Dispatches from Part W: Yẹmí Aládérun and Zoë Berman

What are Built Barriers?

Our city is littered with a lack of care and thought for the needs of women and girls. Everyday, women are forced to navigate spaces that weren’t designed with them in mind, and the accumulation of these experiences make us feel undervalued and disregarded. We’re calling these Built Barriers, and the first stage of this campaign is to gather as much data on these spaces as possible: What do they look like, where are they, and how do they affect you.

How are you inviting people to participate?

We’re asking you to take a photograph of a Built Barrier you face in daily life, and describe it: its location and its impact. Representation is a key part of this project so we are trying to reach as many women as possible, from diverse backgrounds, at different stages in life and with varied needs. We’re keen to hear from those who identify and live as men too, who can also be part of observing and calling out the problems women and girls face. This is about experiences we have in person, critiquing the reality of the built environment – rather than disappearing into the digital sphere. This way we can understand the physical and also emotional responses to real places and spaces. We do not want people to put themselves in uncomfortable or dangerous environments, but draw attention to the everyday frustrations. This is not just about safety, but also unseen and unrecognised – sometimes minor – moments that are tolerated by women, that added all together act as a critical mass of constant reminders that this space was not designed with them in mind.

Is there an element of holding people accountable for these Built Barriers?

We are a positive group of people who like to look for solutions to problems – and draw attention to inequalities through playful and engaging methods of calling things out. In the next part of this project we’ll be looking for inspiring examples of great practice around the world so we can move towards solutions and positive change. Looking at exemplar projects and initiatives, will help us do that. Inequalities in design are rarely the fault of just one person. It is a whole system that needs to be re-thought, and we seek to do that hand in hand with all genders, to come up with ideas of how things can be done better.

How is the Built Barriers campaign an evolution from the Women’s Work map you created in 2022?

The Women’s Work: London map was in part about getting people outside, into the built environment and celebrating the successes of female designers, architects and place makers. We’ve always said that the map is a first step, and it has its limitations. We spent a lot of time working with guest experts to select the 30 buildings represented on it, but there’s much more. We hope others will join us to pick up that challenge, to spread the work wider around the UK.  There are exciting opportunities the Women’s Work: London map presents, like walking tours for example. But documenting the barriers that prevent people easily walking, cycling, moving around the places they live and buildings they use – at times preventing women and girls with diverse needs – from accessing their city to the fullest, is an important next step of research.

Do you anticipate seeing any kind of correlation between the built barriers and the Women’s Work: London map?

We’d be interested to look at the overlap between these two resources, and what this might tell us. We always launch our campaigns with a participatory activism element. So we’re not presumptuous about outcomes, but imagine there is likely to be an interesting correlation between these two archives. We are only at the beginning. So you’ll have to come back and ask us again once lots of interesting and surprising photos of built barriers have been submitted!