Running Head: WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE 1

Alan Frausto
ID:80588987
Women in Architecture: A Review of Literature
University of Texas At El Paso
Professor: Tafari Nugent
RWS:1302
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Abstract
Architecture has been around since the Aztec and Mayan times. For thousands of years

men have created the blue prints for many projects. It was not until the late 1800s where women

began to enter this field and create the designs for their work. However, there have been many

challenges and struggles that women in this architectural field face. Historically they have been

viewed in a negative light, that they could not do what men could accomplish. With precise

research, this bias on women in architecture can diminish having the evidence for all their

upcoming success.
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Women in Architecture: A Review of Literature

The history architecture has been considered a mans field for many years since its creation.

This brings question in mind; Do women go through challenges and inequality due to this

prejudice? Many women in the architectural field have stated and complained that they feel below

men in architecture in different aspects. Besides the inequality, to further explain the progressive

changes that these women there are key factors. One of the factors is popularity, for it motivates

and opens opportunities for other women to be inspired. Another factor is riches, there are

improvements on the most successful women in architecture where some are making millions of

dollars, besides the majority of other architects that make less than men. The last one would be the

most famous projects that has attracted so much attention and celebration done by these women.

In order to fully understand the challenges and progressions of these women, These four questions

need to be answered:

1.What are the hardships and challenges that women in architecture face?

2.What are the most famous works done by women in architecture?

3.Who are the most famous women in architecture?

4.Who are the richest women in architecture?

The Literature Review will provide awareness on the types of inequalities in the architectural field

for women and information on their progressions from works to riches.

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What are the hardships and challenges that women in architecture face?

There have been many struggles and challenges that women in the architectural field

face. From a variety of hardships from trying to get a job to unequal pay, have played the role of

unfair treatment in architecture. One of the main hardships is the title women are placed upon

which represents a negative distinction between men and women in the field of design. Dorte

Mandrup is an architect who happens to be a woman which stated that she wants the promotion

of female architects to be put at an end (Mandrup, 2017). She also goes off about saying that

she wants her recognition on her success to be presented as an architect not a woman. Dorte

Mandrup also backs up her evidence by bringing up the point that there are only architects and

female architects, there is no architects with the prefix male (Mandrup, 2017). The prefix male

shows that there is difference in which men and women are recognized for their achievements

and projects.

As mentioned, one of the main challenges for these women is struggling to get employed

by a company or firm in architecture. Another woman in this professional field is Norma

Sklarek, where she shares her personal difficult journey to get employed. In her interview,

Norma Sklarek said that it took her about twenty times to finally get hired by a firm

(Visionaryproject, 2010). Even though she already acquired or surpassed the same qualifications

as men in architecture, she was rejected nineteen times. She also faced part two of this challenge,

where she says she found it difficult and rare for a woman to get promoted. In the firm, she

mentioned that there were a lot of furious coworkers since a woman was working beside them,

and got negative reviews from her superiors (Visionaryproject, 2010).

The last but not the least challenge for these women is financial inequality. According to Sara

Johnson, the associate editor of ARCHITECT news, calculated that women in architecture
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approximately make fifteen thousand less than male architects (Johnson, 2015). Although they

have equal qualifications, the women in architecture make about eighty percent of what men

make in this field, this is a huge gap that has outraged them and demand equal pay. Sara Johnson

also states that architecture is one of the fields that have this type of wage gap between men and

women (Johnson,2015). The full time highest paid men make more than seventy-thousand a

year, and women make about sixty thousand a year. This is such a big difference which provides

an outcry and anger that women in the architecture field face.

What are the most famous works done by women in architecture?

One of the most famous projects done by a woman in architecture is the Galaxy Zoho

building. It is in Bejing, China where it was created by Zaha Hadid, a very popular woman in the

architectural field. The building itself is three hundred and thirty-three thousand meters squared.

It included bridges which crisscrossed connected between two sides of the project (Daily, 2012).

It is an all-white pearl project overall, and the two buildings where the bridges crosses have and

look like oval shaped structures. Inside the building it has main top and bottom floors for

different purposes (Daily, 2012). The top consists of different restaurants and cafes that are for

entertaining and dining. The remaining three bottom lower sections however are strictly for

business only. Zaha Hadid made the whole structure with the white theme to provide a clean and

futuristic look where many people visit. Zaha Hadid has made many different projects and

structures but the Galaxy Zoho was the first main one to pop out when searching for her most

famous buildings.

