Final Research Paper

First Draft Research Paper

Final Essay Outline

 

• History of gender in architecture
  • Discuss: the history of how cities have been shaped by male architects and the history of the different gender’s participation in the architecture profession
  • Notes:
  • Bathrooms
    • Lack of public women’s toilets
    • Britain: commonly found men’s toilets not women’s
    • Women have more needs to deal with
      • Babies
      • Periods
    • Not accommodated
    • Individual restroom areas
      • Urinals
  • Demographics of current architects
  • Historically determined by men
  • “Building Sex: Men, Women, Architecture, and the construction of sexuality”
  • Urban planning
  • Clara Greed

• Distribution of different genders/sexes in architecture profession
  • Discuss: demographics of architects in the past and present
  • Notes:
  • Slowly becoming more diverse
  • Women still underrepresented

• • https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/news/2016/03-Mar/AIA-Diversity-Survey/AIA-Diversity-Architecture-Survey-02.pdf
  • “The Sad State of Gender Equity and the Design Profession”
    • Late 1950s
    • Architecture schools not open to women in new jersey
    • Many colleges didn’t open up to women until they were required to by law
    • 1972 women made up less than 6% of architecture students
    • Wake of title X
      • Doubled to 14%
    • By end of 1990’s
      • Reached 40% across US schools

• How spaces reflect gender
  • Discuss: how a space reflects the proportions and genders of the designer
  • Notes:
  • “Creating a non-sexist restroom”
  • Queer pubs
    • Leisure spaces created at a time when social interactions organized around patriarchal principles
    • Set behavioral codes
    • Internal facilities influenced spatial practice
  • Precedent studies
    • Schroder house
    • “Family Matters: The Schroder House” Alice Friedman

• How does a masculine space affect a feminine person or vice versa
  • Discuss: how spaces make people feel, how to make people feel more comfortable in a space
  • Example: Arc de Triomphe
    • Created by male architect
    • Created for men in the army
    • Women feel out of place in such a space
    • Values associated with masculinity
  • Aaron Betsky

• Future of gender in the architecture world
  • Discuss: projection of all issues discussed- spaces, professions, etc.
  • Study of rates of progress in diversity
  • Women make up 44% of architecture students in the US and UK
    • No significant rise in women in the profession however
  • Analysis of gendered spaces

This research paper will be exploring the representation of the different genders and sexes in the built environment. The research questions that will be explored include:

What is the history of gender in architecture?

What is the distribution of the different genders and sexes in architecture as a profession?

How do spaces reflect the gender of the architect who created them?

How do these masculine or feminine spaces affect the people who inhabit them?

What is the future of gender and the architectural world?

I will start by researching the history of architecture in order to explore how the male dominated field affected the way cities and spaces were built. To begin my research I will be consulting the book by Aaron Betsky: “Building Sex: Men, Women, Architecture, and the Construction of Sexuality”. I will then research the demographics of working architects to explore the distribution of men and women in the current architectural profession.

In order to evaluate how spaces reflect the gender of the architect who created them, I will be exploring various case studies of architecture created by men and women. Clara Greed talks about the implications of this in her book: “Creating a Non-Sexist Restroom”. Greed explains that “the design and policy choices of an urban decision-maker reflect that professional’s life experience and assumptions of what the built environment should be like”. I will be evaluating how this presents itself in tangible architecture. One of my precedents will be the Schroder House. The Schroder House serves as a strong example of how different a space can be when its design is informed by a woman.

To explore how heteronormative spaces affect the different genders, I will be exploring sex-segregated spaces, specifically bathrooms. The sources I will refer to for this include Clara Greed’s “Creating a Non-Sexist Restroom”, “Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality, and the Hygienic Imagination” by Sheila L. Cavanaugh, and “The Eradication of London’s Democratic Queer Pubs” by Samuel Douek. Towards the end of my research, I plan on having a prediction on the future of gender and architecture and an evaluation on how we can create more inclusive architecture.

Preliminary Bibliography

Betsky, Aaron. Building Sex: Men, Women, Architecture, and the Construction of Sexuality. Morrow, 1997.

Clara Greed, “Creating a Non-Sexist Restroom,” in Harvey Molotch and Laura Nolan, eds. Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing (NYU Press, 2010).

