THE OBSCURITY
OF WOMEN
Sadiyah Tijani Undergraduate 2017-2020 Birmingham City School of Architecture
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BOOK I THE UNDERSTANDING OF OBSCURITY
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THE WOMAN
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RETURNING TO THE SITE
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CREATING THE JOURNEY
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MANIPULATING THE PHYSICAL
BOOK II OBSCURING THE ARCHITECTURE
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SITE INTERPRETATIONS
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FEAR INSTALLATION
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FEAR INSTALLATION VISUAL
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PRODUCTION LINE
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SOCIALISATION TO SLAVERY
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PROGRAMMING PRODUCTION
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SOCIALIZATION TO SLAVERY VISUAL
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SLAVERY REPRODUCTION
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MARRYING THE CHAINS
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GARDEN OF EDEN
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THE CLIMB TO SANCTUARY
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BOOK III THE OBSCURITY OF WOMEN
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FEAR INSTALLATION PAINTING
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SOCIALISATION TO SLAVERY PAINTING
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GARDEN OF EDEN PAINTING
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TRYPTIC
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THE WOMAN Female influence during a child’s life can impact their future therefore maternal presence is important. Evidence of increasing mental health issues particularly within people without maternal contact is rising showing an issue our society. The prison system plays a large part in this when women and children are separated.
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Women are forever tied to the home from childbirth, socialisation, marriage and when they have children, they officially create a bond with the home as a space to rear the future. A place even when not present are always tied to meaning for many the home is a place of comfort and safekeeping. ‘You owe humanity it’s heroes, make them!’ Danchev .A, 100 Artists’ Manifestos: From the Futurists to the Stuckists (Penguin Modern Classics) 27/01/11
My manifesto will reshape society through creating architecture that acts as a form of safe keeping of women with spaces allowing for women to become the most feminine versions of themselves, showing the pressures women face in society to be perfect. I will be highlighting the problems of these traditional roles by obscuring utopian ideals of the perfect home with the dystopian reality of women being slaves to society.
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BOOK I
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THE UNDERSTANDING OBSCURITY
RETURNING TO THE SITE
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CREATING THE JOURNEY
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My programme is based on assigning each experience of a womans life to a particular block. As you travel through the female life journey you are also able to experience the physical manifestation of those environments.
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MANIFESTING THE PHYSICAL
I began exploring the layout for the various experiences with glass. By mixing materials I was able to create the angles that followed from my field diagram into spacial sequnces that were used in developing my plans.
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As the route I’d chosen for project to follow was a manifesto I decided to reduce the complexity of my initial design that would sit over the viaduct so returned to the field diagram to find a shape that would compliment both my manifesto concept and site constraints.
Sketch model made of the garden of Eden experience, after creating the curves I wrapped each piece in tracing paper that were covered in the bible verses of Genises.
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BOOK II
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OBSCURING THE ARCHITECTURE
SITE INTERPRETATIONS
1.2 RETURNING TO THE SITE
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Implementing the site context in both plan and 3D.
Fear An unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.
Installation The action of installing someone or something, or the state of being installed.
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Fear is not an emotion that you’re born with, rather it an emotion that develops as we grow, for many women this is often the case. Through primary socialisation in the home boys and girls internalise appropriate behaviour patterns based on their gender. This form of socialisation/installation occurs when traditional roles are put in place e.g. girls are taught to submissive and act as caretakers to others through the world of play where often girls are given dolls to look after and boys are given guns to eliminate senses of danger from a young age. As development continues girls are expected to be in the homes with their mothers, away from the troubles of the outside world, learning to cook and clean whereas boys will be out learning about nature and exploring the realities of the physical world. In third world countries these fears are often exacerbated where the correlations between poverty and vulnerability are particularly high. Cultural beliefs can lead to many elders of communities taking control and policing the bodies of young women as seen in places like Somalia and the Middle East where in some case forceful actions take occur to install fear among young women on how to manoeuvre among their society. The panorama tells this story of the constantly present male figure watching over women from young ages and keeping them in the home to learn and internalise stereotypical gender roles for the future.
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Back view of the Fear installation phase.
FEAR INSTALLATION VISUAL
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PRODUCTION LINE
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This painting is about the jourmey taken from fear installation that begins from ages 8-16 to slavery reproduction. Where from the ages of 17-25 self awareness about facial features and the way of presenting yourself to society is introduced.
Socialization
The process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society.
Slavery
The practice or system of owning slaves.
