A growing body of academic literature illuminates the exclusion of women from the public realm which further translates into their absence from public debate, policy and action. In Indian cities where vehicular ownership usually lies with men, streets are imagined around automobiles thus invariably assuming the ‘universal citizen’ client to be male, car driving, leisurely and able bodied. It thus becomes apparent that the street as a public space belongs more to a man than a woman.
How do we then imagine a city where half the population is a woman?
This studio focuses on mapping and analysing the socio-spatial practices of gendered bodies to establish the unique challenges they face of access, leisure and safety. The students will systematically translate the outcome of this analysis into a clearly articulated design strategy and detailed out design drawings in order to propose solutions that enable equal access to the city.
Studio Unit
Un- Gendering the Everyday City: Process
Stage 1: Mapping and Analysis. Students mapped sites at different scales, while recording gendered activity patterns in each. The scales were - a street from memory, their homes, and their selected sites in Ahmedabad. The drawings were then analysed, and abstractions produced with respect to a specific set of learning outcomes at each different scale.
Stage 2: Socio-Spatial Analysis. Students began to organise their mapping and analysis into a concise narrative while producing a detailed repository of social behaviors that play out on the street and the spatial elements that enable them, with respect to women and the site for the same was Chandigarh where in they mapped- Sukhna Lake, Sector 23 and 17, and Tribune Chowk.
Stage 3- Design Development and Representation. Students make strategy diagrams and visual manifestos to conceptualize ideas that un-genders public spaces. The design thus emerges as a product of analysis and ideation, represented using technically accurate drawings, analytical diagrams and rich perspectives.
Stage 4: Demonstrating Un-gendering: After designing, each student conducted analysis on their proposed designs with respect to their initial research and demonstrated their ability to successfully ‘un-gender’ the street.