Introduction to Sheila L. Cavanagh, Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality, and the Hygienic Imagination (University of Toronto Press, 2010)

Samuel Douek, “The Eradication of London’s Democratic Queer Pubs” in James Benedict Brown, Harriet Harriss, Ruth Morrow, and James Soane, eds, A Gendered Profession: The Question of Representation in Space Making (London: RIBA, 2016)

 

In his book, Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaas states “Manhattan has generated a shameless architecture that has been loved in direct proportion to its defiant lack of self hatred, respected exactly to the degree that it went too far.” This phenomenon is epitomized in one of New York’s latest major construction projects: an eight story multi-arts center with a retractable shell, located off the High Line in Hudson Yards. This creative feat of engineering, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is known as the Shed Art Center. The Shed Art Center encapsulates the shameless architecture depicted by Koolhaas and the spirit of New York through its excessiveness, impermanence, and display of creativity.

The Shed encapsulates the spirit of New York City through its excessive size and imagination. While Manhattan is known for its tall skyscrapers, the shed is massive on the X and Y plane. The shell of the shed nests over a 200,000 square foot building. It is located next to a 17,000 square foot plaza. When the shell is deployed over the plaza, the building’s footprint expands to include it and creates a 120 foot high multipurpose hall. In any other city, this radical transformable building may be viewed as an idea that was taken too far. But Koolhaas calls Manhattan an experiment, and that’s exactly what the Shed is. New York City has not only implemented this imaginative idea, but has celebrated it. The Shed’s excessiveness blends right in to its dramatic surroundings.

The Shed Art Center embraces the impermanence of New York City through its retractable shell. New York City is constantly evolving. The Shed is not trying to be a monument. It is trying to accommodate the constantly changing environment and people it is surrounded by. The Shed recognizes the city’s impermanence, and becomes it. When the building’s shell is extended over the plaza, it creates a rain protected, sound and temperature controlled area used for performing arts that could otherwise not partake in a public plaza. It does not impose on the surrounding plaza, but rather envelops it to provide an even better experience, and only when necessary.

The Shed Art Center a perfect display of New York’s creativity and ability to think outside of the box. Koolhaas refers to Manhattan as a “theater of progress”, and the Shed’s innovative design epitomizes this. The Shed is not only a creative feat of architecture, but the purpose of the building is to encourage the arts. The building includes many innovative technologies to support the arts, from retractable walls to a theatrical deck in the ceiling. When the shell is rolled out over the plaza, it will provide room for approximately 1,300 seated guests. The Shed is the first multi-arts center in New York designed to bring together artists of every genre with the best minds of the humanities and sciences. The Shed is designed for involvement in the commission, production, and presentation of performing and visual arts.  

In summation, Manhattan is a city of excessiveness, impermanence, and creativity. The Shed Art Center is the first building to truly embrace this spirit of New York while encouraging and supporting the arts. Like the rest of the city, the Shed is respected exactly to the degree that it went too far.

References:

In his book, Towards a New Architecture, Corbusier states that “They eye of the spectator finds itself looking at a site composed of streets and houses. It receives the impact of the masses which rise up around it”. Corbusier argues that the proportions and geometries of buildings engage the viewer. He believes that well thought out spatial relationships and carefully constructed geometries are what ultimately charm the person experiencing the building. I believe this is true in respect to large scale architecture. For example, the rhythmic masses of the Salk Institute by Louis Kahn draw people from across the world to experience it.

Salk Institute, Louis Kahn. 

I believe architecture such as this inspires people in the same way that an abstract geometrical painting does. Architecture is a form of art, and this impact should not be discounted. However, I believe that architecture can have just as great an impact at a smaller and more personal scale. When you zoom into one of the houses on this site that Corbusier describes, you find a family with unique needs and wants. This family inhabits the different rooms in this house. These rooms cannot simply have geometrical relationships. They must create a place that is not just to experience in awe, but to live in, comfortably. On this scale, it is the responsibility of the architect to create connections between these rooms that allow people to be alone, bring people together, and make them feel safe.

The modes of construction and materials used in a building should reflect the location and associated culture that it is found in. Materials should be derived locally in order to lower the negative environmental impact of  transportation. In addition, this ensures that the materials used don’t displace the culture of the site. A common mode of construction in architecture involves demolition. Demolition is not only a tragic waste of resources, but it also destroys the evidence of the community that existed there before. I believe architecture should build on its precursor, physically and theoretically. Ideally, a new building should include both the materials and the culture of the previous one.

Kolumba Museum, Peter Zumthor. ArchDaily.

