Tuesday 8 March 2011

Women in Architecture*

"Well, she's the woman of the world
And God she knows it"
Aerosmith


International Women's Day is annually held on March 8 to celebrate women's achievements throughout history and across nations.So I thought about writing for this celebration 
in architectural terms .


In the world of architecture the role of women is often overlooked.Nevertheless,many women have overcome obstacles,established highly successful architecture careers and designed landmark buildings.Check out the lives and works of these trailblazers.


1.Zaha Hadid

Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1950, Zaha Hadid is the first woman to win a Pritzker Architecture Prize. Her work experiments with new spatial concepts and encompasses all fields of design, ranging from urban spaces to products and furniture.










2.Denise Scott Brown

Over the past century, there have been many husband-wife teams. Typically the husbands have attracted the fame and glory while the women worked quietly (and some would argue, intelligently) in the background. However, Denise Scott Brown had already made important contributions to the field of urban design when she met and married her husband, Robert Venturi. Although he appears to be more frequently in the spotlight, her research and teachings have shaped modern understanding of the relationship between design and society.




3.Julia Morgan

Julia Morgan was the first woman to study architecture at the prestigious
Ecole des Beaux-Arts 
in Paris and the first woman to work as a professional architect in California. During her 45-year career, Julia Morgan designed more than 700 homes, churches, office buildings, hospitals, stores, and educational buildings, including the famous Hearst Castle.






4.Marion Mahony Griffin

Frank Lloyd Wright's first employee was a woman
and she became the world's first woman to be officially licensed as an architect. Like many other women who design buildings, Wright's employee was lost in the shadow of her male associates. Nevertheless, Marion Mahony Griffin contributed greatly to Wright's career and also to the career of her husband, Walter Burley Griffin.






5.Kazuyo Sejima


Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima launched a Tokyo-based firm that designed award-winning buildings around the world. She and her partner, Ryue Nishizawa, 
share the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize.







6.Maya Lin
Trained as an artist and an architect, Maya Lin is best known for her large, minimalist sculptures and monuments. When she was only 21 and still a student, Lin created the winning design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.




7.Norma Merrick Sklarek


Norma Merrick Sklarek was 

the first black woman to become licensed architect in the United States.

She was also the first black woman honored by Fellowship in AIA. Her many projects include a new terminal, serving 10 million annual passengers, for Los Angeles International Airport.



8.Katerina Tsigarida

Katerina Tsigarida was born in Athens in 1956. She graduated from the School of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and continued her studies in the Architectural Association in London where she collaborated with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (1980-1984). In 1981 with Elia Zengelis they start up OMA in Athens. Since 1984 it continues as independed practice and in 1996 she forms KATERINA TSIGARIDA ARCHITECTS in Thessaloniki.In 2001  shewas nominated for the European Architecture award
«Mies van der Rohe» 
with the project 
«New HELEXPO gates in Thessaloniki». 


9.Zoka Zola

This Chicago-based architect owns her own firm and has created a number of award-winning homes, including
a zero energy house.
Apartment Therapy toured her personal home and studio way back in 2006.













10.Michelle Kaufmann

This California-based green prefab home designer started out working for Frank Gehry, then set out on her own. Unfortunately, she closed up shop last year, but maintains an active site where you can read her blog posts and commentaries. You can see a tour of her own home here, and the Smart Home she designed for the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry here.



So let's celebrate this day in architectural terms 
and find time to learn more things 
about those women and their architectural statements.

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