Gender and Architecture Research Papers (original) (raw)

Until recently, men agglutinate to themselves the art of design, build and write about architecture, since the great buildings of the oldest civilisations and the theoretical works as "De Architectura" (Pollio Vitruvius Marcus). Erudite... more

Until recently, men agglutinate to themselves the art of design, build and write about architecture, since the great buildings of the oldest civilisations and the theoretical works as "De Architectura" (Pollio Vitruvius Marcus). Erudite work and knowledge has followed a men discipline, through their lobbies, groups of builders, schools and publications. Behind a long Architecture History conceived and carried out by men, some of them, recognised architects, many women, away from leadership and career opportunities, had enormous infl uence in some of the most interesting spatial changes. Along with the visible male superiority, woman have had a subtle, but surprising role in the evolution of Western Architecture: from the Marquise de Rambouillet (17th century) and Madame Pompadour (18th century) in Paris; Catharine Beecher and Harriet Beecher-Stowe (19th century) in the United States to the more recent women connected to some recognised architects, as in the case of Lilly Reich, of Truus Schröder-Schräder or Eileen Gray. More recently their own activity, architects came to shake a male perpetually. This is the case of Lina Bo Bardi, Zaha Hadid, Kazuyo Sejima that present a varied work in scale, type and functionality. This paper presents some of these women and some of the most important innovations they brought into the world of architecture and space. Its intervention does not follow the same male indole, but introduce some interesting approach peculiarities. For example, interventions denote a tendency towards greater space concerns rather than formal issues or major concerns in comfort and wellbeing rather than rationality and aesthetics issues. Women's silent work in centuries of Architecture History, is worth to recognise and to highlight, specially the diff erences, since they clearly stand out from the mainstream architecture and had huge developments in day-today live that remain until the present.

In February 2011, Architect Barbie® was launched in New York, her appearance endorsed by the American Institute of Architects and advised upon by architectural historian Despina Stratigakos and architect Kelly Hayes McAlonie. The... more

In February 2011, Architect Barbie® was launched in New York, her appearance endorsed by the American Institute of Architects and advised upon by architectural historian Despina Stratigakos and architect Kelly Hayes McAlonie. The Institute also ran a Barbie Dream House competition for its architect members. Both Architect Barbie and the Dream House winning entry feature pink used in rather non-architectural but absolutely Barbie ways.
Dolls have always been used as part of fantasy play for children and there are multiple stories that might be fabricated for Barbie’s architectural career. If, as Judith Butler argues in Undoing Gender, 'Fantasy is part of the articulation of the possible, it moves us beyond what is merely actual and present into a realm of possibility,’ what becomes possible when Architect Barbie exists?
This paper seeks to investigate responses mainly from the profession to Architect Barbie® to question whether the fabulations created by the doll might effect change for women in architecture. Stratigakos argues strongly for Barbie’s relevance and importance as an agent for change. However, each online publication announcing her architect incarnation has generated lines of comments and arguments which suggest other possibilities. Drawing onButler’s work on fantasy, this paper asks whether Architect Barbie might fulfil ‘the critical promise of fantasy… to challenge the contingent limits of what will and will not be called reality.’

The Brion family sanctuary in San Vito di Altivole is arguably the best known of Carlo Scarpaʼs more than seventy projects for gardens and landscapes. This aspect of his work, largely overlooked in the literature, ranges from small... more

