City and Cultre
GENDER STUDIES IN DESIGN |
In conversation with Madhavi Desai
LA 63 |
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Madhavi Desai along with her architect partner Miki Desai, is founder of
ARCHICRAFTS, a research organization based in Ahmedabad, engaged in
practice, research and documentation in the fields of vernacular, Colonial
and modern architecture as well as gender issues in the built environment.
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You have written extensively about the role and place of women in
the Indian design realm, both in history, education, and practice. Why
do you think it is a different genre?
It is a category so invisible in our mainstream discourses, that it has to be
brought to the notice of all concerned. Though we talk about women [this
includes gender minorities] here, I want to stress that these discourses also
ignore class, caste, religion, etc. that are as important. In our 465 colleges
of architecture, more than 50% of graduates have been women for at least
the past twenty-five years, but this is not reflected in practice. Even in the
21st century, the rate of attrition is still high in architecture. One of the
popular myths is that if a woman is really talented, she will succeed in the
discipline and be recognized. This is not as simple as it sounds because
women face structural, socio-economical, and other pressures.
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