Cultures, Communities and Design

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the appropriation of visibility notion in modern domestic architectural discourse through the lens of intersectional theory. It promotes better understanding for architects to see how some material choices can create circumstances that perpetuate existing inequities in society for different subjectivities through spatial design. It aims to render visible how modern architecture was used as a tool for domination, oppression, and discrimination over women owners and women domestic workers. Intersectional feminism offers a new lens to look at modernist architecture, bringing about some previously unaccounted subjectivities, unrepresented spaces, and gendered labor into the scene of history. This reading is historically underappreciated yet today it is critically important. It points out the ways which architecture can create violent dynamics and subordinations for its users. The scope of the research is limited with modern domestic architecture from the 1950’s until the 1990’s. The first part of the paper focuses on case studies from different countries from the modern era, focusing on visibilities, in relation with the history of transparent building materials like glass. It explores women’s perception and personal experiences living in glass houses as inhabitants and/or workers with different conditions of visibilities. The second part will be an oral history project, interviewing female subjects to understand histories and narratives of women users and women domestic workers and document their experiences. Also, adopting critical cartography method, collecting the uncollected data about women users and workers; mapping the mostly unrepresented spaces, this research contributes to expanding but also slowly transforming our understanding of architectural legacy and history. What capacity do architectural interventions have, in terms of redistribution of power in architecture more ethically, is the main question this paper will attempt to unpack. The paper will attempt to address, document, and represent invisible histories of women inhabitants and domestic workers and their reproductive labor with its relationship with material decisions in modern housing to develop more complete and fairer historical narrative for modern domestic architecture.