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Women and Architecture: Journal Articles
A guide exploring the work and impact of women in architecture and design.
Journal Articles
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Architectural Historiography and Fourth Wave Feminism Over the course of the last decade, women from all over the world and from different social and cultural backgrounds continued to strive for equal rights in the face of discrimination, sexism, and misogyny. Utilizing new tools and strategies for communication, this 'fourth wave' of feminist thinking and activism is characterized by its commitment to a 'diversity of purpose' that recognises intersectionality as a key issue of our time and questions established sex/gender systems and gender as a binary category. This Special Collection explores the impact of current feminist discourse on architectural historiography. It offers critical debate on the legacy of second and third wave feminism, and asks for the ongoing relevance of the concerns and methodologies. It also highlights the potential of new strategies for documenting and researching the work of women architects, investigating the possibilities of digital tools and networked knowledge. Moreover, the collection considers histories of feminist architectural writing in relation to non-canonical geographies and takes a broader view to include LGBTIQ+ perspectives on the built environment. It offers diverse explorations of these key issues and presents necessary reflections to widen feminist enquiries in architectural discourse.
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The Architecture of Traditional and Modern Afghan Houses and the Fundamentalist Regime: Impacts on Women's Lives This research investigates the relation between the architectural attributes of traditional and modern houses in Afghanistan and the constraints imposed on Afghan women’s lives by considering recent incidents. This study draws upon a combination of historical sources and news articles pertaining to contemporary Afghan affairs as its primary data sources. Additionally, it comparatively analyzes two houses — one exemplifying the traditional Afghan design and another, modern architecture — in the City of Herat, Afghanistan. By highlighting the interplay between architectural features and their implications for women’s lives, this research aims to shed light on this dwelling relationship. The findings of this research indicate that urban areas more conspicuously manifest modernization in physical aspects, evinced by the prevalence of modern residential houses. However, with the initiation of new restrictions imposed by the Taliban after 2021, modern houses (characterized by more limited open spaces than traditional ones) engender heightened vulnerability for Afghan women. Thus, confining women within these modern houses deleteriously impacts their physical and mental well-being.
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Architectures and spaces of care: recent contributions to the Spanish architectural culture of postmodernity led by women architects Nowadays we observe how many of our cities and spaces in which we live are designed by and for a subject that represents an androcentric model focused on production. This practice has meant that aspects of architecture such as assistance and care have been underestimated. Faced with this neglect of issues considered by society as feminine, there are numerous feminist struggles that for decades have been demanding fairer and more inclusive spaces and cities, which address the tasks related to care and reproduction in architectural practice. In the Spanish architectural panorama, since the end of the twentieth century, it is possible to observe the emergence of a series of professional practices that, led by women architects, use the issue of femininity as a creative argument to approach the profession in a different way and open up to fields of work and debate in which they can develop their professional career. These are based on a critique of modern architectural positions, linked to an idealistic vision of society that takes as a reference a neutral gender far from any complexity and abstracts the differences between people to establish a paradigm shift from and with feminisms. In this sense, this article aims to present various professional practices led by Spanish women architects representative of the period 1978-2008 who, from architecture and urban planning, but also from other peripheral positions such as art or social action, have worked from the experiences of women, putting everyday life and care in the foreground. Its purpose is to determine some unique aspects of the contribution of women to the Spanish architectural culture of postmodernity. This study will allow us to observe how many of these contributions are materialized in a series of actions, attitudes and ways of working that glimpse the beginning of a change in the way of exercising the profession that moves away from the predominant canon to define new strategies and ways of approaching architectural practice more in line with the needs of women and non-normative subjects.
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Countercurrent. To Reexamine the History of Architecture in Chile Through the Lens of Women Based on the ideas of art historian Griselda Pollock regarding the definition and critique of hegemonic cultural discourses, this article explores the possibilities for revising the history of architecture in Chile between 1920 and 1980 from a gender perspective. By employing Pollock's framework for understanding selective historiographical traditions, the article constructs a broad and heterogeneous panorama of significant figures at a local scale. The discussion concludes with reflections concerning the theoretical challenges involved in constructing a history of women in architecture.
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A Cross-National Study of Accommodating and "Usurpatory" Practices by Women Architects in the UK, Spain and France The precarious position of women in architecture is well documented, but previous work has focused on single-country analyses, which, although valuable, do not allow the transfer of ideas or aid a deeper understanding of practice. Drawing on data obtained from 66 in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews carried out with women architects in three European countries, the UK, Spain and France, we report on the "usurpatory" strategies and instances of resigned accommodation of female architects practising in different political, social and economic systems. Our findings show stark differences in the experiences of the women in each country, with Spanish women identifying greater levels of overt discrimination, the French women enjoying greater levels of equality and the UK women adopting a broad range of "usurpatory" strategies.
