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Co-housing: An eco-feminist model for architecture? 28 September 2021

For the sixth talk in our Architecture Anew series, we looked at the ways in which climate justice intersects with feminism through a focus on collective co-housing models.

28 September 2021

The sixth talk in our Architecture Anew talk series brought people together to discuss new ideas about the role of architecture in designing a more sustainable future.

What is eco-feminism and how could it relate to architecture? This conversation used this question as a starting point to further explore co-housing as a possible model for eco-feminist practice in architecture, addressing the role architects can play in creating low impact and gender-equal homes.

The decisions we make about how to live, clean, and eat at home can have significant impacts on our individual carbon footprints. Can living communally further lower our environmental impact whilst additionally subverting traditional gender roles through the sharing of domestic labour and care?

This multi-disciplinary conversation between a panel of architects, developers, and academics addressed the eco-feminist opportunities that communal living models can offer.

Speakers

Sherilyn MacGregor is an academic based in the Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester and an Editor of Environmental Politics.

Lidewij Tummers-Mueller is a leading international expert on co-housing and low impact building, having written widely on these topics alongside gendered perspectives in spatial planning and architecture.

Meredith Bowles is the Director of Mole Architects, who in 2018 completed the award-winning Marmalade Lane co-housing scheme in Cambridge.

Frances Wright is a resident at Marmalade Lane, home of Cambridge Co-housing Community, and now works as Head of Community Partnering with the enabling developer TOWN.

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