| Women in architecture |
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| Elizabeth O’Keefe examines the shortage of female architects in 21st century Britain |
It is widely acknowledged within the architect profession that women are a minority
group. The present percentage of women actively practicing architecture in Britain is
approximately 13 per cent.
Even though architecture is traditionally a male dominated field, we have reached
the 21st century and women still do not seem to be taken seriously enough; unlike any
other career architecture is stuck firmly within the dated ‘old boy’ mentality.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) reports that in 2003 only 11 per cent
of RIBA chartered architects were women but that a substantial amount of women were
entering the architectural courses. It is becoming obvious that the working environment
within the architectural profession is not acceptable for women.
In July 2003 the RIBA addressed the situation by conducting a report with the
University of the West of England investigating why women leave architecture. The
report, which was based on the results from a survey of 170 women, found that the
reasons why women left the profession were not connected to any academic or
practical ability.
Women are not allowed to demonstrate their ability because the profession seems
to fail to produce flexible hours that consist with family commitments or motherhood.
Women are faced with the classic female professional dilemma: the choice between
a career and children. Where most professions have accommodated for this social
change, architecture seems to be lacking that kind of fluidity.
The RIBA survey found that a severe lack of creative opportunities were offered to
female architects and that women received limited additional training. Low pay and
job insecurity leads to low self esteem and poor job satisfaction. This environment
results in women either leaving the profession altogether, or setting up their own small
practices. The report found that a form of ‘macho culture’ is at large in architecture,
in a manner that other professions have eradicated decades ago.
Obviously some women do succeed in the profession, but what discrimination and
sacrifices do they have to endure to get there? There have been reports of
uncomfortable working environments and inequality in the workplace concerning pay
rates and promotion. Established Australian architect Eve Laron was made a partner
of a firm she had been working with for over ten years in the early 1970’s. As a result
of this, two male associates resigned solely because they found the notion of working
under a female boss unreasonable. Laron now heads her own firm, Eve Laron
Architects, in New South Wales, Australia and is an activist for the increased presence
of women in architecture and related fields. Another inspirational female architect is
British Annette Fischer, who has been president of the RIBA Council in London, as well
as successfully running her own practices. Fischer believes that a different approach
should be taken regarding women in architecture; instead of attempting to fit-in with
the way the average successful male architect operates within architecture, the female
architect should be seen as a powerful influence. Young women should be
encouraged into architecture and stay within it despite the odds.
Gender issues surrounding architecture are complex; the general opinion seems that
women architects do not want to be seen as specifically ‘female’, but on the merit of
their own work. However, women are all trained in a system that is completely bound
up in the male power structure; they are being discriminated against because of the
life they choose to live, and the effort must be made to identify this.
It is shocking that the profession has reached the 21st century with this gender
inequality at large. The situation has statistically hardly moved on at all; at the
beginning of the last century only nine percent of architects in Britain were women, compared
to 13 per cent nearly a century later.
So what did the RIBA report find? As most of the architect profession expected, the
serious drop-out rate concerning women is a result of sexism and unsocial hours. The
hard overlap of architecture and construction has led to anti-social, anti-family
practices.
According to the equal opportunities policy, any person should be judged on our
own particular ability irrespective of gender. The work culture and ‘macho’ mentality
of the architectural profession actively excludes women and the lifestyle they may
choose to live.
The RIBA has stated: “Action to reverse this trend will require the commitment of
individuals and employers, supported by the RIBA.” However, the organisation
remains confident that progress can be made through good employment practice
within the profession and a supportive work environment.
Despite the fact that seven out of every eight architects in Britain are male, change
seems to be in the air as we progress through 2004. In March of this year a female
architect, Zaha Hadid, was selected to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize for the
2004 laureate. Hadid is the first woman to ever win this award, which has been
running since 1979 and considered to be the professions highest honour. This
international prize is awarded each year to a living architect for lifetime achievement,
established by the Pritzker family of Chicago through their Hyatt Foundation.
Zaha Hadid has been an inspiration to female architects; her architectural career
has not been traditional or easy. Hadid, Baghdad born, studied at the Architectural
Association in London, has been a partner in the avant garde office of Metropolitan
Architecture and has held many prestigious posts at Universities such as Harvard and
Yale. With a reputation for being difficult and a ‘diva’, Zaha reached a professional
high point last year when she completed her first building in the United States, the
Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati.
Ada Louise Huxtable, a Pritzker Award juror has stated: “From the earliest drawings
and models to current buildings and work in progress, there has been a consistently
original and strong personal vision that has changed the way we see and experience
space.”
Other Zaha Hadid projects include a building for BMW in Leipzig, and a Science
Centre in Wolfsburg, both in Germany; a National Centre of Contemporary Arts in
Rome; a Master Plan for Bilbao, Spain; a Guggenheim Museum for Taichung,
Taiwan; and a high speed train station outside Naples; and a new public archive,
library and sports centre in Montpellier, France.
Zaha Hadid, 53, is also the youngest person to ever win the Pritzker Award; the
prize is $100,000 and will move Hadid from success onto further success.
With this recent development, and the RIBA addressing the need for change within
architecture, there seems to be hope for the future generation of female architects. Two
accomplished women, Nayna Mistry and Nicola Waddington, offer the same
inspiration and that needed powerful influence to women in their profession.
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| Nicola Waddington |
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In January of this year Nicola Waddington
became a director of Alan Jones Architects, Northern Ireland. Waddington,
34, has accomplished an encouraging amount through her career so far; after
completing an Art Foundation course, which had a large influence on her final
decision to go into |
architecture, Nicola studied at the acclaimed Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow
where she gained her B Arch (Honours) and her Diploma in Architecture.
