Home Planning and Gender in Mandatory Palestine by Sigal Davidi

In this article, the author focuses on house planning through the lens of gender, exploring the development of new household ideas from Germany to Palestine. To begin with, the author introduces the concept of ‘’new woman’’, which was tailored towards easing the burden of house chores. The author then introduces us to Lotte Cohn; the first woman to practice architecture in Eretz Yisrael. She was the only woman architect to worked as both practitioner and theorist in Mandatory Palestine. Cohn was also the first woman to open her own architectural firm in 1931 in Tel Aviv. Modern architecture, especially the planning of the modern home, responded to the changing status of women. Its emphasis on the function represented the best means of achieving rational design. The target of the most radical change in the design of the modern house was the kitchen because it represented a key architectural problem of crucial cultural, social, and political questions revolving around the role of women in modern life. Both architects and designers focused on creating a ‘’scientific kitchen’’. This approach was also called ”a work saving kitchen” which would optimize women’s labor by making tasks of cooking and cleaning more convenient. German women’s organizations immediately embraced the idea of “scientific methods” as the new approach to domestic chores and became staunch advocates of household rationalization.

An Alternative to Functionalist Universalism Ecochard, Candilis, and ATBAT-Afrique by Monique Eleb

The author begins this article by explaining the word ‘’Habitat’’; a term used by the French to describe not only the home but also its environment and everything surrounding it. He then introduces us to a housing grid. Ecochard established a housing grid for Muslims measuring 8 by 8 meters (26 ft. 3in. by 26ft. 3in), a neighborhood level of ‘theoretical guideline’. This surface area would permit the construction of a standard two-room dwelling. The importance of the Moroccan buildings is that they are the first manifestation of a new way of thinking. Hence, they are presented as ideas; but it is their realization in built form that convinces us that there is a new universal. In Morocco in the 1950s, the rigid specification of housing along ethnic and class lines conflicted with the universalist tendencies of modernization. Because of the differences between residential cultures, the importance to the universality of human was given the priority. ‘Apart from specific conditions such as humidity or heat’, there is no reason for main differences in design since these projects are for the same people and attempt to achieve the same goal-to allow people to live in the same way. Modern architecture was seen to educate and encourage certain forms of behavior through the modern conveniences it provides. Candalis and Woods believed that there were fundamental needs common to humanity. They emphasized that to assure a successful project, one need only identify those needs. Moroccan architects appealed to culture when creating their adapted habitats and to modern civilization in their attempts to make everyone coexist in the same type of space.

The Right to the City: From Capital Surplus to Accumulation by Dispossession” by David Harvey, Edited by Swapna Banerjee-Guha

In this article, the author puts forth an argument that the right of the city is a collective rather an individual right. His argument regarding the ‘’right to the city’’ and its importance for the anti-capitalist struggle is intriguing. Harvey’s idea was initially proposed by Henri Lefebre in 1968. The author mentions that it is our right to make and remake the cities. However, this freedom is the most important yet most neglected of our human rights. He sees the ‘’right to the city’’ not as a right that already exists, but as a collective struggle by all those that have a part in producing the city and creating the life in it (mostly builders and constructors), to claim the right to decide what kind of urbanism they want. For this reason, the process of urbanization has become capitalistic. Harvey then describes the typical routine of a capitalist. Capitalists begin their day with a certain amount of money, end the day with more of it, deciding next day what to do with the extra money they gained the day before. This most radical expansion of the urban process has brought with it, incredible transformations of lifestyle. The author employs a Marxist approach on the phenomenon of contemporary cities. It also understands them as a consequence of ‘’geographical and social concentration’’ of surplus product, which according to him, make them a class phenomenon because surpluses must have been extracted from somewhere (the working class). However, capitalist urbanization has another darker nature according to Harvey: the urban restructuring takes place through a process of ‘displacement and dispossession’. This means usually that poorer and less powerful populations are losing their place and space in the city.

Critical Response

I have two critical responses. Firstly, in ‘’An Alternative to Functionalist Universalism’’ article, the author mentions that the importance to the universality of human was given the priority in Morocco in the 1950s. I find this important because as architects, we should always put humanity at the center of our design. No matter the ethnicity or class. We, as humans, design for humans. Besides specific conditions such as humidity or heat, there is no reason for main differences in design. As architects, our goal is the same; to allow people to live in the same way and we use architecture as a tool to do so.

Secondly, in ‘’Home Planning and Gender in Mandatory Palestine” the author focuses on housing planning through the lens of gender. I have to agree that as a woman, it is frustrating to hear that most of women’s opinions were not considered until the 1950s. However, I find it so inspiring to hear of other women’s stories that have worked hard and build their careers from ground up. Lotte Cohn is a proof of that. She was the first woman to practice architecture in Eretz Yisrael. She was the only woman architect to worked as both practitioner and theorist in Mandatory Palestine. Cohn was also the first woman to open her own architectural firm in 1931 in Tel Aviv. It is fascinating to me to read all the achievements that Cohn has accomplished.

Application

One of the things I love about architecture is the impact architecture has on people’s lives. Architecture transform’s people’s lives, shapes cultures, societies and lifestyles. Thus, it is important to make architecture inclusive and universal. How the spaces are designed would have some sort of an effect on us. The purpose of architecture is more than just providing a ‘shelter’ or a space for a particular function, but also to make the beings who inhabit that space healthy and happy. In the current era where the focus of architecture is increasingly towards sustainability, it is all the more important to balance the aspect of human impact within the sphere of the design process. Buildings shape us just like we shape buildings. The Lantern is an assisted living community in Ohio designed to serve senior citizens suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s. The architects designed the neighborhood to reflect that of the 1930s and ‘40s because that was when many of the residents grew up. The community is complete with porches, rocking chairs and grass-like carpets. By putting people at the center of architectural design, the built environment can better serve residents long into the future.

Take Aways

• Modern architecture, especially the planning of the modern home, responded to the changing status of women in Mandatory Palestine
• The concept of ‘’new woman’’ was tailored towards easing the burden of house chores
• Buildings shape us just like we shape buildings