Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
Female architects
In our day, the position of the woman He has changed substantially, developing very successfully in different professions. Architecture could not be the exception, and, in the exercise of this profession, with great talent, women lead important projects and stand out despite the fact that many gender inequalities still exist in much of the world.
For many centuries architecture was conceived and carried out by men. But, at the beginning of the 20th century, with effort and tenacity, some women began to show that architecture was not a discipline only relegated to the male world.
Sometimes it is difficult to understand the situation of architects in the profession, and, as a prologue and for your interest, first we want to leave the short documentary «ARCHITECTS» showing the different situations that women who are dedicated to the field of architecture go through.
Ten architects give their testimony and their opinion about the female condition and how they develop professionally in the field of architecture …
The same effort is required for a man or a woman to be an architect and to be a good professional, but in the professional practice itself, it is another matter.
So there is no doubt about the hard work they have done over the years. We present you a list of important architects in history that were not fairly valued at the time. And at the end of the article, some data that have surprised us and that continue to highlight an important gender difference within the profession …
1.- Eileen Gray
Born in 1876 in Ireland into an aristocratic family, she enjoyed very little recognition in her long life of 98 years.Over time she has been recognized as one of the great architects in history and for his furniture designs. His talent brought together the best trends of his time, such as Art Deco and the ideals of Modernism.
Just because she was a woman, it was difficult for her to break through in a world where men predominated, particularly in their profession. Despite this, he managed to act independently without it being necessary for him to belong to any association or group of artists of his time.
Le Corbusier was outraged that a woman could do such a significant work in a style that he considered his own.
The previous sentence is reviewed in this article The Guardian. His experience and talent in interiors crystallized in the famous holiday home E-1027 in southern France, which earned him, along with the design for the Paris Autumn Salon in 1923, the recognition of Le Corbusier. Today her talent and creativity have been done justice, and she is hailed as the genius artist that she was.
2.- Denise Scott Brown
Impossible to say so much in a few words about this Brilliant Zambian-born American architect, urban planner, writer and teacher, before Rhodesia, in 1931. Although his contributions in the field of architecture have been many in works and in the training of thousands of architects around the world, he is recognized for his urban proposals, historically he has always been «the invisible architect ».
The Guardian newspaper portrays her perfectly in its interesting article with the title of «Dismissed, deceived, erased: the scandal of the invisible women of architecture«.
In fact, his studies and works were so important that a documentary was released last year "City Dreamers" that underlines the constantly changing city through the life and work of 4 architects who rethought the urban environment.
His teaching work has been of the first order in the most prestigious universities in your country, such asYale, Harvard, UCLA and Berkeley. As an important case to note, in 1991 his partner Robert Venturi was awarded the Pritzker Prize, and he was deliberately excluded even though it was a joint effort. Venturi expressed his discontent and protest, not attending the awards ceremony.
In 1991, his partner Robert Venturi was awarded the Pritzker Prize. She was excluded. Venturi expressed his discontent, not attending the award ceremony
The list of his representative works is very extensive in several cities in the United States and, although belatedly, has been the object of numerous recognitions and distinctions, highlighting the Jane Drew Award (Award that recognizes a career that has contributed to the status of women in architecture)
3.- Charlotte Perriand
Undoubtedlyone of theimportant women of architecture for his extraordinary contributions and creations in interior design, such as the celebrated and acclaimed Chromed Steel and Aluminum Under-Roof Bar, which was exhibited at the Autumn Salon in Paris in 1927. And that was just the beginning in its 96 years of existence. He was born in Paris in 1903 and died in 1999, in the same city.
His participation in Le Corbusier's workshop is reflected in the furniture he designed with him and Pierre Jeanneret. His mark and his particular stamp in the design of artistic and modern furniture is enduring, among which the furniture he produced based on the traditional technique of making bamboo stands out.
His most outstanding distinctive feature in the entire scope of his creations is his sense of innovation within rationalism.
Well into the 1920s, he began to design functional furniture in anodized aluminum and chromed steel.
She is owed works as representative as the internal conditioning of the University City of Paris and three of the best chair designs, such as the Comfort LC2 Grand, the B301 and the B306.
4.- Lina Bo Bardi
The Italian-Brazilian Lina Bo Bardi, born in Rome in 1914, isotherfamous architect woman20th century. After completing his studies at the School of Architecture of the University of Rome, he moved to Milan, whereShe stood out as editor of the famous magazine Quaderni di Domus.
Casa do Vidro in the São Paulo neighborhood of Morumbi. What we see today as a prototypical residential project of the Latin American wealthy classes, was at the time, a revolutionary idea.
The architect Lina Bo Bardi, in 1946 she moved to Brazil, a country where after five years of residence she became a naturalized citizen. There he founded and directed the Sao Paulo Assis Chateaubriand Art Museum, in which he stood out for achieving the confluence between popular tradition and aesthetic avant-garde.
