Understanding the gender implications of architecture
Imposing skyscrapers, colourful interiors, poorly designed kitchens and badly lit streets can tell us a lot about who is using it and who is in charge
In March 2023, Bangladeshi journalist and political satirist Shimu Naser shared a long post on his social media platform. Shimu explained how he and his wife, Shabnahaz Rashid, found interest in cooking together when the couple was living abroad. But during the pandemic, the couple was in Bangladesh, and surprisingly, they could not cook anymore in a Bangladeshi kitchen. After a while, the couple realised that an average Bangladeshi kitchen is congested, so much so, that two people cannot cook together.
He wrote, "All the homes we have enjoyed cooking abroad are of the open kitchen type, where one cuts onions and vegetables, while the other stirs. Space is not a problem. Music, audiobooks or podcasts play on the speakers, or a TV screen is in sight. There are strong vents above the stove and arrangements for sitting on a high chair or sofa."
Now let's look at the kitchens of houses in Dhaka.
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The kitchen is a small separate room, away from the main recreational centre. There is no AC or fan. And if the house faces the north-south side, the kitchen is often on the west side, bearing the brunt of Dhaka's sun.
Shimu Naser wondered if maybe this was because the kitchen was designed by a male architect, who had never been to a kitchen himself, and hence has no idea of comfort in that space.
"Which is the most beautiful place in the house? It is the drawing room. After the office, the 'tired man' comes home and rests a little [there]. And since men don't spend much time in this kitchen, they don't care about its comfort either," explained Shimu.
To that end, does architecture influence people's lives, shaping their social and professional lives, thoughts? Can architecture be gendered?
In 1951, Erik Homburger Erikson, an American child psychoanalyst, created an experiment. He gave building blocks to 150 boys and girls and instructed them to create a design. He observed that while the boys came up with buildings, towers, and streets, the girls built walls and interior settings. The boys created a lot of open spaces while the girl's designs had secure spaces with doors and windows.
It is important to look at who has the power to move through and take charge in various spaces in buildings or cities. Homes, courtyards, streets, institutional buildings, and religious spaces are all designed [or evolved] in ways that reflect ideas about gender and power
Although Erikson concluded that spatial perception governing play constructions reflected sexual morphology, the result proved how the social stereotypes of masculine and feminine architecture influences people's thought.
Back then, while male architecture was labeled as being brutalist, linear, and vertical, feminine architecture was perceived with curvilinear, horizontal, and flat designs.
Vitruvian men and the history of architecture
Architecture has a long history of using the human body, specifically the male body, as a blueprint for design. It became the basis of Renaissance art and architecture, as one can notice in Roman architecture. This can be traced back to Vitruvius, who believed that perfect architecture mirrored the proportions of a well-built man.
Leonardo da Vinci's famous 'Vitruvian Man' drawing further solidified this concept. Think of the tall columns in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. They wouldn't look out of place on our 'Vitruvian Man,' right?
Even the churches, like the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini, and some others in the Renaissance era, were designed to reflect human proportions. Leonardo's drawing shows how arms and legs could fit neatly within geometric shapes.
Another architect, Leon Battista Alberti, agreed. He believed buildings should be beautiful and balanced, just like a healthy human (male) body. He even suggested building them 'naked' first, without decorations, just like the 'Vitruvian Man' is unclothed.
In the paper titled 'Gender Analogies in Architecture' author Raluca Livia Niculae argued that the reliance on the male body has implications for gender identity in architecture. Buildings themselves are often assigned gendered traits, with masculine features associated with strength and dominance (skyscrapers, civic buildings) and feminine features seen as softer and nurturing (smaller structures, domestic spaces).
This reinforces patriarchal norms and excludes women from the architectural narrative.
Are designs feminine or masculine?
Grace Slack McNeil Professor of Art, Emerita, and former Director of Architecture Program at Wellesley College Alice T Friedman, said via e-mail, "Some people view ornament and decoration as more feminine and solid or massive structures as more stable, powerful, and therefore masculine. In my view, these ideas reflect contemporary conventions about gender, going back [in Europe and the US] to the 18th century and even earlier."
Juhani Pallasmaa, a leading international figure of the 21st century in contemporary architecture, design, and art, thinks beyond the binary of gender and asks to approach this issue more carefully. She says via e-mail "The issues of sex are nowadays so emotionally debatable. Many cultures already accept the fact that there are more sexual identities than two."
"Gender being one of the fundamental factors of human identity and behaviour, there are surely characteristics of it in the dynamic qualities of space, the choice and treatment of materials, detailing, as well as the overall sensory qualities, but these assumptions need to be taken carefully. One suggestion that I would like to make is that 'female architecture' is somewhat more haptic."
Having seen the pictures of Ahsan Manzil's upper-frontal view, Dr Piyush Mathur, who is a research scholar at US-based Ronin Institute, said he considers the building a statement of 'grandeur' and 'authority.'
He said, in an email, "Instead [of] gendered architecture, it would be better to see it through the lens of gender roles and stereotypes from those times, and see how they would have been articulated and/or reinforced [unless they were challenged/subverted] via these spaces/their architectural styles."
We see those houses divided into two parts, mainly an outer space and an inner space, known as 'Andar Mahal.' In most cases, those outer spaces were reserved for the mobility of the male residents who used to deal with business or other purposes, while the inner space was generally associated with females, and thus the attributes associated with female-centric architecture are slightly reflected there.
Architects like Antonio Gaudi, Le Corbusier, Santiago Calatrava, Zaha Hadid etc have come up with designs that have redefined such notions, merging the masculine and feminine attributes of architecture.
Le Corbusier, a Swiss-French architect of the 20th century, imagined a world of stark white buildings stripped of all historical traces and ornamentation. This approach effectively erased the arguably 'feminine' elements like colourful decorations and historical references, deemed superfluous.
In his masterpieces Sagrada Familia and Casa Battlo, Antonio Gaudi created rhythm and a sense of character, where its interior compliments the exterior, with similar ornamentation, colourful design and 'feminine' curvature etc.
Although Zaha Hadid's designs have vertical and tall aspects of masculine designs, her work sets a perfect example of femininity. The concatenation of vertical towers dressed by organic exterior addresses a perfect balance between lean geometry and a fluid facade.
Of power relations and gendered architecture
Alice T Friedman believes the use and planning of buildings reflect gendered notions. However, she also points to power relations and dynamics before determining the gendered identities.
"It is important to look at who has the power to move through and take charge in various spaces in buildings or cities. Homes, courtyards, streets, institutional buildings, and religious spaces are all designed [or evolved] in ways that reflect ideas about gender and power," she said.
On 3 February this year, a woman was raped in the Jahangirnagar University's campus. Alice T Friedman, who focuses on power relations, said about this incident, "In terms of the design and condition of streets [width, lighting, sight lines, etc], the key issue is safety for women and for those who are vulnerable, because of gendered notions about women's access and right to enter and use public spaces," she said.
Vania Ceccato, professor at School of Architecture, Royal Institute of technology in Stockholm, said in an episode of a TED talk titled 'Can Architecture and Planning Ensure Safety for Women?' that transparent walls with glass can provide a sense of surveillance, while spaces with high altitudes provide a wider look and a place to engage in some activities. Such architectural designs can help create a more inclusive environment.
Regarding the JNU rape, Ceccato said over email "It often occurs in environments that provide anonymity and facilitate easy escape, frequently in poorly lit areas. Traditional architectural solutions alone [in terms of design and construction] are insufficient to address these issues comprehensively. So, it is about making sure the lights are up in those places, the place is guarded, and there are programs telling everyone [including university staff] that some types of behaviour are not okay."
