Bodies, building and bricks: Women architects and builders in eight eco-communities in Argentina, Britain, Spain, Thailand and USA

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 ecobuilding are belittled. This paper suggests that a focus on bodies, embodiment and the 'doing' of building is a potentially productive way to move beyond current gender discrimination. This paper makes three key interventions using empirical material from eight case studies of eco-communities in Britain, Thailand, Spain, 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 paper finds more commonalities than differences in gender discrimination across cultures and nationalities. Third, it outlines three spaces of opportunity through which more genderneutral approaches are being developed in eco-building: (a) in challenging the need for 'strong' bodies; (b) by practising more embodied ways of building; and (c) 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.Although much work remains to facilitate more gender-neutral building practices, an embodied approach has enabled women and men to begin to move beyond gender as a 2 defining difference and re-define their building skills and capacities in relation to their diverse bodies.

Women’s career development in the construction industry across 15 years: main barriers

“…Matthewson (2015), English and Hay (2015), Alessandrini and Winter (2014b), Azhar and Griffin (2014), Kaewsri and Tonghthong (2014), Navarro-Astor and Caven (2014), Sang et al (2014), Davis (2014), Pickerill (2014), Kolade and Kehinde (2013), Arenas and Calama (2012), Babatunde et al (2012), English and Le Jeune (2012), Ibáñez and Fernández (2011), Wellington (2010), Lu and Sexton (2010), Construction Sector Council (2010), Barnabas et al (2009), Enshassi et al (2008), Dainty and Lingard (2006), Arslan and Kivrak (2004), Fowler and Wilson (2004), Kehinde and Okoli (2004), Michielsens et al (2004), López-Sáez et al (2004), Agapiou (2002), Whittock (2002) and Greed (2000).…”

“…Matthewson (2015), Barreto (2015), Kelly et al (2015), Alessandrini and Winter (2014b), Azhar and Griffin (2014), Kaewsri and Tonghthong (2014), Navarro-Astor and Caven (2014), Pickerill (2014), Caven and Navarro-Astor (2013), Agudo and Sánchez (2011), Kaewsri and Tonghthong (2013), Choudhury (2013), Denissen (2010), Wellington (2010), Construction Sector Council (2010), Barnabas et al (2009), Enshassi et al (2008), Eliufoo (2007), Menches and Abraham (2007), Dainty and Lingard (2006), De Graft-Johnson et al (2005), Fowler and Wilson (2004), Borrás and Bucci (2003), Dainty et al (2000) and Greed (2000).…”

“…Barreto (2015), English and Hay (2015), Alessandrini and Winter (2014b), Sang et al (2014), Pickerill (2014), Ayre et al (2013), Román et al (2013), Kolade and Kehinde (2013), Agudo and Sánchez (2011), Lu and Sexton (2010), Construction Sector Council (2010), Borrás and Bucci (2003) and Agapiou (2002).…”

“…In fact, the construction industry has long been a site of gender discrimination across cultures and nationalities, women remain under-represented (Galea et al , 2015; French and Strachan, 2015; Sang and Powell, 2012) and “gender stubbornly remains a marker of division” (Pickerill, 2014, p. 3). In Europe, the construction sector provides jobs to 14.1 million operatives, which represent 6.5 per cent of Europe’s total employment (FIEC, 2015).…”

Making space for disability in eco‐homes and eco‐communities

“…Exposure to nature is also a significant factor in maintaining positive mental wellbeing (Maas et al ). Many eco‐communities purport to be politically progressive, supporting gender‐neutral practices, inclusion of diversity, non‐nuclear family structures, and a new politics of the self (Pickerill ). This emphasis on progressive inclusion of difference, on a particular ethics of inclusion, and on self‐building houses to suit the needs of occupants should, more than conventional housing, offer particular opportunities to disabled people.…”