Lucy Nurnberg

In London in 2043, queer rights are in jeopardy. Since the 2020s, politicians in the UK and the US have played into the culture wars and rolled back LGBTQ+ rights under the guise of “protecting the children”. In the UK, the government introduced a new Section-28 style law that prohibits ‘LGBTQ+ propaganda to minors’, and has made it illegal for queer venues to be located within one mile of a school. In this regressive climate, queers need to stick together.

Enter the U-Haul Dyke Rescue Service, a practical crew who provide emergency aid to queers in need via a telephone hotline system. On the run from the law? Got a leaky sink than needs fixing? Looking for a lesbian party tonight? As the secret flyers say: Any time, any thing, give us a U-Call ☎️.

The U-Haul dykes provide their services from a fleet of repurposed electric vans, designed to meet any queer emergency. The largest in the fleet is the Getaway Van, which comes dispatched with five dyke-on-bike rescue operatives in the back. There's also the Pussy Wagon, a feline rescue shelter and meditative cat cafe, and smaller vans are available for handy repairs and house calls — from camping equipment loans to dyke drama mediation.

The newest addition is the secret mobile dyke bar: the last queer venue left in the city. To get around the punitive laws around queer space, the U-Haul crew have disguised their bar inside an ordinary-looking Luton van. Parked in a different quiet corner of the city each night, the mobile dyke bar can house up to fifteen guests within its walls. But on busier nights, it can go into super expanded mode: the side of the van flips down, the roof hatch opens up and a system of transforming modular furniture allows the bar to cater to an audience of hundreds.

Lucy Nurnberg is a designer from London working across interiors, graphic design, art direction, exhibitions and storytelling. She sees design as a way to imagine the world differently, combining the political with the playful, and plans to build the queer spaces of the future.

After completing her BA in Illustration at the University of Brighton, Lucy had a career in writing and journalism. She was the co-founding editor of Accent magazine, an independent publication that was dedicated to “lives lived outside the ordinary” and celebrated non-conformists of all strokes. The magazine was stocked everywhere from MoMA PS1 to the Tate Modern Bookshop, and hosted events, workshops and residencies in venues including Somerset House, Tate Britain, the Hoxton Holborn and Shoreditch House.

Lucy came to study Interior Design at the Royal College of Art so that she could develop a spatial practice and apply her love of subversive critical design to the built environment. This year, she joined the Futures platform, a programme that employs speculative design and worldbuilding to imagine tomorrow's interiors.