Ioanna Piniara recovers two collective living models designed by women in the 1910s, and argues that the housing question has always been a feminist one.
About this book
Piniara's research sits at the intersection of feminist studies, architectural history and the discourse of the commons. Her framing is direct: the mass-produced nuclear-family apartment type of the 20th century distributed reproductive labour unequally, and did so by design. Recognising that burden as a form of oppression opens the commons up as a radical theory and practice for conceptualising more equitable collective living.
The study turns to the emergence of the 'new woman' in the early Weimar Republic, and to two case studies in particular: the Haus der Frau at the 1914 Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne, and the Haus in der Sonne in Potsdam. Both document how the role of women in modern society was perceived at the time and, more tellingly, how that perception found spatial expression. Together they show how feminist struggles for a new social order enabled the first generation of practising women architects in Germany to reconceptualise housing itself.
Key features
- Two case studies: the Haus der Frau at the 1914 Werkbund Exhibition and the Haus in der Sonne, Potsdam
- Situates housing commons within feminist theory and the history of reproductive labour
- Recovers the work of the first generation of practising women architects in Germany
- Focuses on the early Weimar Republic and the figure of the 'new woman'
What you'll discover
- How the nuclear-family apartment type encoded an unequal distribution of reproductive labour into its plan
- Why the commons offers a workable framework for conceptualising equitable forms of collective living
- What the Haus der Frau and the Haus in der Sonne reveal about early 20th-century ideas of women's place in modern society
- How feminist movements created the conditions for women to practise architecture and rethink housing in Germany
About the author
Ioanna Piniara is an architectural researcher associated with the Architectural Association. Her work brings feminist studies, architectural history and commons discourse into contact, with the aim of developing the commons as a radical theory and practice for equitable collective living.
Specifications
- Format: softcover
- Dimensions: 150 x 100mm
- Pages: 110
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783944425498
- Publisher: M Books
- Publication date: April 15 2026
Perfect for
Architectural historians working on gender and modernism, researchers in housing and the commons, and anyone interested in the women who shaped early 20th-century German architecture.