Pickerill, J. (2015) Bodies, building and bricks: Women architects and builders in eight eco-communities in Argentina, Britain, Spain, Thailand and USA. Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 22 (7). pp. 901-919. ISSN 0966-369X
Abstract
Eco-building is a male domain where men are presumed to be better builders and designers, more men than women build and women find their design ideas and contributions to eco-building are belittled. This article suggests that a focus on bodies, embodiment and the ‘doing’ of building is a potentially productive way to move beyond current gender discrimination. This article makes three key interventions using empirical material from eight case studies of eco-communities in Britain, Thailand, Spain, the USA and Argentina. First, it uses a focus on eco-communities to illustrate the enduring persistence of gender divisions in architecture and building. Second, by using multi-site examples of eco-communities from diverse countries this article finds more commonalities than differences in gender discrimination across cultures and nationalities. Third, it outlines three spaces of opportunity through which more gender-neutral approaches are being developed in eco-building: (1) in challenging the need for ‘strong’ bodies, (2) by practising more embodied ways of building and (3) by making visible women's bodies in building. The ‘doing’ and manual aspect of eco-building is unfamiliar for many (not just women) and interviewees commented on the need to (re)learn how to be practical and to understand the physical possibilities (and limitations) of their bodies.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 Taylor & Francis. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | building; architecture; gender; eco-communities; bodies; embodiment |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 18 Nov 2015 16:15 |
Last Modified: | 22 Mar 2018 18:04 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2014.939158 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/0966369X.2014.939158 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:89511 |