Beyond the Pioneers: Visibility, Canon Formation and Exceptionalism in the feminist Historiography of Portuguese Architecture [abstract]

Abstract

For much of the twentieth century, architectural historiography was shaped by a paradigm centred on male authorship, individual genius and heroic exceptionalism. Within this framework, women were largely excluded from historical narratives, their professional trajectories rendered invisible or marginal. In recent decades, feminist scholarship has played a decisive role in challenging this model, contributing to the recovery of women architects’ biographies and to the revision of canonical architectural history. In Portugal, this shift has enabled the identification of the first formally qualified women architects and the recognition of their pioneering roles within the profession. [...]