1. Feminist and Green Design: new aesthetics or new ethics?
Tripti Upreti
Senior, Architecture
Dr. Andrea Wheeler
Professor, Architecture
Iowa State University
Design has influenced our lives in many ways, from impacting our environment to altering human behavior. Today, we will discuss two of the approaches to Socially Responsible Design, fulfilling the requirements of sustainability- Green Design and Feminist Design.
My research was abou
F e m i n i s t

2. Socially Responsible Design
caters to the role of women in the society
Feminist Design
New Ethics
New Aesthetics?
Socially Responsible Design
Social
Economic
Environmental
Green Design
minimize the harmful effects on human health and environment
Social Responsible Design has not yet been assigned a formal definition, it is influenced by a parameter that contains justice, equality, participation, sharing, sustainability. Sustainability is a broad topic that shapes our future through a set of guidelines and measures, which may differ culturally and geographically. It is a response to the lifestyle of millions around us who have been adding on to the depreciation of our planet and humanity. Modern architecture is attempting to change the social response to these cultural interventions ethically or aesthetically, and in order for design to be socially responsible, it must embody the favorable conditions to the social modifications.
Green Design has been implemented to minimize the harmful effects on human health and environment, thus to make our planet more sustainable. Feminist Design, on the other hand, is perceived as gender equitable perspective design in this patriarchal society. We will also address the discourse of inequality and its relation to cultural adaptations.
Feminist design does not just cater to significance of women’s role in the society: It also helps to address the questions of social inequity through a more transformative- bottom- up approach where it tackles the issues of subjective experience, accessibility, well being and safety of women in built environments

3. Ethics
Aesthetics
A set of principles govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.
A set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty.
Sustainability
Justice
Equality
Sharing
Participation
Care
Using our resources to provide clients with a better spacial experience
Ethics: Care
Do check these!

4. Compliments the surroundings and environment
Aesthetics
Aesthetics Masculinity
Feminist aesthetics
Compliments the surroundings and environment
Objectified
Competitive
Self Assertive
Consumer-oriented
Rigid
Strong
Bold

5. Ethics Aesthetics Frank Gehry -Architecture firms
Green Design
Ethics
Aesthetics
Frank Gehry
-Architecture firms
-Masculine aesthetics
-Objectified
Famous architects:
Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect
Ken Yeang, Malaysian Architect
Jean Nouvel, French Architect
Renzo Piano, Italian Architect
Certifications:
Green Building Code
LEED
Living Challenge
Marketing Strategy?
Currently, Frank Gehry is seen as the leader of modern building design, however, sustainability and beauty are considered to be the most disputed, when put next to each other. According to many, green buildings lack beauty because they are not artistic in nature, as they are strictly designed to be energy efficient using low cost materials, limiting the creativity of architects and designers. Whereas, there are some who disagree and categorize buildings ugly which fail to meet the standard requirements of green design or which fail to prove sustainable. Buildings designed by Frank Gehry are highly criticized for that reason and described through their monstrosity with excessive use of new materials which may be harmful to our environment. Lance Hosey, nationally recognized architect and Chief Sustainability Officer with global design leader Perkins Eastman, states how green design needs to be aesthetically pleasing along with the ethics one may follow.
In current architectural practice, aesthetics is an essential part of design, as it is an aspect that sells well in the market. If a design or building is eye pleasing, it is considered very promising and accepted by our society. It is an idea been followed since centuries, however, based on the current situation, Green Design is promising, which can stand the repercussions of the climate change, addressing the societal needs.
The main idea behind this discussion is to highlight the importance of finding an optimal balance between sustainability and aesthetics. Both are opposite sides of the same coin and neither should lose its importance over each other.

6. Ethics Aesthetics SUBJECTIVE!! Famous architects: -Frank Gehry
Green Design
Ethics
Aesthetics
-Frank Gehry
-Architecture firms
-Objectified
Famous architects:
Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect
Ken Yeang, Malaysian Architect
Jean Nouvel, French Architect
Renzo Piano, Italian Architect
SUBJECTIVE!!
Certifications:
Green Building Code
LEED
Living Challenge

7. Ethics Aesthetics SUBJECTIVE!! Famous architects: -Frank Gehry
Green Design
Ethics
Aesthetics
-Frank Gehry
-Architecture firms
-Objectified
Famous architects:
Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect
Ken Yeang, Malaysian Architect
Jean Nouvel, French Architect
Renzo Piano, Italian Architect
SUBJECTIVE!!
Certifications:
Green Building Code
LEED
Living Challenge
Lance Hosey, nationally recognized architect and Chief Sustainability Officer with global design leader Perkins Eastman, states how green design needs to be aesthetically pleasing along with the ethics one may follow.

