Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative facts for kids

The Matrix Feminist Design Co-Operative was a special group formed in London in 1981. It was one of the first architecture groups in the world to use a feminist approach. This meant they wanted to change how buildings and spaces were designed. They challenged old ways of thinking about who designs buildings and for whom. Matrix did this through actual building projects, research, and books. One important book was Making Space: Women and the Man-made Environment, published in 1984. This book looked at how gender and architecture are connected. It built on ideas from other feminist thinkers like Doreen Massey and Dolores Hayden.

How Matrix Started

Matrix began from a group of women who were part of another movement called the New Architecture Movement (NAM) in London. In the late 1970s, these women started meeting to talk about feminist ideas. They also discussed problems women faced with buildings and spaces. This led to the creation of the Feminist Design Collective (1978–80). This collective then split into two groups: Matrix and Mitra. Mitra focused on helping more women become architects. Matrix, however, focused on changing how architecture was done.

Other groups that worked on similar ideas included Women in Manual Trades (WAMT). This group helped women get jobs in construction. The Women's Design Service, started in 1985, also worked on design for women.

Many people were part of Matrix and its projects between 1978 and 1994. These included events like the Women and Space conference in 1979. There was also the Home Truths exhibition in 1980. Key early members included Frances Bradshaw, Susan Francis, Barbara McFarlane, Anne Thorne, Julia Dwyer, and Jos Boys. Some of the founding members lived in shared housing. This helped them keep living costs low. It meant they could put more energy into their work.

How Matrix Designed Buildings

The Matrix Feminist Design Co-Operative was an architecture group led by women. It included people from different backgrounds. It was set up as a workers’ cooperative. This meant everyone worked together without a boss. Everyone was paid the same amount.

The group was good at something called co-design. This is a way of working with people, groups, and organisations. These groups were often left out of building design decisions. Matrix helped them be part of the process. The projects they took on were more than just standard architectural services. They also offered design advice and training. Matrix, like other groups in the UK, gave 'technical aid' to community and women's groups. Community Technical Aid Centres (CTAC) aimed to provide free help. This help included advice on construction, getting money, and starting community projects.

Matrix wanted to involve women in designing and building places. They used models and visits to buildings. This helped their clients feel confident to make design choices.

The Cooperative also taught courses. They taught technical drawing for women training in trades. They also taught about the building process for workers and client groups. They even taught about building laws and construction for women already in trades.

One technical drawing course started for the Dalston Children's Centre. This course was then used for women builders' training programs. One such program was at Women's Education in Building (WEB). Some of this work helped create a course called Women into Architecture and Building (WIAB). This course was at the Polytechnic of North London. Many women from Matrix taught there. Matrix co-founder Susan Francis was the course leader for several years.

Buildings Matrix Designed

Here are some of the buildings Matrix worked on:

• 1993: Pier Training Workshop, Woolwich
• 1992: Essex Women’s Refuge
• 1991: Al-Hasaniya, The Moroccan Women’s Centre, Trellick Tower, West London
• 1990s: Little Crackle Nursery for Holy Trinity Church Institute, Hackney
• 1988-90: Half Moon Young People’s Theatre, Tower Hamlets: they changed Poplar Town Hall
• 1988-91: Grosvenor Terrace Housing, Southwark: new homes with 18 flats for single people
• 1987-88: Pluto Lesbian and Gay Housing Co-operative, Islington: they changed existing homes
• 1986-88: Jumoke Training Nursery, Southwark London
• 1984-87: Jagonari Educational Resource Centre, Tower Hamlets: a new building for an Asian women’s group, with a crèche (daycare) and a large kitchen.
• 1984-85: Hackney Women’s Centre: they changed a shop
• 1984-85: Dalston Children’s Centre, Hackney: they changed old baths into a centre

Matrix is perhaps most famous for the Jagonari Educational Resource Centre. This project was for women from the Bangladeshi community in Whitechapel, London.

Matrix was part of the Association of Community Technical Aid Centres (ACTAC). They received money from the Greater London Council to give technical advice. The GLC helped over 40 groups that supported women to improve their buildings. Matrix also did studies for other groups. These included the Brixton Black Women’s Centre and the Lambeth African Women’s Centre.

Matrix's Influence

Matrix was part of a larger international feminist movement in the 1980s and 90s. This movement worked to get more women into architecture. It also aimed to challenge traditional design methods. And it helped women have a say in how built spaces were designed. Matrix helped create the film Paradise Circus: Women and the City, shown on Channel 4 in 1988. They also contributed to Ordinary People: Why Women Become Feminists in 1990. Matrix led and joined many events. These included Women and Space at the Architectural Association in 1979.

Exhibitions that showed their work include:

• Diaspora: Black Architects and International Architecture 1970 – 1990 Exhibition, Chicago 1993
• Desiring Practices: Architecture, Gender and the Interdisciplinary RIBA exhibition 1995
• Drawing on Diversity: women, architecture and practice at RIBA Heinz Gallery, 1997
• AA XX 100 Women in Architecture 1917-2017, in 2017
• Still I Rise: feminisms, gender, resistance at Nottingham Contemporary, Arnolfini Gallery Bristol, and De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, in 2019
• Making Space: Housing Feminism and Urban Change at Guest Projects London, 2019
• How We Live Now, an exhibition at the Barbican Centre, London, 2021.

Matrix's Lasting Impact

Matrix continues to influence feminist approaches to design. It also impacts participatory design methods. It is an important early example for later feminist groups. More and more people are recognising their work. Editors of a book called Women and the Making of Built Space in England, 1870-1950 said Making Space was "highly important but underrated."

Some former Matrix members have continued to work on feminist design. For example, Taking Place was formed by Jos Boys and Julia Dwyer (who were Matrix members).

The impact of Matrix was highlighted in 2019 and 2020. Matrix was nominated for the RIBA Gold Medal Award. This happened after a campaign by the group Part W. In 2020, the Matrix Open Feminist Architecture Archive (MOfaa) project received money. This money was from the University College London Bartlett Innovation Fund. It will help create an online resource about Matrix's work.