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In this stage socialisation has developed from transmissions in the home to the transmissions of the secondary, the media and society. As women go through puberty, realisation of the opposite sex and exploration occurs, solidifying the journey from playing dress up ‘family’ games at a younger age to having a first boyfriend and entering another life stage. Often at this point pressures can begin as transmissions of behaviour; beauty standards are being pushed inside and outside of the home. Films, magazines, fashion all push particular narratives on standards of beauty in order to be promote the ‘it girl’ that young women should aspire to be which can often lead to depression, anxiety, disorders and other physical manifestations of society’s agenda that ultimately fund the capitalistic ideals of the Western World. Though steps towards equality are been strengthened each day there are still undertones women project onto one another about the prefect time to find the ‘one’ for marriage and when to ‘settle down’. Suddenly the skills taught as a young woman such as being able to cook and hold a man down becomes selling points in women marketing themselves to men. This push from society can lead to women jumping into commitments they aren’t completely prepared or ready for taking many down to the spiral of slavery. In some places this socialisation to slavery is unavoidable where traditional roles have been implemented for generations, preventing women from exploring freedom but rather once they get their first period they’re are considered women, ready to marry older men that will look after then an in return will begin slavery reproduction.
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PROGRAMMING PRODUCTION
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Inspired by Daniel Lipskinds Berlin city edge collage I’ve created a piece showing the journey from Digbeth into my socialisation to socialisation to slavery space and fear installation phase where younger girls begin their journey into adulthood.
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Fear installation kitchen. Socialisation to slavery is a dressing room closet where clothes , makeup and shoes are chosen to begin the attraction of th opposite sex.
SOCIALIZATION TO SLAVERY VISUAL
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SLAVERY REPRODUCTION
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Ground floor three wedding space.
First floor hospital ward.
Slaves A condition of having to work very hard without proper remuneration or appreciation.
Reproduction The production of offspring by a sexual or asexual process.
At this point once married, unless infertility complications occur women will often produce children. When the reproduction process occurs many women recognise a change in thinking due to the adjustment of hormones increasing their levels of love, protectiveness and worry. Obsessive-compulsive behaviours can even develop in wanting to make sure the home of reproduction is tidy and organised, ready for children to be adequality socialised.
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Functionalists like Parson agree that kids without Mothers can become physiologically damaged therefore though it widens gender inequalities according to them women being in the home is an essential part of mental stability for young children. In some places the mother is recommended to stay in the home with their child for at least 40 days, this is the clearest definition of women becoming a slave to the home as in this period the rope between the wife and home begin tightening. Mothers that choose to break the tie for independence later internalise feelings of guilt by choosing to cut the link of being a slave. This overwhelming level of responsibility can create mental health issues and strain leading to post-partum depression. Perhaps showing that being a slave to reproduction is the easiest way to perform as a woman. Ultimately women are forever tied to the home from childbirth, socialisation, marriage and when they have children, they officially create a bond with the home as a space to rear the future. A place even when not present are always tied to meaning for many the home is a place of comfort and safekeeping. The panorama represents this story of the pain women go through during childbirth and the pressure many face in raising children. When disruptions such as war, domestic violence or family breakdowns occur women are expected to perform. Feelings of helplessness and are therefore often common.
MARRYING THE CHAINS
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Garden Ornamental grounds laid out for public enjoyment and recreation.
Eden Biblical earthly paradise created by God to be inhabited by his first human creation Adam and Eve.
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The Garden of Eden is the last stage in the process where women are able to return to a sanctuary. A place above the evils of the world where societal pressures and experienced traumas no longer exist. As described in the Bible the Garden of Eden is an earthly paradise surrounded by purity and biodiversity. This is replicated during the stage of Obscurity. Organic carved light pine is the focal material in this space are reflecting emotions of serenity and keeping in theme with the natural, heaven like space. This space is the final experience to process, a sanctury place of healing.
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Inspired by Hieronymus Bosch collages’ and paintings.
THE CLIMB TO SANCTUARY
This painting represents the climb fromfear to serenity in a alternative portrait view inspired by Bosch’s portrait paintings. Elevations are layered to the look of a home that has feelings of a prison. Women are forever tied to the home from childbirth, socialisation, marriage and when they have children, they officially create a bond with the home as a space to rear the future. A place even when not present are always tied to meaning for many the home is a place of comfort and safekeeping.
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Framed under the lens of the prison being their home there is an element of obscurity between the home being a place of rearing, learning and passing on of beliefs through reproduction that is represented through obscuring the boundaries between the comfort of women being comfortable in the home and the reality of women rather ending up shackled to the home and framed as the prison. Elements of this are shown when looking more closeley at the painting.
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BOOK III
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THE OBSCURITY OF WOMEN
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TRYPTIC
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THE POLICING
THE AWARENESS OF SELF
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THE RETURN TO SERENITY
OBSCURITY.SADIYAH TIJANI