Women Architects Research Articles

Review: City Dreamers, directed by Joseph Hillel

Review: <i>City Dreamers</i>, directed by Joseph Hillel

Women Architects in the Transition: Comparative Analysis of ‘Palomeras’ Dwellings, Madrid (Spain)

This study examines the contribution of women architects to Palomeras operation projects in the context of the Spanish transition and the Madrid housing emergency in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Works were selected according to their professional impacts; 11 projects were analyzed by redrawing and studying the main types of dwelling. The current reading interpretation—according to a gender perspective—focuses on reproduction of tasks in main spaces at home: in-depth testing of the scope of kitchen surface and glazing ratios, as well as direct lighting, views and minimum distance of housekeeping paths. Furthermore, the comparative and qualitative analysis was based on meaningful data, which yield subtle but expressive results about the consequences of gender-inclusive architect teams. Thus, it is possible to approach and discuss the role played by some women architects of the Madrid School after second-wave feminism, in a key time for gender change in architectural practice in Spain.

Women Architects on the Road to an Egalitarian Profession—The Portuguese and Spanish Cases

The 1970s was a key decade in the path towards democracy in the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal and Spain suffered deep social, cultural and political changes, with Salazar’s and Franco’s Totalitarian Regimes ending in 1974 and 1975 respectively. In both countries, located side-by-side in the Western end of Southern Europe, democracy was finally established, marking a turning point in the liberties of all Iberian citizens, but especially in regard to women’s life and work. As the Editorial of the Special Issue ‘Becoming a Gender Equity Democracy: Women and Architecture Practice in Spain and Portugal’, this text aims to briefly present this panorama to appreciate the particularities of Portugal and Spain in relation with the delay incorporation of women to the architecture profession. It explains the gender stereotypes of Salazar’s and Franco’s Regime in order to understand the discrimination against women that they produced and how it maintained women far from the architecture profession. Therefore, it provides useful data on the incorporation of women into architectural studies in order to understand the feminization of this gendered profession in both countries. This Special Issue aims to create an opportunity for researchers and scholars to present discussions and ongoing research on how democracy affected women that wanted to practice architecture as well as architectural analysis of women architects.

Diverse Perspectives. A Review of Women Architects: Mode(s) of (R)existing. Reflections Based on a Cycle of Talks

The book Women Architects: Mode(s) of (R)existing. Reflections Based on a Cycle of Talks (2018, edited by Patrícia Santos Pedrosa, Joana Pestana Lages, and Lia Gil Antunes, Lisbon, Women in Architecture Association, 100p), published as a bilingual collection (Portuguese and English), is structured around thirteen narratives by women architects, from a cycle of talks which took place from September 2017 to March 2018 in Lisbon. The book presents a concise record of the event’s purpose, which was to initiate a debate that takes into account both the gender perspective and women architects’ invisibility, as well as their multiple implications in the creation of Portuguese architecture, cities and territories within a traditionally male profession.

Women Architects outside the Spanish Borders: Patriarchal Models at International Congresses (1939–1975)

In the complex political scene surrounding the death of Francisco Franco, Spanish female architects were crossing borders to try and understand what was happening abroad. This article provides unpublished data on the various experiences of female graduates in Spain when they shared their enthusiasm, concerns and energy with colleagues from other countries at international conferences that took place before the arrival of democracy. For almost four decades, between 1939 and 1975, Spanish female architects were limited by the patriarchal system’s own barriers and by the political barriers imposed by Franco’s regime. This paper aims to organise and articulate women’s memories, proving the implicit acceptance of patriarchal ideas and models at the start of the 20th century, the timidity of the congress resolutions in the sixties and the later awakening provided by UIFA (Union Internationale des Femmes Architectes) congresses. Finally, it is worth examining the metamorphosis that occurred in free western societies in the 20th century, with respect to the role played by women as a user and as a professional, through the attentive gaze of women architects from a nondemocratic country.

Angel David Nieves. An Architecture of Education: African American Women Design the New South. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2018. 256 pp.

Angel David Nieves. An Architecture of Education: African American Women Design the New South. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2018. 256 pp.

Žene u arhitekturi u Srbiji

This article presents women's work in architecture in Serbia since the beginning of the 20th century, until today. First part of the article is dedicated to the historical review of some of the important women architects and their work and accomplishments, based on the data gathered through the project Women in Architecture, which explores this topic since 2013. The second part of the article is a review of contemporary women's architectural production, since 1990. until today. Considering the large number of active women architects and their production, the valorization of the authors and work is based primarily on important professional awards received by women architects in the last 30 years. This review showcases the development of architecture in Serbia, as well as the important, although often neglected in academic circles, women's contribution and creativity in this field.

