Alice Brownfield from Part W attends Tuesday Talk

We were lucky enough to be joined by Alice Brownfield, Director at Peter Barber Architects and Chair of Part W, to our Tuesday Talk on the 20th April. Alice shared the work Part W do and how they aim to make the built environment more equitable.

The production of buildings, public space and infrastructure is a collaborative process, with the involvement of many people from policymakers, designers, consultants, developers, fabricators and contractors. Despite this, these professions and resultant spaces are often underserving a huge number of people. Feminist practice aims to reposition architecture as a collective endeavour, seeking equity in access and production and embracing intersectional issues of sexual identity, race, social justice and care.

The overall caveat is that there isn't one book that will offer answers for all, and equitable design is about process as much as anything else. This issue is nuanced (for example the needs of women who are 16-25 is different to, but no less or more important than, those who are 60+ or who are LGBTQ+ etc.) As architects/urban designers/planners we have a job to do to consider a) what is the issue b) what are the creative solutions to that issue. Knowing there is a problem is the first step to then dig into the data, engage with users and then come up with creative solutions, and record (post occupancy) the results.

Read more about Part W here: https://www.part-w.com/