To celebrate International Women’s Day (better late than never), we wanted to dedicate this article and talk about hard-working, driven, and talented women architects. First, let’s talk about how March 8th came to be a day to celebrate women! In 1910, Clara Zetkin proposed the idea of an International Women’s Day at the second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, which was honored the following year in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Later, the United Nations first celebrated IWD in 1975. IWD is a global event that celebrates women’s achievements, raises awareness for women’s equality, lobbies for accelerated gender parity, and fundraises for female-focused charities!
The campaign theme for IWD 2021 is “Choose to Challenge.” The very notion is fitting, especially considering how from 2019 to the present-day has shined a light on the inequality, corruption, and hate that occurred for all.
Without further ado, here are a handful of women architects we wanted to highlight that have shaped our profession and the world with their work! It’s important to recognize that there are so many wonderful and innovative women who have contributed greatly to the profession. In fact, Architizer recently shared a post, 100 Women to Watch in Architecture, so make sure to head over to read more about amazing women pioneering architecture in 2021.
Denise Scott Brown
A woman ahead of her time, Denise Scott Brown is a South-African, Philadelphia-based architect and planner who is regarded as one of the most influential of the 20th century, radicalizing American architecture and planning through academia and design. Brown’s writings not only discuss her work, such as her “Learning From Las Vegas: the Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form,” but also shares the challenges of being a woman in architecture.
She is notable for championing women’s role and space in architecture, particularly through her essay “Room at the Top? Sexism and the Star System in Architecture.” Throughout her career, she has persistently pushed for equality within the profession. Many, including Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, and Frank Gehry, have called for her inclusion in the awarding of the 1991 Pritzker Prize alongside her husband, Robert Venturi, with whom she shares a practice with.
To read more about Denise Scott Brown, Cultured Mag wrote an amazing short biography detailing more of Denise’s life and her architecture path.
Philadelphia, November 2019 Photograph by Jody Rogac for Aperture
Designed by Venturi, Scott Brown, and Associates or VSBA, the Seattle Art Museum conformed to its context and the city’s grid, which went against museums’ trends during this time. Although being on the smaller side of museums, VSBA’s use of scale brought this project forward, competing with larger museums as it sits on the street corner! As you can see from the image above, the fluted limestone exterior’s homogeneity is coupled with a lively juxtaposition of openings and colors on the street-level to reflect Seattle’s culture and the museum’s exhibitions. Have any of you been there? Let us know in the comments below!
Zaha Hadid
British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid is one of the most celebrated architects in the 20th and 21st centuries. Hadid was praised for her consistent expressive, captivating, and pioneering designs that always maintained a sense of humanity. Though she sadly passed away in 2016, her legacy is kept alive by her practice. Zaha Hadid Architects continue to remain one of the most inventive and prominent architectural studios today!
Zaha never prescribed herself to any one style or school of architecture. Although many of her buildings used seemingly cold and rigid materials such as steel and glass, they maintained a fluidity and dynamic presence that was never intimidating, simply magical and awe-inspiring. While technology progressed in the profession, she maintained her hand-sketching and physical model making, further adding a human touch to her work.
Hadid’s contributions have been acknowledged by global institutions, such as the Forbes list of the “World’s Most Powerful Women,” Japan Art Association, Royal Institution of British Architects, UNESCO, the Republic of France, etc. Her list of accolades is lengthy and nothing short of impressive.
Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, March 2004
Designed by Hadid, the MAXXI Museum is a national museum of contemporary art and architecture located in the Flaminio neighborhood northwest of Rome, Italy. Since it was closed the day I was there, I could only peak inside and was astonished by the stark contrast of the interior space versus the exterior! This could be one reason why this amazing project won the Stirling Prize of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2010.
Yvonne Farrell + Shelley McNamara
This duo are the winners of the 2020 Pritzker Prize, the first in history from Ireland! They are strong advocates for academia, having taught at institutions worldwide. They have been practicing together under their firm, Grafton Architects, for over 40 years, covering an impressive range of projects.
The duo’s approach and style of architecture are characterized by a human, intimate scale and quality that is achieved through context-sensitive design. Their approach is apparent in how they discuss the profession and act of architecture, “Architecture is a framework for human life. It anchors us and connects us to the world in a way which possibly no other space-making discipline can.” Within 40 years, the duo has completed various projects that have enhanced and sensitively responded to local needs in Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Peru.
Image courtesy of Grafton Architects
The Solstice Art Centre is one of many projects that the duo has created! Located in the historic market centre of Navan, Ireland, this project dealt with the urban infrastructure while attempting to revitalize and re-identify this area culturally. The center’s design focused on varying level changes, which the duo coined as an “interior landscape” to balance the site’s dominant infrastructure.
There are countless more remarkable women in our profession that we couldn’t fit all into this one article! Women continue to shape and push the boundaries of a predominantly male profession. These four are just a few who have paved the way for their successors and us. Take the time to celebrate and support your women peers and colleagues, and look forward to what roles we can play in the future together. Stay tuned for a part 2 of this post, as we share more notable women in architecture.
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