Research & Illustration: Women in Architecture

•

Idea & Illustration: Vasylysa Shchogoleva
Main Typography: GRANITO by Daniel Baron
Secondary Typography: Avenir

DIY-Calendar for the Year 2020 for self-print* with one Architect per Month.

Each Architect presented in this calendar has one thing in common: unfortunately, they have not appeared during the Architecture History Class, even though each of them provided us with an important body of work during their active years. This calendar aims to bring these architects to the classrooms, homes, studios, and offices, and to our common knowledge about our profession. It is only the tip of the iceberg and therefore each page also contains a source from where the information was taken and where one can find more of it.

Therefore, it is free for download* as PDF (horizontal or vertical orientation) and to be printed with a regular office printer (in color, or black and white). It can be pinned to the cork-wall with office pins or holed with the hole puncher + attached to the string, and voila, you can hang it on your wall. By the end of the year, you can easily cut out the left part, which contains a portrait and a short description of the architect, and keep it for your memory or give it to another person. If you wish, you can tag me in social media with the hashtag #architectswemustknow & #vasycalendar

The idea of this calendar struck me after flipping through another edition of printed Architectural Magazine which in my opinión did not reflect the gender situation of the sphere. I work in the female lead office with three females + two males, but the magazine was filled with 95% male faces. As a woman it makes me wonder: where are we? This question somehow was not so obvious for me during my studies, but now, looking backward, I realised, that from my school times I almost do not know any architect that is also happened to be a woman.

It led me to Book Stores and Google. Where I happen to find amazing work of Despina Stratigakos “Where Are the Women Architects?” The following passage spoke to me and the idea of the calendar:

“Female role models can exert their own influence and need to be far more visible in classrooms, firms, and professional organisations. […] Role models boost self-esteem by countering negative stereotypes that cast doubt on a person’s abilities to perform well in the profession. They increase motivation for career advancement and success. They Foster a sense of identification with a field, combating alienation. The scarcity of female role models in architecture is thus profoundly damaging. According to the Missing 32% Project, almost a third of women who left practice gave the lack of role models as the deciding factor.” (p.35)

I see the calendar as the first attempt to provide us with the knowledge about the architects that we have not heard of and to motivate us to look for more information about them and others. And keep our tribe and connection growing.

* Calendar is free for Download for Personal Use Only. Commercial use is not permitted.

Further Useful Reading
1. Despina Stratigakos “Where Are the Women Architects?”
2. The Missing 32% Project
3. 21 Women Architects, ThoughCo
4. The Price of Desire, Movie
5. Making Room for Women, Susanna Torre, Exhibition
6. "Frau Architekt" Over 100 Year of Women in Architecture, DAM, Exhibition and Book