The Brion family sanctuary in San Vito di Altivole is arguably the best known of Carlo Scarpaʼs more than seventy projects for gardens and landscapes. This aspect of
his work, largely overlooked in the literature, ranges from small temporary installations to large-scale parks (Dodds 2000). Scarpa is better known for the many museums and exhibitions he designed wherein he carefully honed his ability to direct oneʼs vision through subtly manipulating the body of the visitor. In the design of the Brion sanctuary (1968-78) Scarpa combines the scopic and somatic dimensions of his architectural production, engaging visitors in his personal desire for landscapes and gardens. The circumstances of the Brion project are distinct among Scarpaʼs previous landscape and garden commissions. Unlike his garden for the Venice Biennale (1952), the temporary landscape for the Italia ʼ61 Exhibit in Turin (1961), and the gardens for the Fondazione Querini-Stampalia (1950-63) and the Museo di Castelvecchio (1957-64), the Brion project was privately funded. Moreover, Scarpa was unrestrained by the archeological, museological, and institutional programs that limited these earlier works. The Brion commission is further distinguished by its nominal programmatic requirements for a site that posed few if any spatial limitations beyond its L-shaped configuration. This is not to say that there was no preesistenze ambientali into which Scarpa intervened (Rogers 1958, 304). During a lecture in Madrid in the summer of 1978, Scarpa commented that he understood his work as being located inside a longstanding and deeply felt tradition.12 Scarpaʼs relation to the Venetian School of painting must be considered a key part of this tradition, an aspect of which is the representation of bodies as landscapes (Spengler 1926, 271) and landscapes as bodies (Wilde 1974). The key here is not so much the ancient and more generic association of nature as feminine, but rather the particularly Venetian tradition of the fleshy female anthropomorphizing of landscape (Clark 1976). Naomi Schor argues, “To focus on the detail … is to become aware … of its participation in a larger semantic network, bound on the one side by … ornament, with its traditional connotations of effeminacy and decadence, and on the other…. The detail …[therefore]… is gendered and doubly gendered as feminine.” The relation between the gendered and eroticized ground of Venetian painting and the physical ground of the Veneto, the Veneto as signifier and signified, is a key to Scarpaʼs understanding of landscape and garden, and the role that the body, particularly the female body, played in the gardens he designed.

The complexity of the relationship and interplay of social and architectural spaces raises question about the importance of a multidisciplinary approach. Sociology of architecture allows to trace the social representation within... more

The complexity of the relationship and interplay of social and architectural spaces raises question about the importance of a multidisciplinary approach. Sociology of architecture allows to trace the social representation within architectural space and, specially, it’s gender aspects. The basic gender categories which are masculinity and femininity reveal social collision in architectural field. One of the key fact, that gendered roles are closely related to hierarchical systems in architecture, which for the long time developed in conservative terms. This work is dedicated to historically conditioned gendered roles in architectural space.

One of the early projects of feminism was the uncovering of the work of women that had been erased from accepted history. Later projects have investigated the processes of erasure arguing that complex sociological and conceptual... more

One of the early projects of feminism was the uncovering of the work of women that had been erased from accepted history. Later projects have investigated the processes of erasure arguing that complex sociological and conceptual operations are at play. In architecture the work of Lilly Reich,
Charlotte Perriand, Marion Mahoney, Eileen Gray, etc have been “uncovered” and discussed particularly in regard to their association with some of the “great names” of twentieth century architecture. A recurrent theme within the stories as they have been presented is the portrayal of these women as victims of male ambition and bias in history texts. This
victimisation deserves close attention as it denies the women any other role and locks them within a closed and limited system. This paper investigates the victimisation process by looking closely at the case of Lilly Reich. Reich has been portrayed as the woman who supported a great man (Mies van
der Rohe) in his early years and was then abandoned by him when he emigrated to the USA, and subsequently erased systematically from history. The paper traces the traces of Lilly Reich in texts and periodicals following both her erasure and her qualified addition to architectural history. It argues that any addition is not simple but a complex equation.

