I would like to start my seminar with this quote” Paradise is under mothers feet” and women’s paradise is their houses, where they spend most of their time. Or we can say it in another way most places are used by women. This takes us to think more in feminist architect more. I will highlight a little here, to push architect and urban designer to reconsider the effects of design on family life, because of house work and housing needs of women and their families. But how could we create an excellent space of modern and posthuman? As I said before space and details are the most important and useful when we talk about feminist architect. A brief example an eleven and half inches tall, which made her doubt in 1959, at the big toy fair in New York city which made of polyvinyl chloride and synthetic fibers is the Barbie toy. If we look to this product and how they think to create such a wonderful and amazing spaces and details, she could be a doctor Barbie, mother Barbie, veterinarian Barbie, computer engineer Barbie, architect Barbie. The idea of Architect Barbie of the architect historian Despina Stratigakos a professor in the architecture department at SUNY/Buffala encouraged me to talk about the Barbie I can be….. Isn’t that amazing? New ideas and suggestions coming to develop this toy, but if we look to the materials and spaces which are fit to the Barbie’s work, isn’t that a feminist posthuman arc? It is a genius work, however most girls wish to be as Barbie toy. Think how it could be beautiful if we are living in Barbie castle or kitchen… adding to that many physical facelift and plastic surgery done to get the Barbie sexy body. Barbie occupied the world with its elegant and beauty and became a dream for most women, so maybe we can’t be a Barbie, but we can create and live in Barbie castle.
For more on Despina Stratigakos see http://ap.buffalo.edu/People/faculty/department-of-architecture-faculty.host.html/content/shared/ap/students-faculty-alumni/faculty/Stratigakos.detail.html
archandphil 
October 1, 2014 at 7:04 am
thanks Helene for your comment. and yes will use Barbie world as my post human. thnx for the link.
September 29, 2014 at 9:12 pm
Despina Stratigakos, a well known architectural historian and feminist scholar was central in the campaign to get the toy company Mattel to produce an architect Barbie. How do we critically assess the role that Barbie figures have in the life of little girls? Does offering them plastic role-models in the form of architects, engineers, other gender challenging professions, where women have been historically excluded, enable little girls to imagine new futures for themselves? Do we assume that little girls are apt to play with dolls and not toy cars? And how do we feel about the exaggerated features of Barbie Doll? In fact she has a very ‘post human’ somehow alien looking body with tiny feet that would be impossible to walk on, and a waist that would allow no room for a digestive system. It becomes a complex and very interesting question, and well worth interrogating further. Will you use Barbie world as your post human landscape? Because this could be an interesting study. For more on Despina see:
http://ap.buffalo.edu/People/faculty/department-of-architecture-faculty.host.html/content/shared/ap/students-faculty-alumni/faculty/Stratigakos.detail.html
HFrichot