Following this Nicola completed the RIBA part III examination and became
ARB registered in 1997, ending her academic education.
Nicola has worked with many established architecture companies; she worked a
year placement at Sheppard Robson Architects, Camden Town, London during her
degree studies that led to a permanent position, as Project Architect, later in her career.
In-between leaving University and returning to Sheppard Robson, she spent a short
time working for Elder and Cannon Architects, Glasgow, mainly working on high
quality community housing projects for Scottish Homes. After returning to Sheppard
Robson, Nicola moved on to the Canary Wharf Group plc where she became a
Design Manager and dealt with massive projects such as Heren Quays. For the next
four years Nicola worked for Canary Wharf Group plc until the birth of her first child,
she then decided that it was time to return to Northern Ireland where she taught at
Queens University for some time and then took on her present position at Alan Jones
Architects.
Nicola became aware that there were very few women in the architectural
profession as she progressed through her career. Fortunately the first Company she
worked for, Sheppard Robson was at that time a substantially sized Practice with a
large portion of female architects particularly in terms of students employed. For
Nicola, the ‘macho culture’, even though she is of course aware of it, has not really
affected her career. In relation to this Nicola states: “It maybe because I’ve worked in
London, it’s quite diverse, the only time I’ve encountered anything of that nature is
actually on site, but it’s not really been a problem.”
Nicola Waddington had the major experience of working on the Heron Quays
development, which was the second phase of the Canary Wharf project, while at the
Canary Wharf Group plc. Nicola was involved from the design stages on all
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buildings on the project, including the spectacular 24m high glass public buildings that
interconnected with the five office blocks and the park, which she is particularly proud
of. The scale of the project and the dramatic designs produced made this an
unforgettable experience for Nicola: it enabled her to work with teams from all over
the world. The Canary Wharf development created a whole new part of London,
including a fairy tale style park landscaped by the Belgium architect Wirtz, which
greatly contrasts the surrounding buildings. Of the project Nicola reflects: “It was a
once in a lifetime opportunity and I feel lucky to have been there; there won’t be doing
anything like that again in our lifetime.”
The Director admits that she has experienced other women being discriminated
against in her profession when they decide that the time has come to have a family.
She explains: “You have to make that choice, in a way it’s either architecture or having
a family. That is probably why most women leave architecture. When women leave
to have children, the employers aren’t really geared to part time working. To that point
it is fine, you can move up the career ladder as steadily as you like, quite happily.
Even if you do go back there can be the problem that your career has stalled in a
way, I’ve been very fortunate as I am part time at the moment. I have known women
who have returned after five years and they haven’t been promoted, they’re very good
at what they do, but they just stay as Project Architects, and maybe that’s something
they’re happy with. Certainly I do think it’s an issue that taking a break for some years
you can give the impression that you will suffer from the break, it seems to be
something that other professions have been able to get round.”
Irrespective of gender, Nicola maintains that architecture is not a profession to enter
into lightly. The merge between construction and architecture can be quite hard, but once
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achieved the profession is varied and challenging; Nicola has no
doubt that she chose the right career path. She states: “You
never know all there is to know about this subject, the constant
research and new ideas keeps it from never becoming dull. I can’t
really see myself moving into anything else ever.” |
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| Nayna Mistry |
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Nayna Mistry, 37, studied at the University
of Manchester from 1984-1991 where she achieved a B Arch (Honours) and a Diploma
in Architecture, followed by the RIBA Chartered Architect part III in 1991. After
excessive job searching and a redundancy in 1993, she started her own Company,
Mistry Architecture, in mid-recession 1994.
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While Nayna has found her career both challenging and rewarding; she has had
many obstacles to overcome. Nayna has been continuously de-motivated throughout
her education, but has fought her way to architectural success. At college Nayna had
decided to study Maths, Further Maths and Physics, but was advised against it as
teachers thought that it would demand too much of her. Despite this discouragement,
Nayna gained excellent grades in all three subjects and achieved an O-Level in
Technical Drawing at the same time. Following this Nayna secured a place at the
University of Manchester to study architecture; after experiencing some difficulties in
her second year of study she was unbelievably told that she could not be an architect
and that she would have to marry one instead. Through dedication, hard work and
the support of her family, Nayna has achieved her goals against the harsh criticism.
Specialising in residential work, her experience includes 12 years of project
involvement in various private architectural practices in Dudley, Stourbridge, Walsall,
Manchester and Stockport and also some Local Authority work at Telford and Wrekin
Council. Nayna has also had three of her projects published in the RIBA Regional
Handbook and has experience in written planning appeals with an 80 per cent
success rate.
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Nayna believes in a traditional, personal approach regarding her work; that all
buildings including housing designs should have character and originality. This was
recently applied to an office extension in Walsall for a financial company and Walsall
Council suggested that it could be submitted for a Civic Trust Award. Of the project
Nayna states: “Although it is a conservation area, the Council allowed floor to ceiling
glazing to create a modern look. From inside the views are stunning, you can see over
the lake and the foliage. Everyone who has been inside is totally surprised and taken
aback by the way I have accentuated the views with my design. That includes the
client and me as you cannot appreciate the view until you are inside the building
looking out.”
Nayna is adamant that women within the architectural profession should be
encouraged, admitting that if she had received more encouragement or been aware of inspiring
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female architects, then she would have gained confidence and
power from that also. Nayna states: “I have read several
articles in the press over the last two years about the
negative side of women in architecture and this is why I
feel strongly that I wish to highlight my case as we need
to put forward the positives too. I feel that I have achieved
a tremendous amount in my business over the last 10
years, especially when I know of a few male architects
who have tried to do this and have not succeeded.” |
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