Women Architects Research Articles

Guest editorial: Women and Gulf Cities. The transformative impact of women influencing the architectural and urban developments of the gulf region

PurposeWith this special edition, “Women and Gulf Cities”, we collect scholarly contributions to the ongoing discourse on the impact of women on architectural and urban developments in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).Design/methodology/approachThe discussions offered in this issue highlight the various implications, ranging from gender-inclusive urban planning, educational and professional development, sustainability and heritage to global frameworks of innovative and practical solutions for achieving inclusive and integrated urban practices that promote the full and equal participation of women in architecture and city-making.FindingsThe increasing involvement of women in these sectors play a pivotal part in their development and success. It can also be recognised as essential for promoting individual and family well-being, fostering social cohesion and driving economic development. Women play essential roles in sustainable solutions, evolving green economy and sustainable development. Moreover, collaborations initiated by women in the Arab region are instrumental in advancing sustainable development to pave the way towards a sustainable future.Originality/valueThis special edition offers a comprehensive exploration of various facets, ranging from gender-sensitive urban design (GSUD) to the educational and professional development of women in architecture and design, particularly in the Gulf region. The originality of this research lies in its focus on the multifaceted and integral role of women in shaping the architectural and urban landscape of the Gulf region, providing valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities for GSUD and the potential for creating more inclusive, equitable and sustainable built environments in the Gulf.

Contracorriente. Volver a mirar la historia de la arquitectura en Chile a través de las mujeres

Based on the ideas of art historian Griselda Pollock regarding the definition and critique of hegemonic cultural discourses, this article explores the possibilities for revising the history of architecture in Chile between 1920 and 1980 from a gender perspective. By employing Pollock's framework for understanding selective historiographical traditions, the article constructs a broad and heterogeneous panorama of significant figures at a local scale. The discussion concludes with reflections concerning the theoretical challenges involved in constructing a history of women in architecture.

En conversación con las arquitectas: la entrevista como herramienta de investigación feminista en estudios de postgrado

This paper addresses an experience that integrates research and teaching with a gender-based perspective in the qualifying Master of Architecture at the University of Alicante. This experience interweaves heuristic and hermeneutic strategies with the purpose of providing students with methodologies and tools for analysis that encourage a critical approach to the built environment. The study of collective housing complexes created by women architects in Spain is the catalyst for a biographical inquiry and personal encounters with their works and with the residents, in which the interview becomes an instrument to overcome the condition of architecture as an object and explore its epistemic and political fecundity.

Unnoticed Women Architects in the Spanish (South)Eastern Mediterranean Region

This paper reveals the first results of the study carried out within the framework of the research project «A Situated View: Women’s Architecture in Spain from Peripheral Approaches, 1978-2008», in the context of the regions of Valencia and Murcia in Eastern and Southeastern Spain. It deals with the architectural production effectuated exclusively by women architects—alone or together with other women—in the period spanning from 1978 to 2008, i. e., between the democratic transition and the global financial and economic crisis beginning late in 2007. The research brings together bibliographical survey and fieldwork based on direct contact and conversations with women architects, many of whom were absent from the specialised media. Works of different type, use and scale are explored to reveal their increasing production in the last decade of the study, a record of diversity of uses in which residential buildings and works with an average surface area between 1,000 m2 and 10,000 m2 prevail, as well as new buildings as opposed to renovations or refurbishments. This research vindicates the names of women architects, such as Pilar Amorós, Lola Alonso, Lourdes García Sogo, Anna Bofill, and Rufina Campuzano, among other women architects from several generations, and architecture from the Spanish geographic periphery, with the aim of exposing and highlighting a plurality in the ways of making and understanding architecture that completes the historiography. This paper thus consists of a historiographical review open to new contributions and to fill the gaps detected to date.

