhood?
technically it was the Mission. it was central to everything.
how would you characterize people there?
i don’t know. there’s not a lot of public interaction. generally, people are friendly. it’s a mixed neighborhood. you know, there’s some young people, some families that are working professional jobs, lots of Hispanic people, people from Central America. it’s pretty mixed.
how would you compare this space to the last place you lived?
there were no similarities at all whatsoever.
do you spend time more in the space you have your things in or outside of it?
i try to be inside or outside.
i try to make a balance.
Kyle Bella has been traveling for the past couple of months working on Queer Embraces, a cross-genre LGBTQ text that explores the role of ‘home’ in understanding what it means to embrace (and live) a queer life.
photos taken and used with permission by Kyle Bella.