His extensive work the consecrated as an architect with designs as emblematic as his private residence known as the Glass House in Sao Paulo and the new headquarters of the Sao Paulo Museum of Art. In addition to architectural design, Lina Bo Bardi, upon passing in 1992,left a legacy that includes exceptional graphic designs and furniture designs, product of its varied and extensive creative and innovative talent.
There is an interesting article from ElPaís that highlights her architectural work and the wonderful tropical world of Lina Bo Bardi.
5.- Sophia Hayden
To an American father and a Chilean mother, this extraordinary architect was born in Santiago de Chile, on October 17, 1869. Although she was the first woman to receive her architecture degree from MIT in 1890 (Considered one of the first american architects), the degree obtained in nothing guaranteed him any work.
The next short "Women with History from MIT" is a series of historical 60-second profiles of MIT faculty, students, researchers, and staff that highlight the role of women at the Institute since its foundation until today.
Though she was awarded an MIT award, after an unsuccessful job search as an architect, she had to resign herself to a position as a technical drawing teacher at a Boston high school.
The following year, in 1891, she learned from an advertisement for a contest being held in Chicago for the design of a pavilion dedicated to women as part of the from the World’s Columbian Exposition. And based on his own thesis, the architect Sophia Hayden submitted a proposal that consisted of a three-story Renaissance-style building.
Won first prize among 13 participants, at the age of 21. Despite the importance and success of this exhibition, its design received many adverse criticisms, andfor him, he unfairly only got $ 1,000. That unpleasant experience, and the many pressures she was subjected to, made her give up architecture and never designed another building. He died on February 3, 1953.
6.- Jane Drew
Of thefamous architects not valued fairly in relation to the men of their profession, Jane Drew is a must when reviewing the history of 20th century modern architecture.
This versatile woman, born in England in 1911, also stood out as an urban planner, academic, author and editor, and had an undeniable role in all the processes and activities in which she participated.
The architect Drew He ran into a problem when embarking on his career path, because in the 1930s, when Drew began his career in architecture, the industry was dominated by men. Many of the companies she applied to didn't even consider hiring her because of her gender. Later, when he founded his own company, at first he was concerned with employing only women, trying to end the discrimination that she herself had suffered.
When she founded her first company, she was initially concerned with only employing women because she herself suffered gender discrimination for many years
His friendship with famous artists of his time, such as Elizabeth Lutyens, Le Corbusier, Henry Moore and Maxwell Fry, it was very fruitful. With the latter he contracted his second marriage and founded a company that specialized in large-scale projects for tropical countries.
She was a collaborator and co-author of multiple relevant projects of modern architecture in England, India, Ghana and Nigeria. Was the first female architect to serve on the Board of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
Like Mildred Dresselhaus, she was the first female MIT professor, the first individual winner of the Kavli Prize, and the first woman to win the National Medal of Engineering. Both partners worked tirelessly to promote the gender equality in science, engineering and architecture.
The famous architectTwo years after her death in 1996, the prestigious Jane Drew Prize was instituted in recognition of her diverse, influential and innovative architectural works.
7.- Marion Lucy Mahony
The American architect Marian Lucy Mahony, born in 1871, in addition to being the second woman to receive her architectural degree from MITIt should have figured on its own merits in the history of modern urbanism. But it was only on the centenary of the city of Canberra that her name and work were recognized with such merits on equal terms as her husband, Walter Burley Griffin, with whom she designed that city, the capital of Australia, in 1912.
The influence of his work and that of Griffin, whom he met when worked in the Frank Lloyd Wright studio in Oak Park. The couple shared the idea that of a modern civilization each person had to live in houses that were in tune with nature.
Mahony's drawings, created in ink, formed a large part of what became known as the Wasmuth Portfolio, a compendium of Franñ Lloyd Wright's designs published in Germany in 1910 and of undoubted quality as recognized by the New York Times.
Unfortunately, the architectural historians put her aside because of her status as a woman when mention was made of the Canberra project, but it is undeniable that their participation was fundamental and is evident in the drawings of the project.
After living in Australia with her husband, where they supervised her project, they moved to India and continued their work together. Griffin died in 1937 and the architect Marion Lucy Mahony He no longer wanted to work in the sector. He passed away many years later, in 1961.
8.- Matilde Ucelay
The Archiecta Matilde Ucelay, it was one of the firstSpanish female architects and, for dogs, the pioneer in opening the doors to the following generations. Born in Madrid in 1912, she was the first architect in Spain recognized with a degree, in 1936, and the first to fully exercise it in more than 120 projects of her own creation over more than four decades.
Fortunately for her, she belonged to a generation of women from the enlightened Spanish bourgeoisie who were educated in a liberal, artistic and professional environment, with access to universities in the initial decades of the last century. The architect Matilde Ucelay He always said … "Women, if they don't have economic independence, they don't have freedom"
Women, if they do not have economic independence, do not have freedom
Despite the hostility of the Francoist environment, and unlike other women of her generation,he practiced architecture in Spain with sufficient character, intelligence and dedication,enough to take on important responsibilities until he retired in 1981.
