I no longer recall exactly when I first encountered Audre Lorde’s essay “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” (1983), but after reading it, the text stayed with me, becoming one of the sharpest tools in my life—particularly, during my studies in architecture within a European context.

In this essay, Lorde emphasizes the importance of embracing non-dominant differences among women. She argues that differences—whether of race, sexuality, class, or age—serve as genuine power that transform us from passive be into active being capable of challenging the patriarchal structures we live in. According to Lorde, the real power to overturn these structures can only emerge through an interdependent relationship with our differences. However, mere tolerance of difference is not enough; difference must be recognized as divergent, multifaceted, and therefore, capable of creating entirely new systems. As she states, “the majority may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.” For those on the margins of patriarchal society, it is essential to affirm our differences and harness them as a creative, revolutionary power. “For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”

Since the personal is political, this text from the 1980s profoundly influenced how I approached my studies and the field of architecture. During my studies, it became crucial for me to find a voice distinct from that of the white patriarchs who dominated the discipline. While I learned much from them, I quickly realized I did not aspire to emulate them. Instead, my task has been to affirm my differences as a source of power, shaping my voice in a way that harmonizes with other singular and diverse voices.

If there is one key lesson I’ve taken from architecture school in Europe, it would be this: we wield the sharpest tool to dismantle the master’s house only when our polyvocal differences are collectively assembled into the univocal, paradoxically.