An Architectural Exploration of Women’s Economic Mobility in Kozhikode

The project utilises architectural interventions in the city of Kozhikode to create a more liveable city for women. Currently, only 25% of working age women are employed in Kozhikode and this has unexpectedly decreased in the last 15 years, even with Kozhikode highly educated female population. Research, interviews and a questionnaire established that the main reasons women were not involve in the workforce in Kozhikode were, household responsibilities, childcare and poor transport options.

This project creates a network of mobile nurseries and women’s support centres with the aim to improve women’s labour participation rate. The building consists of a factory which produces mobile nurseries housed in shipping containers which can be distributed and moved throughout the city. The factory is based by the Conolly Canal on the outskirts of the centre of the city.

Shipping containers are derived to the site via the canal where they are then refurbished and reworked into childcare facilities. The site also houses childcare areas and women’s services such as The Gender Park Offices, an organisation which aims to promote the wellbeing and equality of women in India. Kozhikode is a consistently hot and humid location and so the building is a fairly open construction with few windows and perforated walls which helps to aid in the natural ventilation of the building. The building uses brick in a rat trap bond to create strong walls which can be constructed cheaply but can also be used to create the sweeping curves which make up the plan of the building. The plan of the building is developed from a symbolism of the barriers which women face in establishing careers in Kozhikode due to childcare and unequal household responsibilities which exist in the culture. An inhabited wall curves across the site symbolising the barrier between the women and paid labour, this wall is perforated by shipping container childcare classrooms which allow women to be involved in the labour force.