Subtitle: Re-Visioning Spaces, Places, and Everyday Things
Edited by: Joan Rothschild
Forward by:Paola Antonelli
Subject: Architecture/Gender Studies
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-2666-3
Paperback ISBN 0-8135-2667-1
Pages: 256 pp., 7x10, 71 illus.
Description: A collection of essays rethinking architecture, design, and technology from feminist perspectives.

"The essays in Design and Feminism range from experiential reflections to critical inquiries of contemporary and historical practices; but all pose wonderfully insightful, intriguing, and viable possibilities for revisioning the landscapes of our lives. The book beckons a wide audience, not simply because of the diversity of ideas covered but also because the language is refreshingly clear and free of jargon."---Sherry Ahrentzen, professor of architecture, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

How well do our designed environments---the places and spaces where we live, work, and play---meet our aesthetic and functional needs? Increasingly, the distinction between the spaces considered public and private or work and home are becoming more blurred. As a result, innovative designs are needed to meet the challenges of our ever-changing environment. Our streets, parks, dwellings, and tools are designed to a "one-size-fits-all" standard, and the responses of the design community to meet diverse needs have been mixed at best. Design and Feminism offers feminist critiques of these inadequate design standards, and suggests ideas, projects, and programs for change.

Each contributor asks how we might think differently and more inclusively about human needs in the environments in which we live and work. The interdisciplinary essays reflect the writers' diverse fields---architectural, urban, and design history.

Essays cover such subjects as rethinking the American city, graphic design and the urban landscape, working at home, special needs in housing, theories of women and design, redesigning architectural education, and a photo essay on industrial designs. A review essay of the literature in these fields---the first of its kind---rounds out the collection.

Contributors:

Amelia Amon

Wendy E. Brawer

Cheryl Buckley

Sue Cavanagh

Roberta M. Feldman

Alice T. Friedman

Dolores Hayden

Ghislaine Hermanuz

Barbara Knect

Ellen Lupton

Nancy Perkins

Victoria Rosner

Joan Rothschild

Susana Torre

Lynne Walker

Leslie Kanes Weisman

Joan Rothschild is a research associate at the Center for Human Environments at the Graduate School and University of New York. She is the author of Machina Ex Dea: Feminist Perspectives on Technology; and Women, Technology, and Innovation.