The trajectory of Matilde Ucelay is an exemplary reference for later generations to this day and of which her designs of single-family houses, factories, warehouses, shops and laboratories are valuable testimonies. He died in 2008, but not before beingrecognized in 2004 with the National Architecture Award.
If you want to learn more about her professional career, this article on "The first Spanish woman architect in history" recognizes her life and work.
9.- Anne Tyng
He was born in 1920, in China. He studied at the prestigious Radcliffe College, where he graduated, in 1942, in Fine Arts. Afterstudied architecture with Marcel Breuer, Catherine Bauer and Walter Gropius, at Harvard. From 1945 he worked in the studio of Oscar Stonorov and Louis Kahn, where he developed housing and urban planning projects.
It has been rated as a Geometry expert for her deep knowledge and shape design, as in the renowned City Tower, in Philadelphia, whose model was included in 1960 in the Museum of Modern Art of that city, without its authorship being recognized at first (It is said that Kahn "forgot" to register her name in the credit card).
Another of the works where he participated leaving his printing press with Louis Kahn is the design of the Eserhick House (1956), the Salk Institute (1959-55) and the Erdman Room of the Bryn Mawr College (1960-65).
Her contribution to architecture was not only as a designer of relevant works, since was much what he contributed with his research on geometric patterns and as an author of books like From Musa to Heroine. In this work he links the female creativity with the postulates of the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung.
His long and productive career in various fields of knowledge and creation were the object of important recognition, especially in the United States.
10.- Norma Merrick Sklarek
It is considered as the first black woman pioneer in architecture (born 1926 in Harlem, New York) worked behind the scenes on some of the largest architectural projects in America. She was also the first African-American woman elected to the prestigious American Institute of Architects (FAIA).
After receiving her architectural degree, Norma Merrick was unable to find a job at an architecture firm. After being rejected by dozens of architecture firms, took a job at the New York Department of Public Works.
From 1960 to 1980 she used both her architectural experience and project management skills to complete many multi-million dollar projects for the large Gruen company, becoming the company's first female director in 1966.
In architecture, he had no role model. Today, I am happy to be a reference for many women
As a production manager, Skarek had immense responsibilities, but was rarely recognized in the finished project. Only the United States Embassy in Japan has recognized Sklarek's contributions - the Embassy's website stated that "The building was designed by César Pelli and Norma Merrick Sklarek of Gruen Associates in Los Angeles and built by the Obayashi Corporation." as simple and practical as Sklarek herself.
Among the most emblematic buildings is the Pacific Design Center, which was designed together with the Argentine architect César Pelli, opening its doors in 1975.
Gender differences?
According to the latest survey published by the Higher Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain, it is revealed differentiated working conditions if the architects are men or women.
With 62.1%, the percentage of architects who work on their own it is eleven points less than that of men. That is, almost eight points less than the average. On the other hand, there are more female architects working for others: 20.9%, compared to 11.1% of salaried architects, which is almost seven points above the average.
There are significant pay gaps in the private sector. Being a man is rewarded!
Also, there is a differentiated perception of advances in equality. While 51.9% of the professionals surveyed consider that considerable progress has been made in the last decade, this percentage falls to 45.2% in their case. For 74.2% exist inequalities due to gender in professional development, but only 13.9% think they are sector specific.
In professional activity, we continue to verify that the traditional canons and roles assigned in daily work continue to persist, although it is considered that considerable progress has been made.
If we look at the gold medal for architecture, the famous Pritzker. We quickly realize that the visibility of women in architecture it has been very far from being a reality. The first Pritzker medal ever awarded to a woman went to Zaha Hadid (2004) and, this year, for the second time in its history, to the female architecture studio of Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara. And that awards have been awarded since 1979.
There are so many modern architects that deserve great prizes the list is huge: Tatiana Bilbao, Jeane gang, Alison brooks, Nathalie de Vries, Odile decq, Amanda Levete, Anna heringer, etc (See list of architects in the world HERE)
We realized at the time of writing this article that the presence of the female architect on the net it is very poor. In this case, and as an example, we look at Wikipedia and, although it boasts of making automatic translations to expand the information in different languages, practically Spanish architects do not exist in the Anglo-Saxon world.
When searching "Spanish women architects" the first result is from Wikipedia. Upon entering, the result is surprising: There are only 14 female architects, a disappointment! when there is a specific page in Spanish with 62 names.
Although it is evident that we have left a lot of information in the pipeline and great masters of architecture. In this article we have only wanted to remember the memory of so many female architectI know that they were our neighbors and that they paved the way for new generations in a world ruled by men.
If you liked the article, rate and share!
