By Despina Stratigakos. Princeton University Press, 2016.
Women have been struggling to make their presence felt in architecture for a long time. In the late 19th century, women were seen as only being able to contribute to domestic interiors, with public buildings better left to men. That argument recurs through to the 1970s, even though in the interim, women had designed prominent commissions, from public theatres to entire urban neighbourhoods.
Despite robust enrollments of women in architecture schools in recent decades, there has not been a corresponding rise in female architects in practice. Historian Despina Stratigakos traces the reasons back to architecture schools, where there are relatively few women role models among tenured design faculty, included in architectural history curriculums, or invited as guest lecturers. Looking to surveys on obstacles for women, Stratigakos argues that parenthood is an issue?but not the only one. A persistent salary gap, the dominance of male mentors who may unconsciously favour male interns, and underlying sexual discrimination in workplaces?from women being given more secretarial work to being told that pregnancy will result in a salary cut?are all to blame.
Such impediments can lead to a self-perpetuating cycle in which women accept the blame for their lower status in the hierarchy. ?They lack the ambition to go after big jobs, it is said, or are unwilling to put in the long hours required to pay their dues,? writes Stratigako...