Women Writing Architecture 1700–1900

304 pages

From India to Chile and Britain to Senegal, women have influenced architecture for centuries by exerting power over space through their writing. By exploring a wide variety of sources, from diaries and travelogues to inventories and political pamphlets, this publication expands histories of architecture to include these women. The contributing authors reveal female spatial agencies using rare written sources, novel methodologies, and in-depth re-readings of canonical histories. Housewives, princesses, novelists, travellers, nurses – writing as clients, users, or critics – are all relevant voices for understanding the past of the built environment. Examining specific spaces such as churches, homes, gardens, boulevards, kitchens, or shacks, this book proposes a novel take on feminist historiographies.