Another famous building is located in Germany, which was created by architect Alison

Brooks. It is the Atoll Helgoland Hotel and is on top of an island. The theme of the hotel is deep

sea where the colors are different shades of blue and aqua to give it the sea experience as she
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describes (Toy, 2001). Also, it is based on a man-made atoll, where she got her inspiration from

(Toy, 2001). Many tourists and visitors who book this hotel have grabbed sight onto what the

hotel represents. It also has a bistro, pool, and bar. The hotel being that it is located in an island

makes the experience an ocean view because of the waters that surround around this project that

Alison Brooks based it on. This hotel has a five star rating because people enjoy the them and

structure that it provides. Allison Brooks is from New Zealand , which she provided a bit of her

cultural theme with the surrounding area.

The final project is the Citroen Showroom, which connects both architecture and

marketing. This building was designed by Manuelle Gautrand, where she was hired by the

automobile company Citroen. Their red and white showroom is located in Paris, France, where

inside there are eight different cars stacked in layers one over the other. The lightning inside is

bright to attract the customers and enhance their car displays(PRODUCTION A, 2017). The

project also has another attention getting ...... is the outside view of the building itself, where it

has sharp triangular windows and lighting inside from the theme colors to make an attraction for

customers, and thus bringing them to their facility. All the themes and structure of the building is

for this companies marketing advances where they can try to bring in customers to look at the

displays and make certain car purchases(PRODUCTION A, 2017). The overall cost of the

building is estimated approximately 13000000 Euros , which in the United States is equivalent to

15,130,050 U.S. dollars. Overall this building was creating for attraction and convenience, even

though with its high price, the automobile company wanted it to display their name sell.

Who are the most famous women in architecture?

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There have been only a few recognized names for women in the architectural field

because most women go unnoticed due to the hardships and challenges they face. As mentioned,

one of the most famous and influential woman in architecture is known as Zaha Hadid

(Kimmelman,2016). She got her architectural degree from the American University of Beret and

considered a really important architecture that played a big role for women to step up to this field

of work. Also a very important women changing and impacting achievement that helped shape

women in architecture was Zaha Hadid winning the Pritzker prize. She was the first woman ever

to win this prize as mainly the male architects are awarded with it. The Pritzker prize signifies

the talents and work done by the awarded architect, and Zaha Hadid, a woman who won this

prize brought a symbol for women pursuing and working in this career (Kimmelman, 2016). She

has a different variety of buildings and structures all around the world including the Galaxy Zoho

located in China. As a beacon of light and inspiration Zaha Hadid was born in October 31,1950

and recently passed away March 31st, 2016.

Before Zaha Hadid there was another important woman is known to be the first to be

hired and work in this field. Her name is Louis Blanchard Bethone and with only with a high

school diploma she was hired by a company as a draftswoman in 1876 (Klein, 2016). Being the

first official professorial in 1888, the firm she worked in made schools, prisons for women, and

factories all around Buffalo (Klein,2016). In this source, it goes over how even though she was

faced with many challenges and discrimination due to her status as being a female, she never

gave up and worked as hard as any man in the field. It is said that because of Louis Blanchard

Bethone being the first professional woman in the architecture field, she influenced many women

to pursue this field. Also, being the first to set up and create her own architectural firm, she

created a lot of projects that helped shape the city of Buffalo in which she worked on.
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Last but not least another woman in architecture is Odile Decq and she is conserded the

rock and roll architect. She is known for this because she mostly uses red for her projects in

theme. She has a gothic look to not only her projects but to herself also (Craven,2016). She has

had an impact towards the architect industry by adding this unique style into her work. She also

won the John Drew Prize which signifies her talents, this was apart of the uprising for women in

thus field.

Who are the richest women in architecture?

The wealthiest woman in architect history has a whopping net worth of over 3.3 billion

United State dollars (Forbes media, 2017). This woman is known as He Quionv, and she has one

of the highest salaries in the architecture business. On the Forbes List she is marked as number

one hundred and two in the Chinese. She owns her own company which produces most of her net

worth and has her husbands the vice president (Forbes Media ,2017). Having her company in the

main field for china when it comes to architecture.

Another very wealthy woman in architecture who has been mentioned several times in

his literature review is no other than Zaha Hadid. Having a total net worth consisting about 70.8

million (Mairs,2017). Before she passed away she got all this money from all her works

especially from her firm that her right-hand man Patrik Schumacher now controls. With total

debts she had left over 62 million because she was 3 million dollars in debt. Buildings such as

the Galaxy Zoho contributed to all her wealth, and all the companies and businessman that hire

her.

