By Lucas Flint (B.Arch candidate) | This essay examines the reemergence of queer spaces in Charlotte after the nadir of queer culture in the 1970s and the AIDS scare of the 1980s. It compares the spatial typologies and lighting designs of two local venues–The Scorpio and Cathode Azure–to substantiate the multiple approaches of such contemporary spaces.   Queer space is essential to the development of cities, although much of the evidence supporting this claim has only been researched in the past century. As queers achieved greater liberty to create a public identity in the United States after the Stonewall Riots1, the queer community wielded a greater capacity to establish its own place in society. There was no interest in creating new spaces or moving en masse to the suburbs, but rather a revitalization of the city occurred; historically, the city has been the primary place that the queer community had visibly thrived. Queer space was initially defined as the intimate space resulting from the secret rendezvous between partners, better known as cruising. This space is ephemeral, disappearing as spontaneously …