The Body and the Building

About this book

This dissertation examines the transformation of the French built environment alongside medical discourses of the body in the early 19th century, arguing that emerging theories on health and hygiene comprised a politically charged subtext in the design of spaces where gender and class identities were formed. Following the military defeats that led to the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire, fears over national decline spurred medical thought on the regeneration of French citizens. The ensuing debates about the body and hygiene gave rise to new architectural programs - such as gymnasiums, swimming schools, and public gardens - where emergent practices for rehabilitating the bourgeois body, both male and female, were implemented. I trace the translation of these spatial forms and practices across a range of military, educational, and recreational settings, to analyze the role of architecture in shaping 19th-century embodiments and expressions of gender, class, and citizenship.