An essay which addresses and identifies the issues of gendered segregation, feminism, space and architecture. The aim is to understand whether spaces create borderlines between men and women or do we as humans create them - political,... more

An essay which addresses and identifies the issues of gendered segregation, feminism, space and architecture. The aim is to understand whether spaces create borderlines between men and women or do we as humans create them - political, social, cultural or historical. The essay draws attention to the crisis and subsequent victories of patriarchy within the twentieth-century design school, Bauhaus after the First World War. To be able to the “gendering of architecture” although it is difficult to pin-point as the ideologies with architecture itself embodies the status gender-free. I will be evaluating social theorists, marxists, marxist feminists as well as feminist to further support my argument. The emphasis of this essay is to identity the different spatial arrangement in a workplace or educational places where typical female and male working spaces contribute towards gender stratification. How is gender sustained in architecture, despite its direct correlation with patriarchy? How architecture is embedded within gender? Why are spaces defined/framed as “feminine” or “masculine”?

In Japan, the architect's profile has changed in the last decades, with a steady increase in women practitioners. Meanwhile, the intersection between gender and architecture remains scarcely explored. This paper aims to show how gender... more

In Japan, the architect's profile has changed in the last decades, with a steady increase in women practitioners. Meanwhile, the intersection between gender and architecture remains scarcely explored. This paper aims to show how gender influences the architectural profession by taking as a case study the Gallery IHA Autumn Lectures 2018, a series of lectures by female architects organized and held by women under the theme “ exploring the architect's social ecosystem ”. A comparative analysis of the discourse of six female architects working in Tokyo showed how to overcome gender barriers in the profession through diversifying and democratizing architectural practices.

When Rafael Moneo reached Denise Scott Brown on the phone, inviting her to speak of the work of her life- and business partner Robert Venturi – in the context of the 'Architecture in the Present' conference at the Yale School of... more

When Rafael Moneo reached Denise Scott Brown on the phone, inviting her to speak of the work of her life- and business partner Robert Venturi – in the context of the 'Architecture in the Present' conference at the Yale School of Architecture –, she gave a bitter answer. "I'm extremely hurt that you don't know enough about us to know that you should be saying, 'Would I give a talk on my work, and Bob's work, and the work of our firm.'" The lecture was eventually delivered by Alan Plattus, the current director of the School's doctoral program, and the incident was registered as one of many instances in Scott Brown's career when she felt called on to defend her position as a female architect, and her respective contribution to the field.

In February 2011, Architect Barbie® was launched in New York, her appearance endorsed by the American Institute of Architects and advised upon by architectural historian Despina Stratigakos and architect Kelly Hayes McAlonie. The... more

In February 2011, Architect Barbie® was launched in New York, her appearance endorsed by the American Institute of Architects and advised upon by architectural historian Despina Stratigakos and architect Kelly Hayes McAlonie. The Institute also ran a Barbie Dream House competition for its architect members. Both Architect Barbie and the Dream House winning entry feature pink used in rather non-architectural but absolutely Barbie ways. Dolls have always been used as part of fantasy play for children and there are multiple stories that might be fabricated for Barbie’s architectural career. If, as Judith Butler argues in Undoing Gender, 'Fantasy is part of the articulation of the possible, it moves us beyond what is merely actual and present into a realm of possibility,’ what becomes possible when Architect Barbie exists? This paper seeks to investigate responses mainly from the profession to Architect Barbie® to question whether the fabulations created by the doll might effect change for women in architecture. Stratigakos argues strongly for Barbie’s relevance and importance as an agent for change. However, each online publication announcing her architect incarnation has generated lines of comments and arguments which suggest other possibilities. Drawing onButler’s work on fantasy, this paper asks whether Architect Barbie might fulfil ‘the critical promise of fantasy… to challenge the contingent limits of what will and will not be called reality.’