Architecture Competitions as an Opportunity for Young Women Architects. The Case of the Competition for Rural Subsidised Housing and the Canarian Magüi González, 1981-85

The Spanish democratic transition (1975-1982) was a time when architecture competitions with open and anonymous participation gradually began to appear, a phenomenon that coincided with the progressive incorporation of women architects into the discipline. The first part of this article analyses the situation of these competitions by studying their repercussions in 16 Spanish professional architectural journals belonging to both consolidated and emerging Spanish Architects’ Associations. The participation of women architects is also analysed in order to assess whether these competitions were a source of professional opportunities for them. In the second section, the article studies the Competition for Architectural Solutions for Officially Subsidised Single-Family Housing in Rural Areas (1981-83), a nationwide call with the most significant participation of architecture professionals (more than 1.000) and with a notable number of selected proposals by women architects. This study shows that women architects working in peripheral areas of the Spanish territory had a special presence in this competition, with the Canary Islands being the most remarkable case, for both the good results of its female participants and its ultra-peripheral location. Among the participating women architects, Magüi González stands out for the quality of her proposal and for being the only female professional who eventually obtained a commission from this competition. Finally, the investigation focuses, from a compositional, constructive and design culture perspective, on González’s final built project: 30 dwellings in Juan Grande in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (1983-85), which was, indeed, her opera prima and was eventually awarded an important regional architecture prize.

Women Architects and Social Housing in the Basque Country (1978-2008). An Approach from a Feminist Perspective

This article addresses the presence of women architects in social housing in the Basque Country between 1978 and 2008 from a feminist perspective. To this end, the first section of the paper is devoted to the figure of the architect Margarita Mendizábal, in order to display the unequal and male-dominated professional context that the Basque architect found after her graduation in 1956. In 1978, after two decades in the profession, Mendizábal designed a project to build a hundred social housing units in Madrid, in fact, the largest social housing project that she developed during her professional career. Until the early seventies there is no woman working as freelance architect in the Basque Country. In 1977, the School of Architecture of the UPV/EHU (University of the Basque Country) was created; this fact worked as an activating agent for the presence of women architects after the beginning of the nineties. In this regard, the last section of this article provides statistical data to quantify the presence of women architects in the Basque Country. This data gathers information related to women architects teaching at the School of Architecture of the UPV/EHU, in the professional sphere as freelance architects belonging to the Basque-Navarre Architects Association (COAVN) and, finally, in designing social housing developed by the Basque Government after taking over this area in 1981. The quantification of women out of total social housing developments shows that there are many fewer female than male architects working in this field. Furthermore, we provide a series of social housing cases authored or co-authored by women architects that show a relevant contribution to architecture and architectural culture in the Basque Country.

Architectures and Spaces for Care: Recent Contributions to Spanish Postmodern Architectural Culture Led by Women Architects

Nowadays we observe how many of our cities and other inhabited spaces have been conceived by and for a subject that represents an androcentric model that focusses on the productive, with the result that aspects of architecture such as assistance and care have been underestimated. Faced with this neglect of issues that are considered by society as feminine, a series of feminist struggles have, over the course of decades, been demanding more equitable, inclusive spaces and cities that take into consideration tasks relating to care and reproduction in architectural practice. With regard to the Spanish architectural scene, since the end of the 20th century it has been possible to observe the emergence of a series of professional practices led by women architects that have used the concept of femininity as a creative argument in an effort to approach the profession from different perspectives and open up new areas of activity and debate within which they are free to develop their professional careers. These are based around a critique of modern architectural positions associated with an idealistic vision of society that takes as a reference a neutral gender far from all complexity and excludes the differences between people to establish a paradigm shift from and with feminisms. In this regard, this article aims to present a series of recent professional practices led by Spanish women architects during the period 1978-2008 who, from architecture and urban planning, as well as other peripheral positions such as the arts and social action, have worked around women’s experiences and lent prominence to day-to-day life and care. Its purpose is to determine some of the singular aspects of the contributions made by women to Spanish postmodern architectural culture. This study will allow us to observe how many of these contributions take shape in a series of actions, attitudes and ways of working that envisage the beginning of a shift in how the profession is practised; a shift that departs from the predominant canon to define new strategies and ways of approaching architectural practice that are more in line with the needs of women and non-normative subjects.

