Las ingenieras domésticas y la revolución de la cocina: An Exhibition on 19th and 20th Century Home Design

This exhibition explores the contributions of female researchers and theorists who sought to change the perception of the home and domestic work between the 19th and 20th centuries. It highlights how their ideas influenced the evolution of domestic spaces, anticipating modern architectural concepts by designing homes from the user's perspective.

The exhibition "Las ingenieras domésticas y la revolución de la casa" (Domestic Engineers and the Kitchen Revolution) presents a series of contributions from researchers who, from diverse positions, proposed a paradigm shift to integrate women's lives as organizers of the home into the new economic and social order being forged between the 19th and 20th centuries, thereby influencing the evolution of domestic space. Pioneering figures in this field included American theorists like Catharine Beecher (1800-1878), Christine Frederick (1883-1970), and Lilian Gilbreth (1878-1972). While not questioning the home as the appropriate sphere for women, their reflections focused on the design and organization of the house. They viewed domestic architecture as a productive space designed to facilitate the work and processes of the housewife. For the first time, the house is designed from the perspective of its female users. Women who projected new homes did so with the aim of redefining domestic comfort through the rationalization, modernization, and mechanization of their own labor. This new concept of comfort, with solutions in domestic architecture that were previously absent from architects' concerns, anticipated the approaches of the Modern Movement. The American current of efficiency in domestic work gained visibility in Europe through various channels, including articles in women's magazines, specialized books, and press entertainment columns. Women's associations and European conferences also aided its diffusion.