The Women in Architecture publication was born out of the need for visionary female architects and designers to receive the recognition they deserve. The book, organized by Ursula Schwitalla, is a manifesto on women’s high level of professionalism, commitment, and remarkable contribution to the architectural field. It delves into the obstacles and challenges women have faced throughout the history of architecture, some of which continue to the present day.
“This book is a step on a long path, carried out by Ursula Schwitalla in the lecture series “Architecture Today” to finally give women in architecture a voice. This book is a window for hope in our field, where we are still underrepresented today, even in 2020. It creates confidence that women can be successful in this field and will encourage young women to take up this wonderful profession.”
- Odile Decq
In the history of architecture, there are scarcely any women’s names and scholars haven’t really taken heed of the ones who managed to practice architecture despite the obstacles. However, women did show an interest in architecture as far back as the Middle Ages. With the changing educational and working regulations from the 19th and 20th centuries, women slowly, but steadily have developed their professional practice.
For two decades the number of female architecture graduates in Europe and the US is nearly at parity, but only a fraction manages to rise to leadership positions. AIA states currently only 17 percent of registered architects are women. The differences in compensation and the profession’s stubborn all-consuming devotion to the craft, reinforce the imbalance. In the male-dominated architectural field, women can lack female role models as teachers, practitioners, and masters. Those who do rise to the top have to navigate predominantly male juries, clients, public committees, and construction sites.
Following the 2007 publication of “Built or Unbuilt: Architects Present Their Favorite Projects”, this issue presents 36 female architects from around the globe with one of their favourite projects. Complementing this versatile survey are analyses on the current situation of women in architecture, as well as a review of the female pioneers in professional practice. There are four chapters, dedicated to some of the most important role models for the younger generation of architects, including Emilie Winkelmann, Eileen Gray, Lina Bo Bardi, and Zaha Hadid.
"What does the word Architecture intend to mean? At first, limiting it to the art of building could seem passive and, in an even more restricted way, concern just the house construction. But Architecture is almost implicitly everything which is structure and representation, from the rocks, the skeleton, from the structure of the atom up to the appearance of the spheres that are part of the planetary system. The man made efforts, using the elements that nature gave him, in order to modify and reorganize this same nature, created architectures that, by improving themselves, spread through the world, giving origin to new architectures, from the rock to the interplanetary satellite, from the cave to the sky-scraper, from the pendulous do the cathedral."
- Lina Bo Bardi
© Steve Double
“Women are always told, 'You're not going to make it, it's too difficult, you can't do that, don't enter this competition, you'll never win it,' - they need confidence in themselves and people around them to help them to get on.”
- Zaha Hadid
“How do we create spaces for living? We have a firm position on what architecture should provide in terms of “generosity of space”, we attach great importance to the uses, the quality of space and the life in this space, but also to the quality of the climate. We pay attention to the economy. All these points are valid whatever the programs, they could be applied to housing, but also to public spaces.”
- Anne Lacaton
© Takashi Okamoto, courtesy of Rolex Mentor and Protégé Initiative
“There is an image that it is only men who make big projects, but I think that's just because there weren't many women in architecture in the past. Now that is really changing. There are more women architects now — but people often say that women have a softer image, a softer exterior. We make things through discussion.”
- Kazuyo Sejima
“50% of the first-year students at TU Delft are women. At the academies it’s the same. But, the amount of women in architects’ offices was 31% in 2018. Where have they gone, these women? Of course you always look at your own office first, and we’re pretty balanced, I’m happy to say—but you can’t shout about what to do if you don’t start in your own office. At my age and in my position, I tell other women, “Let’s show ourselves. Let’s voice ourselves. Let’s admit it’s not always the easiest.” Other women, like Francine Houben, Caroline Bos, they also spoke out, along with other women in Dutch architecture.”
- Nathalie de Vries
Women in Architecture is published by Hatje Cantz and can be ordered on Amazon or Hatje Cantz.
