Why do we assume gender with roles? This question became the starting point of my architectural/artistic inquiry. Growing up, I was surrounded by advertisements and films that portrayed women as confined to domestic spaces—where pursuing a career was often equated with selfishness. But within this narrative, I also witnessed generational shifts: my grandmother’s quiet defiance in choosing education for her children; my mother’s freedom to choose a profession; and my own privilege to pursue higher education and a career.
Reflecting on these transitions, I recalled a childhood toy—a miniature kitchen set. Once a symbol of imposed domesticity, it now feels like a powerful design tool. This project reclaims that object and the narratives tied to it. Returning to my ancestral home in Muttagi, Karnataka, I reimagined the architecture to reflect spatial liberation. Doors and windows were widened, the kitchen made central and open, and new workstations embedded throughout the house—spaces where women can belong, work, and be seen. An old cowshed transformed into a shared vegetable patch symbolizes collective growth.
In reclaiming domestic space as a site of empowerment, this project becomes a personal and political act of spatial storytelling—where change, indeed, begins at home.