Inclusion of Women Architects into the Cultural Field of Spanish Competitions: Struggling for Professional Recognition from the Periphery (1978-2008)

A retrospective look at the architecture competitions held and reported in Spain between the years of transition to democracy and the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008 allows us to verify, from a sociological and historiographical approach, the progressive inclusion of women into the complex and traditionally patriarchal cultural field of the architecture competition. The end of Franco’s dictatorship, and the growing vitality of the Autonomous Regions prompted the call of numerous open consultations throughout the country. These calls continued throughout the last third of the 20th century, until eventually experiencing a decline in the new millennium. These open and anonymous competitions provided a framework in which many women architects were able to ascend through merit, even attaining important positions within the process: firstly, as recognised participants and later as jury members. Highlighting the value of these women’s contribution to architecture has always been subject to disinterest, hesitancy or even outspoken reticence, typical of an eminently patriarchal structure, to which were added those inherent to any competitive structure where the struggle for the domination of symbolic power is inescapable. On the basis of architectural journal articles and illustrative case studies, this paper reviews the published media conditions of this difficult ascent in which the subordinate territories peripheral to the centres of production of architectural culture—Madrid and Barcelona—proved to be a space of opportunity and competition in which to build professional legitimacy. A great deal of Spanish women architects who were regular contestants achieved their recognition through silent logic, far removed from flashy celebrity, an issue that has left a deep imprint on their ways of approaching the practice of their profession, in general, and of participating in the cultural field of the competition, in particular. From this common thinking, this article aims to pay them a well-deserved tribute.

Women Architects and Their Works in the Autonomous Region of Madrid, 1978-2008

This paper explores the periphery of the very centre of the architectural system in Spain, considering the work of women architects in the Autonomous Region of Madrid (Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid), the province of its capital, in the period 1978-2008, i. e., between the democratic restoration and the global financial crisis. The approach is threefold. Firstly, a quantitative analysis, according to various parameters, of a sufficiently representative sample (more than a hundred cases) of this female-authored production, either solo or in collaboration with other women colleagues. Secondly, an analysis of the presence of women and their works in the architectural media in terms of the prestige they represent. Thirdly, an evaluation based on a qualitative approach of these works, the account of their differential features, and the identification of the very interests that women architects expressed through them. To this end, a methodology is implemented that includes the collection of bibliographic sources, a call to the architects to invite them to submit their projects and field work, by visiting and collecting data from most of the works. The results reveal that most of their professional practice that solo and is mainly based on residential works—the most recognised— followed by interventions in public spaces. Most of the works correspond to new construction and are concentrated, in time, in the 1990s and, in space, to the south and east of both the capital and the wider Madrid Region. The work of women architects has hardly been reported in professional journals, although it has been more widely disseminated in institutional publications, especially in the case of female civil servants. Qualitatively, the attention paid to the programme, especially to the common and intermediate spaces, the suitability of the technical means to the ends and the context, the care taken in the design of inclusive public spaces and the commitment to sustainability are striking. All this speaks volumes about the value of authors and architectures that, even in the center itself, are relegated to the periphery. It is a political and cultural system, which gender-based research challenges to propose hopeful alternatives for the discipline.