Peter Zumthor accomplishes this in the Kolumba Museum. The site of the Kolumba Museum is Cologne, Germany. This city was nearly destroyed in World War II. In order to preserve the history, essence, and substance of the site, Zumthor built the Kolumba Museum on top of the ruins of a Gothic church. He thus created a condition where the architecture strung together generations of history while still moving forward.

The most tangible impact architecture has on the world is environmental. Although individual buildings can inspire you or make you feel safe, collectively, they can have a devastating environmental impact. It is the responsibility of the architect to create environmentally cautious and sustainable architecture. While sustainability rating programs such as LEED help improve building technologies, the greenest building is one that has already been constructed. The longer the lifespan of a building, the less of an environmental impact it has. The rapid construction and demolition of buildings supersedes the green technologies they implement. Compared to a building with a lifespan of 50 years, a lifespan of 80 years reduces environmental impact by 29%, 100 years reduces the impact by 38%, and 120 years reduces it by 44%. Above all, architects need to create buildings that can last, and respect buildings that have already lasted.

References

Le, Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. New York: Dover Publications, 1986. Print.

Cilento, Karen. “Kolumba Museum / Peter Zumthor.” ArchDaily, 6 Aug. 2010.

“Sustainability in Architecture: Environmental and Social Impacts of Built…” Build Abroad, 15 Aug. 2017.

Marsh, Rob. “Building lifespan: effect on the environmental impact of building components in a Danish perspective”. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 2017.

Architecture is a complex system. The most important characteristic of a complex system is its nonlinearity. Nonlinearity is the idea that when two or more elements are grouped together, the result is not simply a sum of the parts. When working together, these parts can create something new. This is a fundamental property of architecture. Leon Battista Alberti, an architect and author practicing in the 15th century, wrote On the Art of Building in Ten Books. Le Corbusier, an architect practicing in the 20th century, wrote Towards a New Architecture. Although Alberti and Corbusier discuss architecture in different ways, both of their texts can be analyzed for evidence of a complex system. By analyzing this evidence, we can understand the progression of architecture throughout the centuries to where it is now. Alberti’s depiction of architecture is linear, while Corbusier’s definition is complex.

Alberti’s writings on architecture reflect linearity in two ways: the way architecture emerged, and the way it is. In Alberti’s book, On the Art of Building in Ten Books, he discusses the emergence of architecture in history. Alberti’s description of this emergence is highly linear. He describes its development as a step by step process in which different elements of shelter were needed by man, and thus added together to create the house. First, they generated the idea of a roof, to protect themselves from the rain and wind. Then, they built walls to sit the roof on. Finally, they created openings in which the walls could be trespassed. Alberti mentions that the house was divided into different rooms for different uses, but does not discuss the relationships between these rooms.

Furthermore, Alberti claims that the whole matter of building is composed of six elements: locality, area, compartition, wall, roof, and opening. He defines compartition as the process of dividing the house into smaller units. Alberti argues that the wall, for example, can be further subdivided into its raw materials. He claims that these raw materials should be strong and endurant. This suggests a hierarchical system in which the house is made up of rooms, the rooms are made up of walls, and the walls are made up of materials. Alberti argues that the success of the house is dependent on the integrity of each of these parts, and does not discuss their relationships to one another.

Corbusier’s musings on architecture in his book Towards a New Architecture greatly contrast Alberti’s. Corbusier refers to the house as a “machine for living in”. A machine cannot function without the organization and interdependence of its many elements, a characteristic of complex systems. While Alberti claims that the raw materials of a building should be strong, Corbusier claims that the purpose of architecture is to create emotional relationships via these raw materials. Furthermore, Corbusier argues that the practice of architecture is a complex system. He states “Our own epoch is determining, day by day, its own style”. Architecture has many inputs and outputs and does not develop in a linear progression. Corbusier even directly mentions linearity in his book: “the regulating line is a means to an end; it is not a recipe”. Corbusier is considered one of the pioneers of modern architecture, and his writings provide evidence that architecture is developing as a complex system.

The relationships between the rooms in a building is the essence of architecture and its creative spirit. It is an architect’s job to create these relationships and make them suitable for the place and the people involved. Alberti’s depiction of architecture is linear, and does not suggest that architecture was a complex system during the 15th century. Corbusier’s writings suggest that the modern practice of architecture and the buildings created in the process do, and should, exist as complex systems.

References:

Le, Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. New York: Dover Publications, 1986. Print.

Alberti, Leon Battista. On the Art of Building in Ten Books. MIT Press, 1988. Reprint.