Feminists have demonstrated it: cities and their architecture—primarily designed by and for men—produce spaces that are far from neutral, and often perpetuate discrimination. The right to the city is not equally shared; for many minorities, it remains restricted.
The exhibition Bodies in the City: Architectures, Feminisms and Constructed Spaces explores how a feminist approach to both analyzing and producing space can help foster environments that welcome a diversity of bodies and sexualities. Structured in two chapters, the first offers a historical and legal overview of power structures at work in the built environment, as well as the practices that have resisted them throughout the 20th century to the present. The second chapter showcases a series of constructed interventions that open up possibilities for alternative urban experiences. It is organized around four core activities of daily life: moving, subsisting, working, and making space. The exhibition highlights feminist and queer architectural practices that expose and challenge spatial inequalities embedded in Western urban contexts.
The scenography extends these questions into the very space of display. Conceived as five distinct figures, each element invites a specific interaction. A curtain plays with visibility, casting visitor shadows into the exhibition for others to see. A round table form a non-linear atlas of feminist architectural histories. A raised platform requires visitors to bend over and look closely. Enclosed cabins create moments of intimacy, where visitors may unexpectedly confront another body. Lastly, bleachers offer rest, welcoming tired visitors.
Through these spatial gestures, the exhibition underscores how architecture organizes bodies and behaviors, calling attention to how space can include or exclude—and how it might be reimagined for greater care for multiple subjectivities and bodies.
The project was commissioned by the Maison de l’Architecture Île-de-France. Photographs : © Camille Lemonnier.