Minority Narratives: The Voices of Women Architects from the School of Madrid in Early Democratic Spain (1975-1982)

Since the mid-19th century and until the 1964 study programme, students at the Madrid School of Architecture had to undergo various entrance exams for university. Women architects in Francoist Spain represented a mere 5% of the profession, a gender gap only overcome many years after the democratic restoration. Yet most of them did not consider feminism as a matter major concern, since the lack of freedom in Spain held greater importance for women that gender issues, which were relegated to a secondary position in public discussions. Starting in 1985, with the development of the Autonomous Regions in Spain and its accession to the European Economic Community, the country underwent a propound transformation. Former generations of women architects would then play a relevant professional role. This paper aims to expose, through the chronological sequence of their graduation—initially in a testimonial and isolated manner and later forming small networks—how their professional careers developed. This chronological approach, as well as a study of their links from a series of conversations with several women architects that studied and/or set their practice during the years of the democratic transition allows us to conclude that they were not only pioneers but also role models and mentors to each other. Their status as a determined minority is reflected in the relationships they established, with friendships and student complicity that accompanied them throughout their lives, as confirmed by their professional collaborations, comments, and vivid memories of their belonging to a group or community.

Domestic, Not Private: Feminine Proposals for Carabanchel PAU Expansion, Madrid, Spain

This paper offers a gender-based analysis of collective space in the domestic realm, beyond privacy, produced in significant social housing case studies in the urban expansion of Carabanchel neighbourhood (Carabanchel PAU, Madrid, Spain). Designed at the beginning of the 21st century, this period involves the incorporation of women into young architectural teams. Thus, this study seeks to delve into the significance of this role through the detailed study of eleven cases. Focussing on the common spaces of housing buildings, these small elements seem to recall the passage from the safe to the unsafe environment, from the space of the reproductive labour to that of the intersectionality. Following this finding, we propose an incipient study of the transitional spaces between the private and the public, where contacts between neighbours and the exchange of care beyond the private sphere are celebrated, as well as the public representation of domestic life. The methodological approach has stablished four meaning aspects to analyse, related to inhabitants’ life and intended as architectural parameters: spaces for neighbourhood flows, both for residents and visitors; areas of activity and leisure, available for resident daily life; connections between these areas of activity and leisure and, finally, connections of the common areas with the dwellings. The aim is to investigate the extent to which the participation of women architects makes these spaces more effective for care giving—or simply, more suitable for the expansion of intimate life and socialisation with neighbours. The results provide optimistic data for the discipline and its capacity, through this type of sensitivity, to correct some of the errors in the system of production of public space.

Linking education and practice gaps for inclusive architecture in the AEC industry

PurposeThis study explores the opportunities for a gender-inclusive architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, focussing on the gap between architectural education and practice. This study focusses on three research questions: (1) What factors influence women architects' career retention and advancement in the AEC industry? How can practice outcomes be linked with educational approaches for gender inclusion in the AEC industry? (3) What critical factors can enable structural changes in architecture education, including AEC-related subjects and practice/career pathways towards gender equity?Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a systematic literature review (SLR). The established timeframe for selecting papers in this study considered the last 20 years, as various seminal studies in feminism and gender inclusion in architecture emerged in the early 2000s through the definition of keywords used in two prestigious databases. The academic articles selected were filtered through a process of inclusion and exclusion, following criteria for suitability and relevance using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) diagram.FindingsThis study revealed key trends in the literature review consistent with the research questions, including (1) the disproportionate struggles women face at individual, interpersonal and organisational levels and the gender-based bias from entry and progression in the AEC industry that also requires multi-level interventions; (2) traditional architecture education affects female students and educators who find networking, social capital and leadership opportunities to challenge gender-based stereotypes and promote workplace equity, and finally, (3) observe enablers for fostering equity in architecture and education, which should not be limited to policy-driven interventions but structural transformations through transparency, mentorship, leadership, awareness raising and empowerment of women and men, promoting inclusivity and gender equity in the AEC industry.Research limitations/implicationsThis study considers a global understanding of gender equity in the AEC industry, regional and country-specific analysis needs to be considered in future studies. The study's focus is on women’s inclusion, acknowledging the limitations of conventional binary gender concepts; future studies need to include the experiences of LGBTI + communities and other underrepresented groups. The literature review considers only academic articles; future research should also consider industry reports, government initiatives and organisational documents for a broader understanding of diversity efforts in business.Originality/valueThis paper observes the issues for gender-inclusive architecture within the context of a male-dominant AEC industry through linking architectural education and practice. Studies rarely focus on this link and address workplace issues. This study highlights this link and extends the discussion through the critical literature review, providing a new ground for geographic-specific or intersectional studies.

