Making Space: Women and the Man Made Environment

by Matrix

Timely re-issue of the groundbreaking manifesto for feminist architecture

Making Space is a pioneering work first published in 1984 which challenges us to look at how the built environment impacts on women’s lives. It exposes the sexist assumptions on gender and sexuality that have a fundamental impact on the way buildings are designed and our cities are planned.

Written collaboratively by the feminist collective Matrix, tthe book provide a full blown critique of the patriarchal built environment both in the home and in public space, and outline alternative forms of practice that are still relevant today. Making Space remains a path breaking book pointing to possibilities of a feminist future.

Some authors worked for the London-based Matrix Feminist Architect’s collective, an architectural practice set up in 1980 seeking to establish a feminist approach to design. They worked on design projects—such as community, children and women’s centres. Others were engaged in building work, teaching and research.

The new edition comes with a new introduction examining the context, process and legacy of Making Space written by leading feminists in architecture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Architecture, Urbanism, Design, Politics, Womens

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Sian Lile-Pastore · Rating 4 out of 5]

so interesting and ahead of its time. kinda niche i guess - you gotta like architecture and spaces.

[Amber Rhodes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this book is super interesting and unlike anything I’ve ever read. The melting pot of architectural foundations (pardon the pun) and the added questions of gender and sex that plague the man-made world.

Matrix is such a cool collective and make a subject matter super accessible, coming from somebody with little to no experience with architecture. I learnt so much from this book about how something so simple as having a window above the kitchen sink is ruined in gender bias and the stereotypical nuclear family.

Would really recommend.

[Kelsey Wilkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found certain sections of this book interesting but overall because it was written in the 80s, I found some of the chapters were too focused on designing to support the traditional housewife and spoke of the woman architect as a rare outlier (which is still true but not to the extreme they talk about). We need an updated version of this to mark how we’ve grown towards supporting women in the world of architecture and design, and mark where we’re still lacking.

Analyzing how woman are wired to be empathetic which can make pleasing both the client and builder tricky was interesting and I wish it was explored more. Society makes it tough for femininity to be taken seriously but typical attributes of the feminine make for better management and collaboration.

Also hilarious that they compared a woman become an architect to a woman becoming a nun because of the dedication it requires. “They must be better at the job than men, but should be content with the opportunity to have a career and the satisfaction of the work itself rather than to receive recognition”

[Tommie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If a block of council flats looks like a filing cabinet or prison, we are right in thinking that this carries ideas about the status of people who live there."

A very interesting lens through which to view the buildings of homes. Part history, part feminist philsophy, part dissection of class, and part architecture critique. Not all of it feels perfectly relevant today, but frankly, a depressing amount of it still does.

[Roxy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up.
I was expecting more about public buildings, urban areas, liminal spaces though the focus is largely on housing, but still a very good read.

[Martina Canova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every page of it!
I wish I found more books on the same topics for different countries and different periods of time, but with the same ease of reading and meaningfulness!

[Jack Hawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating insight into how (often male orientated) urban planning and design affects the way we live, both outside and inside the house. Full of lessons that are just as relevant today as when they were written, this book shines a light onto the inadequacies and flaws of the common house layouts we so often take for granted, and how so many have often been overlooked in urban design, and how buildings and layout affect us psychologically. I'll never look at a street in the same way again.

[Iza Donetch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that every architect should read. What surprises me most about this book is that many of the difficulties that women experience in practice, in the city and at home are still valid (although there is really no surprise in that).

[Jessica Dyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting architectural book that beautifully examines the relationship between space and place and how this mirrors western societies expectations of women and enforcing misogynistic ideals.

[ⵀⴰⵙⵙⴰⵏ ⵀⴰⵢⴰⵙⵜⴰⵏⵉ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Like a library for ekistics scientists, architects, designers and policy makers.

[Nikola · Rating 5 out of 5]

The urban space has to be thought radically new. This book radicalized me again a bit more & that’s very pleasant

[Emilee Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I use "enjoyed" loosely though as it was often disheartening that some elements of this book are still relevant and applicable to women's daily lives, more than this, the stereotype of women and families coming from working class backgrounds, and the classist view of those who live in council tenants still remains unchanged.

Something I particularly loved about this book though was how accessible it was for people with very limited knowledge of architecture and the process of design and planning. It was explained simply enough to understand the basic concepts but in enough detail that it really drilled home exactly where the inequality lies between women and men in the built environment.

Architecture, history and urban planning meets feminism is officially one of my favourite reads!