Irene Feria Prados
is an architectural worker, teacher and researcher based in Brussels. Her work explores how spatial design can contribute to more just, inclusive, and situated ways of living by addressing realities often overlooked in architectural discourse—particularly those shaped by gender, race, and class.
Tips
1. Boek: Paul B. Preciado - An Apartment on Uranus
waarom? “A book I will always return to. In this collection of articles written during his transition, Paul B guides us through his oneiric world and personal experiences, combining it with socio-political critique and philosophical analysis. From defending trans rights to denouncing the criminalisation of migrants and questioning home-making as a trans person, he touches upon highly contemporary and urgent topics with a sharp analysis and little fear. I mostly enjoy the presence of architecture as a backdrop in the book, omnipresent yet never at the centre of attention.”
wat en wie? An Apartment on Uranus is een boek van Paul B. Preciado, gepubliceerd in 2020 door Fitzcarraldo Editions. Het boek is geïnspireerd door Uranism, een concept van Karl Heinrich Ulrichs dat het ‘third sex’ en de rechten van hen die 'anders liefhebben' definieert. Paul B. droomt van een appartement op Uranus, vrij van sociale normen en beperkingen..
2. Boek: Alva Gotby - Feeling at Home: Transforming the Politics of Housing
waarom? “Alva Gotby plays out in this book an extensive critique to our contemporary housing system, addressing its intersectionality and complexity. Through questioning modes of ownership, reproductive labour, healthcare and the nuclear family system, she makes clear why housing is a feminist issue. As in her other book ‘They Call It Love: The Politics of Emotional Life’, she combines an analysis of the failure of the housing system with hopeful alternatives - inspiring as inhabitant and architect.”
wat en wie? Feeling at Home: Transforming the Politics of Housing is een boek van Alva Gotby, gepubliceerd in 2025 door Verso Books.
3. Boek: Gloria Anzaldúa - Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
waarom? “In Borderlands/La Frontera, Anzaldúa weaves autobiography, poetry, and theory to challenge borders as symbolic and physical spaces and embrace resistance towards those. She mixes Spanish, English, Spanglish and Nahuatl, bringing this exploration of the boundaries between imposed and inherited identity as a literary element in the text. A pleasure to read, presenting powerful concepts to redefine ‘belonging’ and denounce spatial division and marginalisation beyond Western-centric perspectives.”
wat en wie? Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987) is het semiautobiografische werk van Chicana feministe Gloria Anzaldúa, gepubliceerd door Aunt Lute Books. In deze bundel van essays, proza en poëzie beschrijft Anzaldúa het leven in de grensstreek tussen Mexico en de Verenigde Staten, vertrekkend vanuit haar eigen persoonlijke ervaringen. Ze gebruikt grenzen als metafoor om te reflecteren op aspecten als gender, seksualiteit, religie en cultuur en ontwikkelt een feministisch en dekoloniaal kader.