Adopting or Dodging the Heroic Model: Professional Trajectories of Estonian Women Architects

The article focuses on gender-specific experiences of Estonian women architects in the late Soviet and post-Soviet Estonia. Architecture has been, and to a great extent still remains, a rather masculinist field, adhering to an image of heroic individualist creative genius and supporting a very demanding and uncompromising work culture. These preconceptions often make it complicated to forge different career paths or to appreciate alternative or more cooperational modes of practice. The article asks if and to what extent the unwritten rules and prejudices have affected Estonian women architects’ experiences in studying architecture, establishing their careers, combining the responsibilities of professional and private lives, and building up their image as (women) designers in a general sense. Based on in-depth interviews with 16 professional architects aged 33–92, the article also highlights the differences and similarities of practising architecture as a woman in the Soviet and post-Soviet social and economic contexts, mapping them onto findings of international feminist research in the context of both Western Europe and the former Eastern Bloc. Additionally, the article refers to the productive possibilities of oral history as a method to complement and challenge the conventional architecture historical writing as well as the intersubjective character of the narratives thus constructed.

The Women of the Architects’ Small House Service Bureau: Contributions to the Well-Designed Single-Family House

Recently, scholars have highlighted the contributions of female designers to the careers of their better-known male counterparts. The role of women in architecture in the early 20th century is largely relegated to the residential sector for which they were believed to be “naturally suited.” Despite this, when working alongside male architects in the residential arena, their contributions were often overlooked. The goal of this research was to identify and highlight the women behind the Architects’ Small House Service Bureau (ASHSB) and their contributions to the enterprise. The methods used for this work included a systematic literature review of the published resources of the ASHSB, which comprised seven years of The Small Home monthly publication, five plan books published by the ASHSB with regional and reprinted variations, and an analysis of 53 banker boxes of ASHSB headquarter original documents (correspondence, membership lists, policies, and marketing materials). The outcomes of the research confirm that women were involved in all aspects of the residential designs marketed and sold by the ASHSB to consumers. Women contributors were featured with innovative designs for the interiors of the houses including kitchen designs with substantial interior detailing and built-ins, materials and furnishing selections, and advice to homeowners. Articles written by men were frequently credited while significantly fewer women received attributions, leaving the majority of articles and house design descriptions unattributed and anonymous. These women are an important part of the history of interior design in North America.

Women Architects and Politics: Intersections between Gender, Power Structures and Architecture in the Long 20th Century

Women Architects and Politics: Intersections between Gender, Power Structures and Architecture in the Long 20th Century

Revitalisation of urban spaces by women architects: enhancing cultural heritage in the gulf region

Purpose This study aims to demonstrate how women's involvement in urban planning and design in Gulf cities improves urban space's inclusivity and strengthens identity through cultural heritage revitalisation. It also promotes the participation of women in architecture and city-making by showcasing how shaping urban spaces offers local communities opportunities for social interaction and a more inclusive environment.Design/methodology/approach The paper critically compares two case studies in the Gulf region—one in the United Arab Emirates and the other in Bahrain—according to four inclusion criteria: context connection, cultural sensitivity, community engagement and choices of amenities. These inclusion criteria are also applied to an experimental project by women architects' students in Saudi Arabia to inspire the future female architects of the Gulf region. From urban to architectural scales, the project offers a glance into the heritage design by women architects.Findings In light of this critical analysis, this study highlights the sensitivity to issues related to the revitalisation of urban areas by women architects. The case studies identified show the role of the female architect in making architecture and linking cultural heritage with contemporary themes. These projects stitch the past with the present and link cultural identity with aspects related to sustainable architecture. Therefore, valorising women's architectural experience is necessary to contribute to sustainable urban development in the Gulf region and beyond.Originality/value The present study addresses the importance of the role of women architects in the Gulf region. The research promotes the full and equal participation of women in the architecture and construction of the city to recognise their achievements by increasing their involvement in the work in a more integrated and balanced way.

