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Document Details : Title: Les femmes exposent Subtitle: Organisations féminines, architectes femmes et designeuses dans la section belge de l'Exposition internationale de l'urbanisme et de l'habitation, Paris et Milan, 1947 Author(s): GÉRARD, Elisabeth Journal: Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design Volume: 47 Date: 2025 Pages: 99-119 DOI: 10.2143/GBI.47.0.3294954 Abstract : This article takes a detailed look at the participation of women in the Belgian pavilion at the International Exhibition of Town Planning and Housing and the Milan Triennial in 1947. These women took part as architects, designers, craftswomen and consultants on a Women’s Advisory Council. The exhibition took place at a pivotal moment in Belgium, both for modern architecture and for the evolving status of women. In 1947, modernism was presented as a solution to the (urgent) needs of reconstruction of post-war Europe. At the same time, a debate was raging over women’s suffrage, which was finally adopted in its entirety in 1948. Among the women featured in the exhibition were a number of feminist activists and future politicians. Other women were invited to participate as designers. They exhibited architectural plans, models, graphic works, and textiles, among other things. Some of them were only at the beginning of significant careers, though still underdocumented today. Their participation in the Belgian pavilion, led by renowned architects such as Louis Herman De Koninck and Victor Bourgeois, demonstrates their importance in this milieu, and the place that the modernist movement has accorded to a number of women. By studying a moment in the history of modern Belgian architecture through a one-off event such as an exhibition, it is possible to explore a more inclusive method of research, based on a collective rather than an individual dimension of practice. This allows us to move away from the monographic format, which is often ill-suited to the professional practices of female architects and designers. The study of the Belgian pavilion at the 1947 exhibition brings to light the names of little-known women, such as the architects Monique De Koninck and Clara Bourgonjon, but also complements the biographical elements of the careers of other artists who enjoyed greater renown, such as the designers May Néama and Lou Bertot-Marissal. |
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