This paper considers the Vordruck (form), a template of a male body designed by Oskar Schlemmer in 1928 at the Bauhaus for his course Der Mensch. The Vordruck, whose origins were based on both ancient precedents as well as the figure of a... more

This paper considers the Vordruck (form), a template of a male body
designed by Oskar Schlemmer in 1928 at the Bauhaus for his course
Der Mensch. The Vordruck, whose origins were based on both
ancient precedents as well as the figure of a woman, is an
innocuous, bland, seemingly silent and expressionless figure.
While many copies of this template were printed for his course,
the Vordruck took a leading yet hidden role throughout
Schlemmer’s oeuvre of the human body in space within his
drawings, costume designs and performances. The Vordruck
template fits within the historic legacy of canons that reveal ideal
proportions of the human body, including those by Polykleitos,
Vitruvius and Leonardo da Vinci, yet it is unique when compared
to these earlier canons as well as those developed later (Le
Corbusier and others). Its significance is that it is the earliest
modern canon of the human body developed specifically for
architects and designers, before Le Corbusier’s Modular, while
directly based on its historic precursors, such as Leonardo da
Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, which he enacted within his theatrical
experiments. At the same time the Vordruck represented the
Bauhaus philosophy of designing type-models for mass
production. Yet another previously unknown sources is a female
body, whose unique physical form was erased as Schlemmer
superimposed male traits over her body, transforming the female
into the male body. This erasure recasts and reveals the absence
and erasure of women within the Bauhaus.

This essay seeks to make visible the spatial nature of suffrage activism in Bath. Using feminist spatial mapping techniques and archival source material, I show how women, in search of the vote, deployed the built environment of Bath,... more

This essay seeks to make visible the spatial nature of suffrage activism in Bath. Using feminist spatial mapping techniques and archival source material, I show how women, in search of the vote, deployed the built environment of Bath, England in their daily movements and actions. Diaries, newspaper articles, and material culture show how suffragettes and suffragists used the city's landmark buildings, private homes, city streets, as well as Bath's centre and periphery to produce radical feminist landscapes within Bath's famously conservative streetscapes. Situating these findings in relation to the broader history of women’s spatial knowledge and practices, this essay offers a model for understanding, mapping, and thus making visible women's political activism in a particular place and time.

Abstract The best parallels, in the Middle Bronze Age, of the major broad-room temple (Temple III) in Tell el-Dab‘a, point to the far north of Syria, especially the centres of Aleppo and Alalakh, while the Tell el-Dab‘a tripartite... more

Abstract
The best parallels, in the Middle Bronze Age, of
the major broad-room temple (Temple III) in Tell
el-Dab‘a, point to the far north of Syria, especially
the centres of Aleppo and Alalakh, while the Tell
el-Dab‘a tripartite bent-axis temple (Temple II), has
its best parallels in Ebla and Tell Brak extending to
Mesopotamia as far as Assur in the Tigris region.
Both types of temples were constructed in Tell el-
Dab‘a in the 14th Dynasty (c. late 18th and first half of
the 17th century BCE) which preceded the Hyksos
Period. Three main questions arise: first, who decided
which type of temple to construct in Avaris? Second,
what did these two types of temples mean? Without
doubt, the decision makers were part of the elite
responsible for cult and religion. And third, was it a
takeover of specific architectural forms alone, or did
the appearance of Near-Eastern sacred architecture
reflect the veneration of specific divinities to whom
these types of temples were dedicated in their places
of origin? If the latter is true, the evidence shows
that northern Syria, and to some extent northern
Mesopotamia, were the most dominant cult centres
in the Middle Bronze Age. This influence is felt,
albeit differently, in the southern and middle Levant,
but it can be strongly recognised in the eastern Nile
Delta where it can be connected to Western Asiatic
immigrants. This does not mean, however, that these
people came from northernmost Syria, it means that
high-status, influential people seem to originate
from this region or were at least strongly influenced
by its religious centres and culture. The first part of
this essay2 dealt with the broad-room temples. This
second part concentrates on the bent-axis temples,
and on the combination of both types of temples,
their gender relationship, and their distribution in
the Near East.