8. Female in the architecture industry
Along with climate change, we also need to address human behavior towards women. Throughout history, women have served as successful theorists, political leaders, astronauts, engineers, designers and architects, however, women have faced endless struggles and discrimination in every field they have served in, including the field of architecture and design. Followed by the societal rules architecture has played, in the past and present, a role in creating separate spaces for women, correlating to their lesser role in the society. There are several factors, that influence the role of women in the society- culturally held attitudes, norms, values and practices, patriarchal ideology and religious beliefs.

9. Female faculty at the Architecture Department in the College of Design

10. WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE SURVEY, USA
Feminist Design
WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE SURVEY, USA
One in five women worldwide say they would not encourage a woman to start a career in architecture
Unfair treatment at meetings
51%
No children
75%
Having children put WOMEN at a disadvantage
84%
Having children put MEN at a disadvantage
25%
No Child related benefits
92%
Results of the 2016 Women in Architecture Survey." Architectural Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr

11. WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE SURVEY, USA
Feminist Design
WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE SURVEY, USA
One in five women worldwide say they would not encourage a woman to start a career in architecture
Unfair treatment at meetings
51%
No children
75%
Having children put WOMEN at a disadvantage
84%
Having children put MEN at a disadvantage
25%
No Child related benefits
92%
When compared to the women in Middle East and Asia, they experienced higher rates of discrimination and sexual harassment. Therefore, a woman’s role changes with culture (West to East).

12. Feminist Design: Villa Anbar, Saudi Arabia
Muslim Sexuality is territorial. Its regulatory mechanisms consist primarily in a strict allocation of space to each sex.
Walls and veils are an anti-seductive device. Territoriality reflects a specific conception of society and power.
- Fatima Mernissi
(Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist)
Architecture has controlled the design/space and its uses based on the social considerations. Architecture is a tool used to implement gender separation ideals culture to culture. Villa Anbar in Saudi Arabia is an example of resistance to the Islamic traditions and norms. Fatima Mernissi, feminist writer and sociologist from Morocco writes, “Muslim Sexuality is territorial. Its regulatory mechanisms consist primarily in a strict allocation of space to each sex.” In Islamic traditions houses are built with an intention to provide different spaces for each sex.

13. Feminist Design: Villa Anbar, Saudi Arabia
Aesthetics of Arabic Vernacular and Modern Architecture
First Floor
Second Floor
Architects: Peter Barber Architects
Location: Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Year completed: 1993
Client: Wasfiah Anbar, Novelist
Therefore, encouraging to change culturally held attitudes, Villa Anbar, proves to be that spark in Saudi Arabia. Villa Anbar was designed and constructed for a novelist from London. In traditional residences in Saudi Arabia the allocated space for women is at the bottom relating to their lesser role in the society, whereas the men occupy the space on top, signifying the social complexity and power held by them. “Walls and veils are an anti-seductive device. Territoriality reflects a specific conception of society and power.”

14. ECOFEMINISM!! Ethics Aesthetics
Feminist Design
Ethics
Aesthetics
A set of principles govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.
A set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty.
Sustainability
Justice
Equality
Sharing
Participation
Care
Using our resources to provide clients with a better spacial experience
Feminist aesthetics
-complementing
ECOFEMINISM!!
Socially Responsible Design, encompassing feminist design and green design, does not only focus on aesthetics but also delivers the significance of these social and political issues related to humans and our environment. When examining aesthetics in green design, despite of various perspective, it is hard to meet all the requirements for both aesthetics and ethics. Green Design is majorly based on the principles and ethics to save the planet, whereas feminist design is purely about aesthetics followed by ethics. Aesthetics in feminism is understood through the sensory experience followed by the ethics of feminist theory. However, architects and theorists are working towards progressing in both spectrums which would be visible in the years to come. Ethics and aesthetics overlap one another when used within the realm of design. However, each plays an important role above another within different context as, they not always go side by side. Feminist design is a theory which has been approached through the philosophy of aesthetics than ethics, however, ethics plays a major role in Green Design, reducing carbon footprint and meeting the 2030 challenge.

15. What is Feminist Design to you??