Memories of difference: architects' perceptions of professional regression and gender inequality in Pinochet's Chile

Architecture, as practised in Western countries, is one of the professions that has amply incorporated women in the last century, gradually encouraging equality in the workplace. But, as is common in other occupations, women architects have been and still are susceptible to experiencing gender barriers such as the so-called ‘glass ceiling’ and ‘sticky floor’, as well as a gender pay gap and overexertion with respect to men. Moreover, when considering historical trajectories, the fragility of gender equality in architecture becomes apparent as it is highly reactive to social and economic crises, demonstrating that, although labour conditions can advance over time, they can also regress. Based on oral interviews, this article studies the case of Chilean architects who were students and young professionals in the 1960s and early 70s — the years preceding the military coup led by Augusto Pinochet in Chile in 1973 — showing how an enhanced attention to collective action during those years of political reform and social fervour motivated impressions of gender equality. In contrast, the social crisis and abrupt cultural transformation prompted by Pinochet's military regime deeply affected women architects' perception of professional agency — that is, their ability to feel integrated and find rewarding jobs.

Penerapan Metode Preference Selection Index (PSI) Dalam Pemilihan Anggota Badan Permusyawaratan Desa Kabupaten Bengkulu Selatan

Abstract :This thesis is the result of research that describes how much influence the Village Consultative Body has on the people of Tanjung Tebat Village, golden flower District, South Bengkulu Regency. The Village Consultative Body is an institution that embodies democracy in administering village governance. The Village Consultative Council can be considered as the village parliament. As for the background, the writer's interest in writing this thesis is based on the results of observations and initial interviews that the writer conducted at the golden flower sub-district office, where the selection of members of the Village Consultative Council still uses manual assessment or it can be said that it is not efficient. Where the author offers a Preference Selection Index method to be used in selecting the best Village Consultative Body.In the Preferences Selection Index method, the results are obtained by minimal and simple calculations as they are based on statistical concepts without the need for attribute weights. From the calculations, it can be concluded that the best village consultative body members in the golden flower District fall into alternative A5, namely Design Women with a total value of 0.9084 which has been resolved using the Prefence Selection Prefence Selection Index method.
 Keywords: Election of BPD Members, Method Prefence Selection Index

Women Architects in Practice: Opportunities and Challenges in Algeria

A significant imbalance exists between the number of female graduates from Algerian universities in different regions and registered women in the National Board of Accredited Architects. In this context, this paper examines the issue of the under-representation of accredited women architects in Algeria. The research employs an online survey as a methodology. Three hundred and one women architects were sent an online questionnaire. According to the survey, this discrepancy is attributable to the withdrawal of some women from the job market due to external factors and intrinsic constraints and the migration of another segment to other fields allied to architecture. Among the challenges facing women are the heavy duties of the architects, the stressful and time-consuming nature of their work, and the persistence of the male-dominance. However, besides the ever-narrowing gap between practicing male and female architects, other emerging factors in the field appear to have promising prospects for women. These include the gradual shift to remote work, flexible routines at local and global levels, and the flourishing of new innovative fields allied to architecture that favor women.

Rooms of their Own: Displaying Architecture by Women in Copenhagen

A review of the exhibition Women in Architecture, held at the Danish Architecture Center, Copenhagen (13 May–23 October 2022), curated by Sara Hatla Krogsgaard. This exhibition was held in conjunction with Henriette Steiner and Svava Riesto's project, Women in Danish Architecture 1925–1975.