This essay aims to contribute to the study of the role that women have assumed in the history of Portuguese architecture, an issue in need of further work. Given the difficulty involved in the identification of clear milestones, it became... more

This essay aims to contribute to the study of the role that women have assumed in the history of Portuguese architecture, an issue in need of further work. Given the difficulty involved in the identification of clear milestones, it became necessary to extend the time span of this study, from the second half of the 19th century right until the 1940s. All things considered, this time frame was chosen because the context between wars in Portugal is so much looser than in other European countries. This article is divided in four parts, each of which hopes to add to the central issue by identifying the most relevant facts and principles behind it. First, it attempts to establish a framework of the Portuguese political agenda between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Second, it focuses on the development of the teaching of arts in Portugal, the tardy creation of the major in architecture and the emergence of the first women students. Then, it considers the involvement of women in a work environment traditionally dominated by male architects. Finally, it deals with the subject of architects that sustained both a teaching and a professional practice, more specifically the experience of two women pioneers, Maria José Estanco and Maria José Marques da Silva. In addition to identifying a provisional chronology, it also deals with the specific constraints of the Portuguese society and the subsequent consequences on academic research, as well as the emergence of the first Portuguese women architects.

Architecture is, at its most basic, about imagining desirable futures. Yet, despite growing awareness of the lasting and extensive effects that design decisions have in the world, many people remain inadequately represented (or entirely... more

Architecture is, at its most basic, about imagining desirable futures. Yet, despite growing awareness of the lasting and extensive effects that design decisions have in the world, many people remain inadequately represented (or entirely unrepresented) by the profession, which lacks diversity. The faction of those who hold the power to design is still, by and large, comprised of a relatively homogenous group of middle-class, white men who dominate not only the profession but also architectural education, even though there is now—in most places—near gender parity among students. How, then, might we—as educators committed to forms and practices of architecture that are inclusive, progressive, egalitarian, socially and environmentally just, and so on—implement and promote feminist pedagogies? Together, this set of short responses by young as well as established figures in the field, begins to sketch the outlines of an approach to architectural education rooted in feminist politics. Our goal is to offer possible tools at our disposal, from revisionist architectural history to site-specific, community-based spatial projects to gender-centered design studios. (Coauthored/edited by Torsten Lange and Emily Eliza Scott with contributions by Lila Athanasiadou, Harriet Harriss, Andrea Merret, Seyed Hossein Iradj Moeini, Jane Rendell, and Rachel Sara; based on a panel/roundtable discussion held at the "Architecture & Feminisms" conference at KTH Stockholm in Nov. 2016; appears in an issue of FIELD devoted to "Becoming a Feminist Architect," edited by Karin Reisinger and Meike Schalk.)

Partimos de uma crítica às representações cartográficas convencionais e de um breve levantamento dos escritos em geografia e arquitetura e urbanismo sobre espaço, gênero e sexualidades. Abordaremos os trânsitos de um grupo de drag queens... more

"To Answer a Need" distinguishes the women’s club house typology and relates the history of the Women's Club Movement, specifically examining Southern California clubhouses erected during and after the Progressive Era. As women’s club... more

"To Answer a Need" distinguishes the women’s club house typology and relates the history of the Women's Club Movement, specifically examining Southern California clubhouses erected during and after the Progressive Era. As women’s club houses are important and rare sites of women's collective history this thesis offers strategies for the appropriate and sensitive reuse of such properties. Their distinctive architectural features and siting make them an advantageous property for many specific reuse projects, and the prevalence of historically designated women’s clubs offers the possibility of redevelopment funded in part with historic tax credits.
Through the end of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century, women's clubs created the environment for activities which changed women’s status, abilities, and opportunities in the 20th century. Clubhouses were designed wholly or in part as “gendered” space which by décor, layout, and functionality gives power to the women working within its walls. Spaces were also gendered female by the manner in which they were used: by and for women, for purposes important to women as a social and political group.
These buildings vary in size and lavishness but are frequently designated historic at some level. They were often the work of a great architect; for reasons unique to the women’s club phenomena many retain remarkable integrity; and each is a physical monument to a significant pattern in history--the change wrought upon American society as women improved themselves, asserted their rights, and fought to become an active and recognized part of society. Clubs’ success in integrating women into public culture has rendered the separate women’s organization somewhat obsolete. Clubs are rapidly closing their doors forever, and the question of how to best preserve this physical reminder of women’s history is becoming an urgent issue. Concepts for woman-centric but viable re-utilization of these gendered spaces are herein described.

