Who were these women, what architectures did they design, and how did they change the world and become successful?
For over centuries, we have witnessed men conquer almost every field, but the contributions and achievements of women were rarely acknowledged. Even in the modern era, the age-old stereotype that women are better at home takes the front seat. The architecture community is also guilty of practising gender inequality. But below are some notable women architecture in history who changed the world and deserved more recognition than they received.
Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham (1632–1705)
Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham is often dubbed the first female architect of the United Kingdom. She was a notable designer of grand, luxurious houses in a time when not many women practised the art. Even though there is no written record to prove this but John Millar, an American scholar, believes she designed nearly 400 buildings which include Windsor Guildhall (Berkshire), Belton House (Lincolnshire), and Uppark House (Sussex).
Marion Mahony Griffin (1871 – 1961)
Marion Mahony Griffin was the first employee of the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and was also one of the earliest licensed female architects in the world. Marion pursued a degree in architecture from MIT, and after just one year, she was hired by Wright. She designed furnishings, leaded glass, mosaics, light fixtures, and murals for many of Wright's houses. She was inspired by Japanese woodblock prints and carried out watercolour studies of Wright's plans, but she was never credited for that.
Julia Morgan (1872–1957)
Julia Morgan was born in California and became the first woman from any nation to study architecture at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Morgan became the first independent and successful female architect in America. She later started her firm, where she designed over 700 buildings.
Elisabeth Scott (1898 – 1972)
Elisabeth Scott, in 1927 became the first woman architect in the United Kingdom to have won an international architectural competition for her impressive design of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Out of all the 70 applicants, Scott was the only woman. At that time, the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre was the foremost public building in the country, designed by a woman architect.
Zaha Hadid (1950–2016)
Zaha Hadid was the superstar of modern architecture. This British-Iraqi architect was the first woman to receive the highest honour of the architecture community, the Pritzker Prize. The designs of Hadid's buildings look very futuristic and out of the world. Her sleek and light-filled structures often display sinuous curves and shocking tilts. Hadid's designs are very similar to what we often see in science-fiction movies that are set on another planet.
These phenomenal women are some of the many female architects who shaped the industry.
