Is there a Feminist Analysis of Architecture? (Jos Boys, French Translation by Marine Beuerle and Mathias Rollot)

Abstract

In this article published in 1984, architect, researcher, and activist Jos Boys examines the field of architecture through the lens of a feminism that does not leave it unscathed. Forty years later, one cannot help but note how many of the calls for change and transformations she urged have (still) yet to be implemented. While society has changed since this text was first published, and while feminist thought has begun to make inroads into the field of architecture in France, the critical perspective this text offers on the discipline—its practice and its foundations—remains as relevant as it is necessary. The (previously unpublished) French translation of this text and its introduction thus not only help to further enrich the emerging feminist theoretical corpus within French-speaking architectural circles; they also serve to remind us, despite everything, of the long road still ahead regarding these issues that remain as pressing as ever.