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Designing women: architecture isn't always an equal opportunity profession Editorial on the selection of Chinese architect Wang Shu for the Prtizker Prize and not including his partner and wife, Lu Wenyu.
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Everyday Experiences of Sexism in Male-dominated Professions: A Bourdieusian Perspective The under-representation of women in the UK engineering and construction sectors seems resolute. Using a Bourdieusian lens, this article examines the persistence of everyday sexism and gender inequality in male-dominated professions. Bringing together findings from three research projects with engineering and construction industry students and professionals, we find that women experience gendered treatment in everyday interactions with peers. Patterns of (mis)recognition and resistance are complex, with some women expressing views which reproduce and naturalise gender inequality. In contrast, other women recognise and resist such essentialism through a range of actions including gender equity campaigning. Through a Bourdieusian analysis of the everyday, this article calls into question existing policy recommendations that argue women have different skills that can be brought to the sector. Such recommendations reinforce the gendered nature of the engineering and construction sectors' habitus and fail to recognise how the underlying structures and practices of the sector reproduce gendered working practices.
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The feminist perspective as a counterpoint in the architecture of Anna Bofill (1977–1996) The vast and plural production of the woman architect, musician, activist, occasional educator and tireless researcher Anna Bofill Levi (Barcelona, 1944) is characterized by certain features that make its author a unique personality, although one hardly known and recognized in the Spanish and international circles that are the custodians of prestige in architecture. She has achieved most public recognition as a composer, the field in which she has been most productive over time and developed the furthest. Her music is characterized by the number of references, especially contemporary, she includes, the wide diversity of countries where it has been performed, and the range of people to whom she has dedicated her works, all these aspects testifying to her cosmopolitan and libertarian spirit and her commitment to equality. Her incessant writing, with all the reading it entails, has also left us with a large body of written work, extending over a number of fields, including most notably her reflections on the influence of the gender-based perspective on urban planning. A factor also reflected in her architecture, for example, in the implementation of participatory processes in her project designs. She joined the Taller de Arquitectura from the time she began her studies at the School of Architecture in Barcelona in 1964—she graduated in 1972—, and then commenced her independent career in 1981, although her first solo works date from 1977. Her work at the head of her office for almost 20 years is evidence of a tireless capacity for work and an unwavering commitment to people's welfare. This paper analyses Anna Bofill's contributions to feminist thinking through her work as an architect. Also, it addresses the study of a cultured person, a woman with great sensitivity and a strong political and personal commitment who has suffered discrimination and who has made rigor and determination the means to achieve her non-negotiable freedom.
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Inclusive Learning for Architectural Practice. Gender, City, and Architecture This article explores how integrating feminisms and a gender perspective in pedagogy for urban design and planning can create more equitable and just spaces. A critical literature review reveals the need to revisit the history, values, and methods of teaching architecture and urbanism. The results highlight the importance of pedagogical, architectural, and urban projects and critical methodologies that foster empathy and recognize care as an essential foundation of society, thus promoting more inclusive and habitable environments for all people.
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Interaction Between Gender and Space: A Study on the Genealogy of Feminist Architecture The exploration and advancement of feminism are vital for addressing critical issues such as social progress, equitable education, and healthcare access. This paper comprehensively examines the feminist movement’s impact on architecture over the past century, identifying key trends and significant areas to establish an academic foundation for feminist architecture. A literature review on feminism in urban planning, architecture, landscape design, and urban safety highlights the current research focus on feminist architectural development. Furthermore, this paper traces the evolution of feminist architecture through both purpose-driven and process-oriented approaches, exploring the interplay between feminist and modern architectural practices. It specifically examines the development of feminist architecture within the Chinese context from two perspectives: the influence of feminist thought on architecture and the evolution of gendered spaces within the “Residence and Courtyard” model. By comparing the internal logic of feminist architectural development in China and the West, this study investigates how geopolitical culture and regional differences shape the future trajectory of this field. Unlike traditional feminist architectural research, which often emphasizes women’s practices within specific feminist ideologies or focuses on visual culture and psychological interpretations of gendered spaces, this paper redefines the scope of feminist architectural studies through a comparative analysis of historical and contemporary contexts, and Eastern and Western perspectives, employing a systematic genealogical approach.
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Interaction patterns in architecture studios and lecture rooms in the Nigerian university context: implications for gender mainstreaming in architectural education Although gender mainstreaming in science, engineering, and technology education has continued to receive research attention, not much has been done in architecture. This study investigated the interaction patterns in architectural design studios and classrooms in the Nigerian university context to suggest how gender mainstreaming can be achieved in architecture education. Twelve Architecture Lecturers and 837 students drawn from three universities in Southern Nigeria were involved in this research. The data were collected via studio and classroom observations using a modified Flanders Interaction Analysis Categories and questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and Scheffe’s pairwise comparison. The results revealed that the competitive pre-dominated the cooperative interaction pattern but the female group was better in the cooperative pattern than the male group who did better with the competitive pattern. Gender was identified as the main factor influencing the predominant interaction pattern in architectural design studios and lecture rooms investigated. The study implies that for a successful gender mainstreaming in architectural education, effective integration of both the cooperative and competitive interaction patterns with the former dominating over the latter is required in architecture studios and lecture rooms in Nigeria and other countries with similar experiences.
