Posts Tagged Architecture

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By Ava Kofman • 9 years ago

Feministing Reads: Beatriz Preciado’s Pornotopia

Late one night in 2001, philosopher and occasional insomniac Beatriz Preciado was watching TV to fall back asleep when suddenly Hugh Hefner — also in pajamas, also lying in bed — appeared on the screen. He was giving an interview from bed, which seemed strange.

Late one night in 2001, philosopher and occasional insomniac Beatriz Preciado was watching TV to fall back asleep when suddenly Hugh Hefner — also in pajamas, also lying in bed — appeared on the screen. He ...
By Suzanna Bobadilla • 10 years ago

The Feministing Five: Lori Brown

Generally, when I find myself using the word “space” within feminist conversations, I usually mean Space, a type of catch all phrase that includes “community,” “culture,” and any theoretical premise I’m pretending to have learned in undergrad.

Luckily for us though, Lori Brown explores how feminists can use design, buildings, public policy, and politics to create feminist atmospheres — in actual spaces. Along with being a feminist architect extraordinaire, she is an Associate Professor at Syracuse Architecture, and author of Feminist Practices. 

We spoke with Lori about the importance of architecture when it comes to abortion clinics, women’s shelters, and public space at large. By far one of our most fascinating conversations of late, this interview will leave you ...

Generally, when I find myself using the word “space” within feminist conversations, I usually mean Space, a type of catch all phrase that includes “community,” “culture,” and any theoretical premise I’m pretending to have learned in undergrad.

Luckily ...
By Courtney • 10 years ago

Feministing at 10: Re-designing the field of design

Ed. note: In celebration of Feministing’s 10-year anniversary, current and former members of the Feministing crew are offering their reflections on the changes of the last decade. First up is this take on women in design by editor emeritus Courtney Martin. Read the whole series here. And consider giving us a birthday donation to ensure Feministing is around for another 10 years. 

Ten years ago, I didn’t even know what design was, truth be told. If anything, I associated it with graphic design or web design and mostly only noticed either when they were egregiously bad (see almost every “woman’s organization” logo of a leaping, shapely female figure.)

Turns out, there’s a reason I didn’t know about design back then…if ...

Ed. note: In celebration of Feministing’s 10-year anniversary, current and former members of the Feministing crew are offering their reflections on the changes of the last decade. First up is this take on women in design by ...
By Courtney • 11 years ago

We built this city

While pretty much every field has its gender pipeline problem–women essentially leaking out somewhere between “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and top leadership positions–architecture may be among the worst.

As my own partner wrote in Christian Science Monitor awhile back:

While demographic statistics for architects are hardly even kept by the profession, an estimated 10-12 percent of the 105,000 registered architects in the United States are women. It’s generally accepted that the participation of women peaks in architecture school at approximately 40 percent. Once they’ve graduated, only a quarter of those women complete the internship and exam phases, required to become a registered architect or even legally call oneself an “architect.

It’s not easy ...

While pretty much every field has its gender pipeline problem–women essentially leaking out somewhere between “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and top leadership positions–architecture may be among the worst.

As my own ...
By Courtney • 13 years ago

Quick Hit: Architect Barbie is not enough

So proud to point folks towards my partner’s op-ed in today’s Christian Science Monitor on why the field of architecture needs substantial interventions to achieve gender parity (currently, about 10% of registered architects are female), not just a cute doll:

In Architect Barbie, Mattel produced what the AIA seems to think of as the ultimate recruitment tool for women. Yet while the AIA and others might hope to inspire a generation of girls and young women to become architects, the systemic problems facing the profession will not be fixed with a doll and a dream. Career pipeline issues must be remedied. Cultural and institutional sexism must be faced. These are matters of retention, not recruitment.

So proud to point folks towards my partner’s op-ed in today’s Christian Science Monitor on why the field of architecture needs substantial interventions to achieve gender parity (currently, about 10% of registered architects are female), not ...
By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

The Feministing Five: Jana Leo

Jana Leo is an artist, architect, teacher and author of the book Rape New York. The book, which came out earlier this year, is a monologue about her experience of being raped in her New York apartment, reporting the crime, and processing the emotional trauma of what was done to her. The books is alternately inspiring and nauseating, as Leo describes the fear and frustration and myriad other feelings she experienced during and after the attack.

Leo, who is Spanish, is also the founder of two think tanks in Madrid that study urban spaces. For Leo, the connection between urban planning, gentrification and personal safety is an important one, since her rapist was able to attack her in part ...

Jana Leo is an artist, architect, teacher and author of the book Rape New York. The book, which came out earlier this year, is a monologue about her experience of being raped in her New ...
By Courtney • 14 years ago

Women architects say, “Here we are.”

When you’re not a superhero on a special mission, it really sucks to be invisible. Young feminists know the feeling–exhausted as we blog, organize, and honor our elders, only to hear the  oft repeated lament of older women: “There are no young feminists out there! Why are they so afraid of the F-word?” Or how many times do we have to hear a conference planner explain that the reason there weren’t more people of color on panels was because s/he didn’t know where to find them (as if people of color are all hiding out in some obscure location)?

In any case, female architects know this strange state all to well and they’re collectively standing up to do something about it. ...

When you’re not a superhero on a special mission, it really sucks to be invisible. Young feminists know the feeling–exhausted as we blog, organize, and honor our elders, only to hear the  oft repeated lament of older ...
By Courtney • 14 years ago

Building with the big guys

No Country for Young Women has a very cool series going on about women working in architecture and construction–two fields that are wildly male-dominated. Sara Fox, an American property development consultant living in London, who was responsible for the construction of London’s iconic Gherkin building, had this to say:

Because construction is still, really and truly a male-dominated industry, the initial reaction is that as a woman I can’t possibly have any credibility. I can’t tell you the number of meetings I’ve attended where even though I was the most senior person present, because I was the only woman in the room, I was expected to serve coffee and tea. I have often found it’s just easier to offer, to ...

No Country for Young Women has a very cool series going on about women working in architecture and construction–two fields that are wildly male-dominated. Sara Fox, an American property development consultant living in London, who was ...