Considering privacy as a socially constructed notion within the domestic environment, this paper is going to ask which features the traditional Ottoman house literally and figuratively “houses” in terms of gender. Does the privacy really... more

Considering privacy as a socially constructed notion within the domestic environment, this paper is going to ask which features the traditional Ottoman house literally and figuratively “houses” in terms of gender. Does the privacy really hide the details of domestic life or, in fact, does it reveal the facts and reflections of the public and social constructions? This research is going to endeavor the physical attributions within the Turkish house and read these with a gendered perspective. My aim here is to read representations of spaces as the language and/or codes of the presented features within the traditional Turkish house will touch the hidden agenda of the feminine invisibility. Study case will be from different locations of Anatolia. In detail, cupboards, doors, window frames, the allocation of interior space, door hammers: All these features and especially their proportions within the traditional Turkish house point out how the women are (a)located through the domestic environment. The study is going to reveal the mentioned interior features with their in/visible intentions and interventions, and the code of the women and men which these design elements brought to life.

The article highlights the architectural and design developments in the residential architecture of the late XIX – 1st half of XX centuries, that reflect the sociallyconstructed identity of woman. Examples of gender-oriented theoretical... more

The article highlights the architectural and design developments in the residential architecture of the late XIX – 1st half of XX centuries, that reflect the sociallyconstructed identity of woman. Examples of gender-oriented theoretical concepts are shown, as well as models, that aimed at adaptation of the architectural environment to social change. The article considers the gender aspects of residential space, which illustrate the innovative vision of feminine identity.
Keywords: residential architecture and design of the late XIX – 1st half of XX centuries, innovative, feminine space.

The article explores the crossroads of the trajectories of two professional women linked to the production of space: the Italian architect Lina Bo Bardi, who worked in Brazil, and the French designer Charlotte Perriand. The article begins... more

The article explores the crossroads of the trajectories of two professional women linked to the production of space: the Italian architect Lina Bo Bardi, who worked in Brazil, and the French designer Charlotte Perriand. The article begins by comparing two photographs and then investigates the performance of these two well-known professionals, their moments of exclusion, disqualification as well as success throughout their careers. As they both had long and diversified careers, we capture two moments when they produced the emblematic chairs, that they exhibited using their own bodies, albeit in a quite anonymous way, as an ergonometric measure.

The boundaries between domestic and urban environments are increasingly blurred. Until the contemporary era, the house acted as aquite autonomous microcosm and the city as its receptacle, but today this distinction is not so sharp.... more

The boundaries between domestic and urban environments are
increasingly blurred. Until the contemporary era, the house acted
as aquite autonomous microcosm and the city as its receptacle, but
today this distinction is not so sharp. Various changes are transforming both domestic and urban life. Many activities, events and
rituals usually associated with domestic space today take place
often outside, scattering the home throughout the city.
Meanwhile, domestic environment is increasingly accommodating
some urban functions, changing its traditional meaning and giving
rise to hybrid situations. Domestic and urban environments are
merging in asymbiotic way; it is then necessary to rethink their
spaces in order to respond to their contemporary and future evolutions. The paper aims at introducing the main facts about the
contemporary blurring of the boundaries of domestic and urban
space, explaining how this is currently affecting the architecture of
both the house and the city

Este texto propõe uma reflexão introdutória ao que o título enuncia. Consciente das múltiplas e complexas dimensões possíveis escolhe-se analisar, primeiro, a relação do emprego com a profissão e de como, do sítio menos espartilhado, o... more

Este texto propõe uma reflexão introdutória ao que o título enuncia. Consciente das múltiplas e complexas dimensões possíveis escolhe-se analisar, primeiro, a relação do emprego com a profissão e de como, do sítio menos espartilhado, o emprego, surgem alterações que se reflectem na profissão. Depois, continuando a abordar as mudanças, será desenvolvida uma breve leitura que cruza a chegada tardia das mulheres à profissão como potenciadora, na actualidade, do seu papel relevante na alteração da definição da mesma.

