Atelier Femme
A womens club & shelter
Frederique van Erven (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Mechthild Stuhlmacher – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Paddy Tomesen – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Building Product Innovation)
Floris Cornelisse – Coach
Mark Pimlott – Coach (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
Recent international events, such as the 2018 Women’s March and the MeToo movement, show an increasing awareness for gender biases present in society and governments. One of the consequences of a disempowered female position is the ‘feminization of poverty’, which is an phenomenon referring to the widening gap between women and men caught in a sequence of economic deprivation and scarcity. One particular group of women effected by this phenomenon are single mothers. These women often get caught in a downward spiral of social isolation and poverty. In worst cases, ending up homeless and unable to take care of their children. Seeing the seriousness of this problem, in 2015 project MIRIAM was initiated by the city of Antwerp for these women to aid and support in getting their lives on track. However, social housing and daycare remains an issue for the mother’s in urgent situations. As such, if we understand The Intimate City as a place which makes space for shifting social and political conditions, the manner in which architecture can carve out city rooms within a dense urban fabric in order to facilitate these new societal needs and norms becomes essential.