Editors' note

JOELHO 10 closes the cycle of the second series of “em cima do joelho”. This cycle aimed to put JOELHO in dialogue with the scientific journals on architecture while integrating some of the irreverencethat was explored in the first 12 numbers of ecdj. The goal was no more mapping the everyday life of ourschool of architecture in Coimbra but contributing to the academic debates that were taking placein the architectural field. Women in architecture, Anthropology, Memory, Teaching through Design,Digital, Heritage, Utopias, European City or Reuse were themes identified by us and a group of guesteditors that challenged the academic community to participate. Peer reviewed by invited academicexperts, the authors struggled to support their arguments or to achieve coherence. On one side,Joelho became more scientific, but on the other side, it was touched by the irony of the artists in the cover,or the joy of the students in the “exhibition” section. To all of them, a big thanks for keeping JOELHO abeautiful object, either in paper or in the digital cloud.

Ethnic discordance in serum anti-Müllerian hormone in healthy women: a population study from China and Europe.

Chinese women are known to have an earlier age of natural menopause than their European counterparts, but whether they also have a lower functional ovarian reserve is unknown. This study was designed to assess whether there are ethnic differences in anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations in women of reproductive age. Women in China and Europe with regular menstrual cycles, not on hormonal contraception and with no medical history of note, were recruited to provide a day 2-5 early follicular phase sample. AMH concentration was determined using the Roche Elecsys assay. Decline in AMH was modelled with linear, quadratic and quadratic with interaction on age equations to assess the impact of ethnicity. A total of 887 European and 461 Chinese women participated in the study. Despite the Chinese population being slightly younger (34.1±8.4 years) than their European counterparts (34.8±8.9 years), their median AMH was lower, at 1.87ng/ml (interquartile range [IQR] 0.28-3.64) compared with 2.11ng/ml (IQR 0.73-3.96), with evidence of increasing discordance from age 25 years. In all regression models of the age-related decline in AMH, there was evidence of a difference between Chinese and European women. Although AMH was 28.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 18.2-36.7%) lower in the Chinese population at age 30, this decline increased to 79.4% (95% CI 75.4- 82.9%) at age 45. There were independent effects of age and ethnicity on serum AMH concentrations, with Chinese women having a substantially lower AMH in adult life than their European counterparts from age 25 onwards.

Evaluation of the Effects of Delayed Cord Clamping in Infants of Diabetic Mothers

This study aimed to investigate the effect of delayed cord clamping (DCC) in infants of diabetic mothers. Women who had diabetes throughout their pregnancy and gave birth at 37 weeks of gestation or later were included in the study along with their babies. Early cord clamping was performed as soon as possible after birth, while DCC was performed by clamping 60 second after birth. The two groups were compared in terms of venous hematocrit (htc) levels and rates of hypoglycemia, jaundice requiring phototherapy, and respiratory distress. Venous htc levels at postnatal 6 and 24 hours were significantly higher in the DCC group (p = 0.0001). Polycythemia rates were higher in the DCC group at both 6 and 24 hours, but partial exchange transfusion (PET) was not needed in either group. There were no differences between the groups with regard to the rates of hypoglycemia or jaundice requiring phototherapy. Rate of admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was lower in the DCC group. Although DCC increased the rate of polycythemia, it did not result in PET requirement. Moreover, DCC reduced the severity of respiratory distress and the rate of admission to NICU due to respiratory distress.

Social Media, Gender and Architectures Canon

Decolonising the curriculum demands curricula and pedagogic change across all academic disciplines. Whereas the contents of architecture may well be epistemologically diverse, the recognized producers of architecture are determinedly less diverse resulting in calls to reconsider who gets to determine what architecture contains. To challenge this, a broader body of knowledge inclusive of gender, class and race is needed, one that responds to both nascent change and persistent instability, and yet remains ‘’live’ — able to adapt to new authors and new audiences as they arise. To generate this knowledge, how we capture and collect it needs to be reimagined too, and the neutral normative, westernized and gendered ideologies and values that persist within architecture’s canon, directly confronted. As both the #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo movement has demonstrated, social media has provided a rapid response platform through which knowledge is created, communicated and contested. This presentation critically reflects upon the problems and possibilities underpinning three, social-media situated initiatives that sought to repatriate women’s contribution to the canon of architecture. It describes, (1) the production of a crowd-authored list of women architecture writers (2) crowd-sourcing an alternative list of women architects eligible for the #RIBAgoldmedal by Part W and, (3) a crowd-funded, ‘women architects of the world’ Top Trump card game.