Através de uma análise da construção social e cultural do espaço público, privado e dos banheiros de uso coletivo, este trabalho monográfico busca fomentar uma discussão acerca das relações de poder e suas conexões com sexualidade,... more

Através de uma análise da construção social e cultural do espaço público, privado e dos banheiros de uso coletivo, este trabalho monográfico busca fomentar uma discussão acerca das relações de poder e suas conexões com sexualidade, construção de identidade e relações de gênero dentro da prática projetiva da Arquitetura. Partindo das ausências, a proposta é tornar evidente a importância de abordar, dentro do ensino da prática projetiva, temas que são comumente delegados aos eixos teóricos do ensino de arquitetura, como a diferença social, sexual, e de gênero e a função social da Arquitetura. O trabalho, portanto, constrói uma narrativa que permeia conceitos fundamentais da arqueologia do saber e da genealogia do poder de Michel Foucault, relacionando-os aos conceitos de gênero, identidade, performatividade e a norma heterossexual em Judith Butler, Teresa de Laurentis, Adrienne Rich e Ochy Curiel. Ao mesmo passo, se conceitua a espacialização destas relações, e sua conjuntura enquanto repressão espacial, através de Mónica Cevedio e José Miguel G. Cortés. Munindo-se destes conceitos, embrenha-se, através de um método móvel de etnografia multilocalizada, na relação dos corpos e nas expressões dissidentes das Drag Queens dentro dos sanitários de bares e casas noturnas de Foz do Iguaçu, buscando evidenciar as relações de poder, expressões, opressões e violências de gênero que se materializam através do traçado arquitetônico destes espaços.

In Portugal, the entry of women into the realm of architecture, as professionals, draws an analogy to the route taken by the country which only in the 1970´s became a democratic state. As an introduction, this work intends to outline over... more

In Portugal, the entry of women into the realm of architecture, as professionals, draws an analogy to the route taken by the country which only in the 1970´s became a democratic state. As an introduction, this work intends to outline over 60 years of work obtained from this partnership, drawing attention to the initial cases and spanning the period up to today. The structure of this work is divided into three main parts. Firstly, succinctly explaining some data regarding the existing professional situation of women architects. Subsequently, both the pioneers are introduced: Maria José Estanco and Maria José Marques da Silva. Finally, we conclude with what we designate as the reinvented original paradigm, in today´s context.

Architecture is, at its most basic, about imagining desirable futures. Yet, despite growing awareness of the lasting and extensive effects that design decisions have in the world, many people remain inadequately represented (or entirely... more

Architecture is, at its most basic, about imagining desirable futures. Yet, despite growing awareness of the lasting and extensive effects that design decisions have in the world, many people remain inadequately represented (or entirely unrepresented) by the profession, which lacks diversity. The faction of those who hold the power to design is still, by and large, comprised of a relatively homogenous group of middle-class, white men who dominate not only the profession but also architectural education, even though there is now—in most places—near gender parity among students. How, then, might we—as educators committed to forms and practices of architecture that are inclusive, progressive, egalitarian, socially and environmentally just, and so on—implement and promote feminist pedagogies? Together, this set of short responses by young as well as established figures in the field, begins to sketch the outlines of an approach to architectural education rooted in feminist politics. Our ...

