Profile: Odile Decq has been awarded with the Jane Drew prize for promoting the role of women in architecture, but with the launch of her own architecture school, her impact on French architecture could be much wider (+ slideshow).

The Jane Drew Prize, named after the English Modernist architect who was the first woman to be elected to the Royal Institute of British Architects' council, was awarded to Decq earlier this month.
Speaking at the ceremony, which took place at Claridges hotel in London's Mayfair, Odile Decq said it was "a great honour to walk in her path".
Cargo in Paris by Studio Odile Decq, 2016. Photograph by Roland Halbe
The citation praised Decq for being "a creative powerhouse, spirited breaker of rules and advocate of equality", which is all the more remarkable for an architect from a country that did not admit women into the prestigious École Polytechnique university until 1973, and where 80 per cent of French women in the workplace say they experience sexism on a regular basis.
Related story: Odile Decq completes renovation of Antti Lovag 1970s bubble house

And this is not the first time Decq, 60, has picked up an award for being a strong role model for women in architecture. Three years ago she was named French Female Architect of the Year.
Fangshan Tangshan National Geopark Museum in Nanjing by Studio Odile Decq, 2015. Photograph courtesy of Studio Odile Decq
Born in the small French town of Laval in Brit...