Marta Gutman. Review of "The Roots of Urban Renaissance: Gentrification and the Struggle over Harlem" by Brian D. Goldstein and "An Architecture of Education: African American Women Design the New South" by Angel David Nieves.

Marta Gutman. Review of "The Roots of Urban Renaissance: Gentrification and the Struggle over Harlem" by Brian D. Goldstein and "An Architecture of Education: African American Women Design the New South" by Angel David Nieves.

The W@ARCH.PT as an Ongoing Feminist Research Project in Architecture: Contextualizing Initial Reflections

In Portugal, the participation of female architects in the development of the profession – in the broad sense of the word: project, research, education, criticism, and policy – is far from having been identified, problematized, and disseminated. The research project W@ARCH.PT (Women Architects in Portugal: Building Visibility, 1942-1986) strives to give visibility to female architects – revealing “who?”, “when?”, and “how?” – and contribute to expanding the history of Portuguese architecture, as well as developing feminist studies and ideas within the discipline. The strategies chosen to carry out this ongoing research intersect with feminist theories and epistemologies, outside and inside architecture. The issues raised require a critical understanding of the processes that sustain the silencing of female architects’ voices, imposing limitations on how we understand the profession in its many facets. The feminist historical reflection that we propose is based on the idea that combining the production of knowledge and professional practices is crucial to change gender biases and women’s oppression in both fields.

Women Who Design “Master” Bedrooms: A Study of Kerala Women in Architectural Practice

While the practice of architecture has traditionally been a male-dominated field in India, gender discourse in architecture has been slowly shifting the gender balance towards an increased participation of women in architectural practice and academics, as both leaders and team members. This paper explores the nuances of feminist spatial practices locating itself in the state of Kerala, India, that has historically unique gender politics. The paper draws on an ethnographically informed study of twelve women architects, using “Master Bedrooms” as a discursive tool to capture their engagement in professional practice. The study revealed that the critical feminist spatial practice is not watertight nor a conscious way of practice. It does not even require conformity to any one idea of feminism. These women practitioners deploy multiple modes of engaging with and challenging the dominant norms of professional practice. These range from conscious acts of individual subversion to organizational structuring, from overt challenges to quiet resistance. This paper offers to problematise contemporary discourse on critical feminist spatial practices in the context of India and thereby, contribute to critical spatial pedagogies.

The Employment of Sumerian Civilization Characteristics in Design of Women's Evening Wear

The national identity of any people is formed out of many characteristics reflect their culture and civilization which distinguish those people and their cultural background from others in the humanitarian frame. The role of women evening fashion is to be used in certain time and occasions, similar to the other women fashion all over the globe. This fashion has specific design and detail that express the qualification and materialist side of any artistic product. Materially speaking, The women fashion has been exposed to the rapid and clear change without sequencing, and such a change can be seen clearly.As a result, women used the modern fashion &western products that belong to the European historical background, therefore women in our society, are captured to the western international designs and fashion, and away from its characteristic (Iraqi position) , we must not wait for the foreign designers to continue have taken from our civilization and then exported it to us again. Accordingly, the project aims at spotlighting the use of the Sumerian civilization characteristics in the women fashion design for evening related to modern life? Also, the paper reveals the Sumerian civilization characteristics, contains, symbols and how to use it in the women evening fashion, in order to certify to the Iraqi identification in the design of the modern women fashion. The research specify the women fashion for evening and also specify the Sumerian civilization characteristics to use it in the design of evening suits in the modern side. And specify the nomenclatures used in this project , that is usage , characteristics , fashions , Sumerian civilization , evening suit and modern also the researcher investigate the survey for the previous studies and theoretical works which is: the Sumerian fashion the modernSumerian fashion how it is ? and what is its characteristics? And materialist? The used colors ?and its subjects? Also the history is the main reference for design the fashion and how is considered as a treasure for the meanings which it can be used in the design of the modern fashion.

