Architecture and gender in the former Kingdom of Granada 
(Margarita Birriel Salcedo)
We will be approaching this subject from two main angles. Firstly we will be exploring the use and patronage of gardens in Granada during the Early Modern Age from a gender perspective, placing special emphasis on the initiatives of women from the noble families of Granada. The main field in which this patronage is most clear is the construction of houses and palaces. Our study is based on archive research and documentation and will attempt to establish relations with other similar examples outside Granada, extrapolating the Granada model in order to establish if there are links or similarities with other areas of Spain or abroad. We will also be analysing the social significance/meanings of Andalusian interiors from a gender perspective on the basis that the people that inhabit a particular domestic space tend to shape, adapt and change it. This results from the need to make the space more habitable (tables, benches, beds, heating, etc), to organize production (working at home) and ensure the right organization of the house in accordance with the ideals of social order and suitable forms of conduct of the members of the household. We will be covering the whole social spectrum as we do not wish to limit ourselves to the lives of the nobility and seek instead to obtain a broad picture of society as a whole. Our aim will be to define the different interiors (nobles, farmers, craftsmen, casual labourers), identifying the ethnic background of the houses (Morisco/old Christian), and above all defining the various gender markers given that the social order is essentially the patriarchal order when it comes to the government and regulation of the household. |
