Introducing Madame Architect: Conversations on Finding Your Place and Hitting Your Stride
by Julia Gamolina Editor's Note: ArchiteXX is thrilled to be starting 2018 with our second guest editor, Julia Gamolina, who will take the reins for the next couple of months to showcase names to know and practical advice for growing careers at all stages in practice and academia.
While the lack of women in architecture has been well-documented, women are making waves in all levels of the field. Sub_teXXt’s second guest editorship, Madame Architect, is a series of interviews celebrating women in architecture from different generations, countries, and corners of the industry. Some are just beginning their career (Aaron Gensler, Zuhal Kol) while others own their own firms (Hayes Slade, Sandra McKee). Some stand out for their research (Jenny Sabin, Lorena Del Rio), others for their technical prowess (Nicole Dosso and Siobhan Rockcastle), and others for the success they've had building a firm with an impact (Elaine Molinar, Iben Falconer).
This series is designed to encourage young women considering entering this industry by showing the myriad of choices they have in crafting a meaningful career. It’s also important to acknowledge the different and incredible things these women are doing. These architects are so much more than the work they produce—Madame Architect interviews break the mold of coverage on architects’ creative process and output, and focuses on their highlights and challenges as people, caregivers, partners, and teachers.
These fifteen interviews speak volumes about how these women persevere and create the careers that they want. The key, we’ve found, is to stay open to great opportunities no matter how unexpected, to maintain a positive outlook, and to collaborate and learn from as many people as possible. The biggest insight, however, is how these architects are contributing to the industry in so many ways beyond their built work—they are building firms with healthy cultures, mentoring young architects, and setting an example of how to integrate their role in the industry with a strong sense of self.
Follow along for interviews released every Thursday through April:
Hayes Slade, Founding Partner, Slade Architecture
Elaine Molinar, Managing Partner, Snohetta
Renee Glick, Director of Retail and Senior Associate, A+I
Lorena Del Rio, Assistant Professor, Cooper Union + Founding Partner, RICA* Studio
Sophie Debiasi Hochhäusl + Laura Hochhäusl, Radcliffe Fellow, Harvard University + Appointed Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania / Principal and Partner, Hochhäusl & Moosbrugger
Iben Falconer, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Columbia GSAPP
Nicole Dosso, Director, Technical Group at SOM
Dr. Siobhan Rockcastle, Assistant Professor, University of Oregon
Zuhal Kol, Founding Partner, OpenAct EU
Jin Yi, Associate, Design and Construction, GID Development Group
Jessica Myers, Podcast Producer and Host, Here There Be Dragons
Sandy McKee, Founding Partner, Yoshihara McKee
Jennifer Preston, Partner, SHELTER Stories + Partner, The Laurentia Project
Aaron Gensler, Architectural Designer, Gensler
Jenny Sabin, Associate Professor, Cornell University + Principal, Jenny Sabin Studio
Read the first interview with Hayes Slade, Partner at Slade Architecture, AIA 2019 President, and mother of four here.
[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://architexx.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/MA.jpg[/author_image] [author_info] With experience in design, business development, PR, and marketing, Julia Gamolina is focused on communicating identity in the built environment. She is a regular contributor to sub_texxt, interviewing women in architecture on their career development. She is also on the Young Leader's Group committee for the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and is a Founding Member of the Wing. Julia received her Bachelor of Architecture at Cornell University, graduating with the Charles Goodwin Sands Memorial Medal for exceptional merit in the thesis of architecture.[/author_info] [/author]