© Tatjana Huong Henderieckx
Expanding Agency and Feminism, a lecture by Hilde Heynen, is part of a series of events in the project Expanding Agency: Women at Work in Modern Architecture, organised by Stad & Architectuur (S&A), PAF and KU Leuven. By learning from historical perspectives, we explore how the work of women and people of color, often invisible in architectural history, shapes our architecture and cities today.
In this first open lecture, Professor Emerita Hilde Heynen takes us through the four waves of feminism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and she discusses how these movements have shaped architectural discourse, practice, and the ways in which architectural history is written. At the same time, she shows how architecture has long been a discipline in which masculinity and whiteness have found a place more easily than femininity and color.
Successive waves of feminist thought and criticism have challenged the patriarchal identity of architecture. Yet, to date, these challenges have barely entered mainstream architectural culture. The lecture explores why architecture has been so resistant to feminist criticism and considers how future activism might help to change this situation, to expand our notion of agency within architecture.
Programme
18:00 – 19:00 Walk-in with the possibility to visit the poster exhibition Expanding Agency - Reframed
19:00 – 21:00 Open lecture by Hilde Heynen
21:00 Aftertalk and drinks
Speaker
Hilde Heynen
is Professor Emeritus of Architectural Theory at KU Leuven. Her research focuses on modernity, modernism, and gender in architecture.
Tickets
5€ student / 10€ regular / 15€ support ticket/ 0€ (pay what you can). If these prices do not fit your situation, you can choose a free ticket. Pre-registration is required via the button below.
This ticket also gives you access to the poster exhibition Expanding Agency - Reframed.
Everyone is welcome to join this conversation. No prior knowledge is needed. We create a warm, open space where every voice is welcome.
Poster exhibition
From 29 November to 3 January, the poster exhibition Expanding Agency – Reframed will be on display at the University Library Leuven. On the one hand, the exhibition sheds light on underrepresented figures and roles within modern architecture; on the other, it invites further debate. How did patriarchal and colonial structures shape access to the architectural profession? How have these structures influenced the ways in which women and people of color have practiced, and continue to practise, architecture? And which forms of knowledge, collaboration, and expertise remain overlooked today? By literally and figuratively reframing the posters, Stad & Architectuur, PAF, and KU Leuven situate them within contemporary debates on gender, decolonisation, intersectionality, and knowledge production.
Accessibility
The event will be held in English. We will do our best to offer ad hoc (whisper) translations if needed.
The space where the conversation will take place (second floor) is unfortunately not accessible by elevator. Please contact us (manon.rupus@stadenarchitectuur.be) so that we can provide adequate assistance.