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Black Bathing Suit

MAKING SPACE FOR WOMEN _

THE KEYHOLE HOUSE

City: Mumbai, Maharashtra

House is a stage for the theatre of the family, where people are born, live, and die. 

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The keyhole House explores the Gendered Narratives and drams of the Indian Family and examines the conditions of changing power dynamics through visuality in space.

 

The house has a keyhole entrance from the center and establishes layers of spatial transparency through the various elements and mechanisms, allowing the women to control the visuality.

 

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Client is the 'master' , Why not the Mistress?

Challenging the power dynamics 

Existing Gendered Narratives

The Clients 

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Ground Floor

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Uncovering

 

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mystery 

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First  Floor

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Layers of Spatiality

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INFLUENCE ON IDEOLOGY 

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ABOUT BRIEF :

DISCOVERIES

About Practice

Many a times , the Programmatic brief of the Project does not take considerations of Gender , even if taken, the calculations and area usage are standardized based on demography and conventional use. Situational and circumstantial factors ( city, culture, region, occupation, diurnal activity) for any gender are never considered. eg: Alps retreat : Separate reading in to Spas and provisions for women had to be done.

 

 

The design brief does not take women into consideration, given the brief of the house, mentioned .

 

Some programs come with a gendered understanding often leaving the 'Othered' users ( women, LGBTQ) out of question. The Gymnasium for example, takes muscle building protein consuming male client as the prime user due to which the imagination of the Gym comes with constricted approach from women in general.

The idea of the program affects the clientele and success of the project.

 

THE CLIENT is the master, Why not the 'mistress'? :

The architect also relies on the person in contact for all information about the project. This holds true for all types of projects unless and until the user is the client which doesn't happen.

RESEARCH ALSO TALKS ABOUT WOMEN AND FEMALE AS CLIENTS_ What impact they have created historically ( clients of Le Corb, Mies, SOM who were women ....Beatrice's lecture_ Refer Quasi Space)

 

 

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The client's brief hardly considers 'Othered' Users

They are only point of contact for architect !!

Research for preparation of Brief before project is required

Architects need to know the end users, even better indulge with them.

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ABOUT DESIGN DECISIONS:

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DECONSTRUCTION

The KEYHOLE house 

The roles and behaviors of the family members are known as the unalterable forces. The house Holds a power structure which in the Indian Context is often degenerating the position and identity of women, especially springing problems of visuality

To be seen or not to be seen

Seeking points of control

women often at the threshold between the interiors and exteriors, experience domestic voyeurisms and unspeakable forms of violence.

Typically, the female body has been signified as the 'box of secrets', the common myth that the house is a chest has historically pressured the association of the domain of the interiors of a home as the 'space' of women. The deconstruction of this gender construct is important.

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With the direct contradiction to this , comes the reality of the metropolitan woman of 21st century in Mumbai, whose home is also her workplace.

The notion that home work is work too ( unpaid labor) and that the home in the times of pandemic highly becomes used by all genders... The needs have to be provided for.

Factors of PROVISION AND DECOSNTRUCTION together give clues for design

PROVISION 

"OF THE 'MYTH' that the domain of women is a chest that should remain closed,

that the female body needs to be preserved."

FOR THE METROPOLITAN 

Mumbaikar Woman, whose Home is also her workplace and she values her French windows, coffee breaks, time with her mother in law...!!

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FEMINIST WAYS OF THINKING 

1. CONSTRUCTION OF NARRATIVES

2. IMAGINING GENDER PERFORMANCES

3. WORKING WITH 'OTHERED' USERS

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