Woman Architects in the Context of Bangladesh

Is gender-equality indispensable in every educational and professional sector? This is a debatable issue with too many complex and inter-dependent factors. While Bangladesh government has vowed to eliminate all form of inequality and discrimination against women as per SDG goals, the scenario is not synchronous in case of architectural education and practice. In Bangladesh, the numbers of practicing female architects are still very low compared to the number of enrolment in this discipline. The objective of this study is to examine current picture of this field in terms of existing barriers and inequalities, lack of organization or collective professionalism in this field. In doing so, this paper has adopted a case study method by randomly selected some women architects from Bangladesh University and Engineering and Technology, interviewed and observed the career choice and trajectory of them. It examines and analyses the narratives of women architects and provides an insight of the thinking and behavioral pattern of the professionals, both men and women. The paper also discusses the similarities and differences to identify determinants and relations to highlight of gender gaps. The study has observed that gender inequality exists in Bangladesh in many forms in regard to practicing architectural profession for women and it becomes a hindrance for women to pursue their dream. The paper recommends for appropriate steps and policy measures to be address and solve this issue accordingly. This study is also important for further research on the understanding of the feminist perspective in a traditional and cultural set up distinct from western mind-set, married-unmarried workforce phenomenon and strength/weakness in current practice to meet SDG agenda.

Review: Women Architects in India: Histories of Practice in Mumbai and Delhi, by Mary N. Woods

Mary N. Woods Women Architects in India: Histories of Practice in Mumbai and Delhi London: Routledge, 2017, 236 pp., 115 illus. $155 (cloth), ISBN 9781472475305 In 1936, Perin Jamshetji Mistri (1913–89) was the first woman in India to graduate with a degree in architecture. She went on to work as an architect in her father's office, which, with her inclusion, if not earlier, became a family practice. Eight decades later, female students constitute the majority in many Indian schools of architecture, yet there is still no history of the practice of architecture by women in India. Female Indian architects lack the national and international visibility of their male counterparts, some of whom, such as the eminent architects Charles Correa (1930–2015) and Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi (b. 1927), have achieved global prominence. Recently, women architects across the world have begun to receive attention, but only three (two in partnership with male colleagues) have received the Pritzker Prize, the so-called Nobel Prize of Architecture, awarded annually since 1979. With her edited volume Gender and the Built Environment in India , Madhavi Desai has been a pioneer in drawing attention to the role of women architects and builders in India.1 Yet much work remains to be done. It is no coincidence that two books now aim to fill this lacuna in our knowledge: Mary N. Woods's Women Architects in India and Desai's Women Architects and Modernism in India .2 These books are the result of a project originally undertaken jointly by these two scholars. Later, after parting ways, they shared the research they had gathered together. It is Woods's timely book that is the subject of this review, and it constitutes, as she declares, “the first history of how women architects made a modern India” (3). In Women Architects in India , Woods contests the dominant global historical narrative on women architects, patrons, and clients, which privileges European women and women of European descent. Thus, she makes …

Ruang aktivitas perempuan dalam arsitektur vernakular Gunungsari, Tabanan, Bali

Space of women activities in vernacular architecture Gunungsari, Tabanan Bali. The space activities of women in the vernacular architecture of Bali has wider position compared with men. Women are given quite a lot of activities space than men, in addition to the ability to give birth and religious activity is high. This underlying pattern in the shape of space on the vernacular architecture of Bali, the Balinese traditional house building pattern that his philosophy is high, where the building is open and it functions more used for women's activities. The process of forming the concept of activity space of the woman, is the answer to the phenomenon of discrimination of women in architecture that is not always true. This research is useful for adding insight deep understanding of vernacular architecture, especially at the Division of spaces according to the person of its activities (gender), a traditional neighborhood development Setup for local residents and businesses for the development of the architectural patterns in rural settlements.

From the margins to the center: urban housing for single Jewish women in pre-state Israel

ABSTRACTFrom the mid-1920s on, single urban Jewish women in Palestine under the British Mandate (1920–1948) experienced a chronic shortage of suitable and affordable lodgings. This spurred Zionist women’s organizations to take action and solve the problem. Their cooperation led to building four ‘Women Pioneers’ Houses’, which offered single immigrant working women modern lodgings and vocational training. Women architects designed the buildings, keeping in mind their future women residents. The buildings’ architects, who had studied and worked in Europe before immigrating to Mandatory Palestine, applied modernist concepts to the buildings’ design. All the houses followed the highest contemporary standards of living and working environments. They became urban female hubs and notable socio-cultural forces in the city, eventually reaching beyond the female sphere, and offering the public at large a variety of activities. The houses had significant visibility and prominence in the urban landscape and were a source of pride for women.

Book Review: Madhavi Desai, Women Architects and Modernism in India: Narratives and Contemporary Practices

Madhavi Desai, Women Architects and Modernism in India: Narratives and Contemporary Practices. New Delhi: Routledge India, 2016, 430 pp., ₹13,320, ISBN: 9781138210691 (Hardback).