The final wealthiest woman in architecture is Allison Brooks, the one mentioned about

her famous work of the Atoll Hotel. Her net worth is over 15 million a year, also her works
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contributing to this wealth. Although she is making millions of dollars she is the least paid

compared to the previous mentioned. Allison Brooks is still a very high paid architect for all her

work (Networth, 2017).

Who do you think is more capable of doing a better job

in architecture?
22%

78%

yes no

In the survey questions there were twenty different people from Magoffin and Tobin park

in Northeast El Paso on their opinion in which they think which gender is more capable of doing

a better job in architecture. Asking ten females and ten males to equal a balance in the survey but

as my results were tallied up, 64 percent agreed that men were the victor. Also, it came out the

remaining result was 36 percent, a number far below the male.

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no
22%

yes
78%

yes
no
Should men and women architects be paid
the same?

In the next survey question which asked the same twenty people if they believe that

women and men in architecture should be paid the same. The Majority win was that yes they

should be paid the same. The minority vote was people disagreeing and saying no to that they

should not be paid the same. A man named George Gomez said that he felt that they should not

be paid the same because men are harder workers and that the women dont have the effort.

This bias was well presented to what one of the main problems these women in architecture face.

Then asking the next question in which that if they found out that a woman designed

their home if would they feel comfortable. Getting an exact 50-50 percent yes or no. According

to the research half felt women did an excellent job and would feel comfortable and the other

half no. William Robert Martinez who was at the park said that he would not feel safe being in a

house that was designed by a woman because he felt that men were better architects because they

know how to construct and build.

The last survey research question goes under that if women in architecture should be

labeled as architects without the prefix female. Also getting the total percentage as 42 percent

saying yes and 58 percent saying that no they shouldnt. This is one of the bias that has been
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created and what most women in architecture face and struggle with. George Gomez again said

that he needed to know who was designing his home or building because he wants to feel safe.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this Literature Review is to inform people about the injustice, recognition,

and wealth that the women in architecture face. These women face many struggles from finding

a job to recognition which they feel oppressed. There are also many different buildings and

structures that have been created by these women, which create a special monument to wherever

they are located in. Furthermore, in conducting the survey research most feel that women should

not be trusted or in wealth distribution. Overall the objective of this Literature Review is to

provide the readers an insight to the lives of these women in architecture.

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References

Craven, J. (December 19). Who is Odile Decq, the Rock 'n Roll Architect? Retrieved

October 17, 2016, from https://www.thoughtco.com/odile-decq-french-architect-177392

Daily, A. (2012, October 28). Galaxy Soho / Zaha Hadid Architects. Retrieved October 17,

2017, from http://www.archdaily.com/287571/galaxy-soho-zaha-hadid-architects

Forbes Media., LLC. (n.d.). He Qiaonv. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from

https://www.forbes.com/profile/he-qiaonv/

Johnson, S. (2015, March 17). Female Architects Earn $14,877 Less Than Male Architects.
Retrieved October 17, 2017, from http://www.architectmagazine.com/practice/market-
intel/female-architects-earn-14-877-less-than-male-architects_o
Kimmelman, M. (2016, March 31). Zaha Hadid, Groundbreaking Architect, Dies at 65.

Retrieved October 17, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/arts/design/zaha-

hadid-architect-dies.html

Klein, J. Z. (2016, February 29). Heritage Moments: Louise Blanchard Bethune, Buffalo's gift

to architecture and women's rights. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from

http://news.wbfo.org/post/heritage-moments-louise-blanchard-bethune-buffalo-s-gift-

architecture-and-women-s-rights

Mandrup, D. (2017, May 30). Dorte Mandrup on gender: "I am not a female architect. I am an

architect". Retrieved October 17, 2017, from https://www.dezeen.com/2017/05/25/dorte-

mandrup-opinion-column-gender-women-architecture-female-architect/

Mairs, J. (2017, January 17). Zaha Hadid's will reveals details of 70 million fortune.

Retrieved October 17, 2017, from https://www.dezeen.com/2017/01/16/zaha-hadid-will-

patrik-schumacher-executor-70-million-fortune-estate-news/
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Networth.I.(2010, February 8). Alison Brooks Net Worth Short bio, age, height,

weight. Retrieved October 18, 2017, from http://heightweighnetworth.com/alison-brooks/

PRODUCTION, A. (n.d.). Manuelle Gautrand. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from

http://www.manuelle-gautrand.com/projects/citroen-showroom/

Toy, M. (2001). The architect: women in contemporary architecture. Chichester: Wiley-

Academy

Visionaryproject (Director). (2010, March 22). Norma Sklarek: A Licensed Artchitect [Video

file]. Retrieved October 10, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsSQe8B3p7E

Interview
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