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The news about diversity in architecture : while some women are gaining long overdue recognition in the profession, gender and racial biases persist, says a new report [editorial] "Led by legal scholar Joan C. Williams, from the University of California's Hastings College of the Law, the AIA-commissioned study was based on surveys of 1,346 architects, in firms of every size, examining racial bias as well as gender."
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The urgent incorporation of the gender approach in the teaching of architecture in the twenty-first century Teaching, as a tool to build society through the training of its students, incorporates different perspectives in all disciplinary fields, reveals the era in which it is located or the transformations it pursues. This article shares the experience and reflections of the course "Architecture with a gender and differential approach", a pioneer in the urban-architectural design of the undergraduate program of the Universidad de los Andes after its implementation in 2022 and 2023. It appeals to the conviction that its practice and research improve the quality of life of women and diverse people with inclusive, habitable, empathetic and safe physical-spatial results.
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When Program is the Enemy of Function… Gender-Nonconforming Experiences of Architectural Space What is our expectation of architecture when our cities, buildings - their programs, connections and interfaces - reinforce essentialist and cisnormative notions of gender? For some, that is not an architecture of safety, nor of belonging or identity; rather of hostility, othering and privilege. Relationships between form, space, program and function have unique political and spatial meanings for gender nonconforming people. When program is the enemy of function, one adapts as they disconnect to seek belonging, safety and find identity. What can be learnt about architectural emotion, space and practice through the lens of trans and gender diverse experiences?
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Where are the women? Throughout its history, golf course architecture has been a male-dominated profession. Even now, though, there are barely a handful of women in the industry. Throughout its history, golf course architecture has been a male-dominated profession. Even now, though, there are barely a handful of women in the industry. Adam Lawrence asks why?
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‘I am an architect’, gender and professional identity in architecture ‘I am an architect’, gender and professional identity in architecture Dervla MacManus &#x;Dervla MacManus*†Katherine O&#x;Donnell&#x;Katherine O’Donnell† UCD School of Philosophy, College of Social Sciences and Law, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland For women architects, the confluence of gender and professional identity has remained unresolved since their admittance to the profession of architecture. The past decade has seen a resurgence in the use of the term ‘women in architecture’ coupled with renewed debate around its use as well as challenges from feminist historians and theorists to recognise other forms of architectural practices and identities. The research presented here examines the interplay between gender and the professional identity of those working within, and outside of, architectural professional practice in Ireland by combining questions on gender and professional identity from a large survey (n = 684) and 23 semi-structured interviews. Launched in March 2023, the Irish Architecture Career Tracker Survey received over 680 completed online questionnaires. The respondents, ranging in age from 20 to 72, were asked, ‘How important is being a woman/man to the way you think about your career?’ Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results for men and women are almost the inverse of one another. Male respondents tended towards ‘being a man is not at all important to the way I think about my career,’ at 45%, whilst female respondents tended towards the opposite, ‘being a woman is extremely important to the way I think about my career,’ at 41%. Another key question asked was whether or not ‘The term ‘woman in architecture’ is an important reflection of who I am professionally?’ Just 40% of female participants agreed with this statement. In the 23 semi-structured interviews which followed the survey, these two topics were explored, providing rich qualitative. Interviewees were both male and female and ranged in age from 32 to 62. When analysed using a reflexive thematic approach, we identified six themes which, when taken together, show a difficult and at times contradictory and paradoxical confluence of gender and professional identity, especially, but not only, for female architects. We suggest that these apparent contradictions and paradoxes are a way to cope with the quintessential sexist dilemma that identifying as a ‘woman in architecture’ continues to present.
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“Nothing Else Will Do”: The Call for Gender Equality in Architecture in Britain In early 2005, the British architectural weekly newspaper, Building Design, launched a campaign to increase the proportion of women in the profession of architecture in the UK from its then-current "shameful" 14 per cent. A year earlier, sociologists Bridget Fowler and Fiona M. Wilson had published "Women Architects and Their Discontents", an article that, drawing on interviews with architects, illuminated the difficulties of achieving gender equality in architecture. In light of Fowler and Wilson's work, this paper considers the Building Design campaign and the improved working conditions it advocates to make the architectural workplace more conducive to the inclusion and retention of women. Arguing that it is overly hopeful to expect pragmatic workplace reforms to bring about full gender equality, this paper examines how some of the complex social relations underlying the practice of architecture tend to render the profession blind to the effects of gender.