"Kitchenless" house is a utopia cultivated in western industrialised countries between the end of the nineteenth century and the first thirty years of the twentieth century. Aroused by the debate on the "domestic slavery" of women, whose... more

"Kitchenless" house is a utopia cultivated in western industrialised countries between the end of the nineteenth century and the first thirty years of the twentieth century. Aroused by the debate on the "domestic slavery" of women, whose social role - managing chores, looking after their children, organising family ménage - has been linked to the home for centuries, it is a utopian vision that has design echoes in the United States of Aerica of the suffragettes, in the Europe of the Neuen Frauen, in the Soviet Union of comrades. In a complex historical period from a political, economic, social and cultural point of view, women's liberation seems to be able to come true through the professional fulfilment of women, i.e. recognising their place in the world thanks to the remuneration of work, "outside" the domestic environment, as opposed to the free and "due" one between the walls of the house. To do this, some ideologists and designers imagine the drastic elimination of the kitchen, the imperishable symbol of the domestic home, which has become a woman's inviolable cell. In the hypotheses of the promoters, this is an epochal change: from the intellectual and bourgeois world to the working-class world, living "without a kitchen" (or kitchenless) seems a solution, as subversive as it is appropriate, to women's emancipation.

The early years of the student group Convivium are the topic of CC:, a new book published by the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and the Department of Architecture. CC: features a collection of essays and interviews that... more

The early years of the student group Convivium are the topic of CC:, a new book published by the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and the Department of Architecture. CC: features a collection of essays and interviews that reflect on conversations and questions developed in Convivium events that took place from 2009 to 2011. Convivium, formed of graduate students interested in discussing architecture, urbanism, and cultural production, hosts an ongoing series of dynamic meetings that include student-prepared presentations and collections of curated readings, visual materials, and exhibitions. Melissa Constantine (M.Arch. '11) and Kyle Jenkins (M.Arch. '11) started the group in 2008; Sophie Hochhäusl (M.A. HAUD '10, Ph.D. HAUD candidate) and Anthony Morin (M.Arch. '11) joined in 2010. Hochhäusl and Constantine are coeditors of CC:. In her introduction, Hochhäusl writes, "CC: is an attempt to extend the conversation; it is a 'carbon copy' of a textual and spatial transcript of an original that only existed once in time. But it is also an exhortation to join the discussion, an invitation to participate and engage."

In Portugal, the participation of female architects in the development of the profession-in the broad sense of the word: project, research, education, criticism, and policy-is far from having been identified, problematized, and... more

In Portugal, the participation of female architects in the development of the profession-in the broad sense of the word: project, research, education, criticism, and policy-is far from having been identified, problematized, and disseminated. The research project W@ARCH.PT (Women Architects in Portugal: Building Visibility, 1942-1986) strives to give visibility to female architects-revealing "who?", "when?", and "how?"-and contribute to expanding the history of Portuguese architecture, as well as developing feminist studies and ideas within the discipline. The strategies chosen to carry out this ongoing research intersect with feminist theories and epistemologies, outside and inside architecture. The issues raised require a critical understanding of the processes that sustain the silencing of female architects' voices, imposing limitations on how we understand the profession in its many facets. The feminist historical reflection that we propose is based on the idea that combining the production of knowledge and professional practices is crucial to change gender biases and women's oppression in both fields.

SPACE International Conference 2020 on Gender, Space and Architecture will be held in London on 15-16 May 2020. We hope that the Conference will be an ideal platform to discuss the recent advances and research results in the intersection... more

SPACE International Conference 2020 on Gender, Space and Architecture will be held in London on 15-16 May 2020. We hope that the Conference will be an ideal platform to discuss the recent advances and research results in the intersection of the fields of gender, space and architecture. The Conference aims to explore the place issues of gender and consider gender in relation to architecture. SPACE Studies of Planning and Architecture invites researchers, policymakers and social partners to share knowledge from their fields of expertise according to the themes of the Conference.