An article in the prominent Israeli newpaper Ha'aretz, "A Skirt of Concrete and Cement," about Israeli female architects, notes that while 52% of the students in Israeli architecture programs are female, "the average salary of a female architect in the public sector is 10 percent lower than that of a man in a similar position. And among the 14 largest architectural firms, which employ 40 managers, only five are women." It went on to state:
Things are not so different in other parts of the world. It is therefore not surprising that among all the active female architects in the world, there is only one super-star: British architect Zaha Hadid (whom they always refer to as "a great man"). She once explained in a newspaper interview why she thought there were no outstanding female architects in the world. "There were some well-known female architects," she said, "but they were always part of a man-wife team. Architecture demands dedication 24 hours a day. When women take a break to have children, it is hard for them to go back to it."
It's a curious thing, and I can only speculate on the reasons - architecture is certainly a macho profession, with the largest and most prestigious buildings commanding huge sums of money and having design committees controlled both fiscally and stylistically by men.
Zaha Hadid, the exception, was born in Baghdad in 1950, studied in Switzerland, England, and Beirut, and now lives and works in London. I have known about her quite fascinating work before, mostly because of publicity about a Guggenheim Museum exhibition of her designs earlier in 2006. An interview by Teri Gross with Hadid, after she won the prestigious Pritzker Prize, is in the NPR archives.
hadid is definitely fascinating. i saw the museum show here in NYC, which was beautiful but also many months ago. she's actually been getting a ton of press lately (here's an article in the NYT from yesterday) about her plan for a performing arts center in abu dhabi. her drawings are beautiful, often more artistic than practical, which is why her works are rarely built.
Posted by: Ganesh | February 05, 2007 at 01:27 AM
Ganesh, thanks a lot for this comment and link. I'm glad to hear about the exhibit from someone who actually saw it! I've been reading about the Abu Dhabi complex and will try to post something further on that tonight or tomorrow - it's a really interesting project that brings up all sorts of cultural possibilities - and baggage. Thanks for writing.
Posted by: beth | February 05, 2007 at 09:19 AM
Back when I worked in an architect's firm in Cambridge, Mass in the late 80s, Zaha Hadid was just becoming famous. The women loved it that she was making such a stir. But this was in the heyday of postmodernism, which was dismissed by some as a frivolous flash-in-the pan. Hadid's apparent transformation of deconstruction in literary criticism into deconstructivism also seemed a bit forced, but it led to some interesting ideas about what you can do with a building.
But nothing I've seen in her work (which isn't much, admittedly) strikes me as being very female; her buildings could easily have been designed by men, by the Great Men such as the ones who build big expensive white Masterpieces above the 405 in LA or quirky expensive museums in Spain. Things that Make a Statement. She does seem like one of the guys in terms of her work.
I think a lot of women who architects (and a lot of men, too!) end up doing smaller-scale work where they apply the principles of what they know and try and make the world a better place. It doesn't win you covers on Architectural Digest, but I'm glad they're doing it...
Posted by: Pica | February 05, 2007 at 09:42 AM
Here in Missouri a woman sells a modular home that she designed. As well, a modular home from Califoria that I recently read about also is designed and built by a woman. She went into business when the neighbors wanted a house just like the one she had built for her family and was living in. The Missouri architect's modular plan also derived from a home built for family, in this case her parents. Both kits emphasize affordability and in at least in the case of the Missouri one, ease of construction. Perhaps just a coincidence both architects were female.
Posted by: Bill | February 06, 2007 at 01:03 PM
Maybe not so coincidental, Bill! Thanks for the comment.
Posted by: beth | February 06, 2007 at 01:56 PM
Well, as long as I'm trying to force sterotypes such as feminine domesticity I might as well go ahead and say that I thought the architect in California acted very un-lady-like when she puchased a factory in Seattle with a production goal of ten-thousand units.
Posted by: Bill | February 07, 2007 at 07:43 AM
Hah! You've made me laugh this morning, Bill. Have a good day...
Posted by: beth | February 07, 2007 at 09:06 AM