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Throughout history, patriarchal ideals have undoubtedly shaped the use and design of the built environment, despite undercurrents of feminist critique and awareness.In the book of Madhavi Desai Gender and the built environment in India, She writes, “Social, political, and economic forces and values shape the built environment and its form. The spatial arrangement of buildings reflects and reinforces gender, race, and class relations because space is socially constructed and its occupation is a political behavior.” In this way, the exclusion or inclusion of women of color from the built or created environment becomes a mechanism of control and a form of domination.
Compared to other fields such as textiles, fashion, and graphic design, the influential work of women (particularly women of color) seems to have disappeared from the mainstream consciousness of the built environment. Society is quick to recognize and celebrate the world built by Antonio Gaudí, Le Corbusier, and Walter Gropius (all white), but what about the women who simultaneously coexisted and created it? What about women architects of color? Modern history, of course, is written by the victors and rulers: a Eurocentric, patriarchal, colonialist narrative. It’s no surprise, then, that the seminal work of non-white female architects in the 20th century remains largely unheard of.
As Women’s History Month comes to an end, I look back at the work of three female architects from this era who sought to design a postcolonial world within (still largely) patriarchal structures. In exploring systems of racial discrimination and gender inequality, architects Minnit de Silva, Amaza Lee Meredith and Urmila Yuli Chowdhury examine the social implications of their environments , political and cultural structures have made significant contributions. From de Silva’s designs for low-income housing and Meredith’s public retreat spaces to Chaudhry’s involvement in Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh project, these women engaged in intentional reflection and collaboration.
Minnit de Silva
Minnette De Silva was born in 1918 in Kandy, central Sri Lanka, to an influential family. She never gained formal certification as an architect, but entered the profession with a keen interest in craftsmanship, philosophy and urban planning. In 1948, as Sri Lanka gained independence, she became the first Asian female member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. At this time, she was one of two women in the world practicing law in her own name.
De Silva used architecture to help define Sri Lanka’s independence after colonial rule. Her practice combines modern architecture (concrete columns, trussed rafters and glass blocks) with traditional materials such as wood, rubber and brick, and local crafts such as terracotta bricks, Dumbara weaving and lacquerware. De Silva regionalized her designs, creating specificity and purpose for each structure that transcended aesthetics and proved useful.
The low-income housing project designed by de Silva is one of them. The Watapuluwa Projects were launched in Kandy in 1958, and from the 1940s to the 1960s, De Silva was involved in the Senanayake Apartments project in Colombo. In post-independence developing countries, it was largely unheard of to consider the actual development of low-income housing residents. De Silva’s mother was an outspoken advocate for the plight of Tamil plantation workers in India, and her research and planning were thorough. Focusing solely on the users of the space, de Silva developed a series of questionnaires for tenants to answer their financial and socio-cultural needs. De Silva understands people’s needs very well, gathers personal information and then applies it to the design.
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