Celebrating the female architects across the globe

Source: emu.edu.tr

"Be clear about your main goal in life. Architecture needs commitment, passion, endless strength, renewal, and patience.”

- Gonca Pasolar.

Be it in the profession, be it in personal life, women have never failed to amuse us with their brilliancy and rock-stunning efficiency. Here is a blog dedicated to women architects and our role models in the field.

Against all the myths and odds in the field of architecture,breaking the shackles around the age-old saying "architecture is for men", women have proved their strength and still continue to amaze us with their signature. Listed below are a few of the large number of women architects who have created the history of magic and made us all wonder-struck at the architectural perspective.

Lina Bo Bardi

Source: upload.wikimedia.org

The Italian-born Brazilian modernist architect and a prolific designer devoted all her working life to promoting the social and cultural potential of architecture and design. Lina Bo Bardi had a great understanding of heritage and reconstruction that permeated her work throughout, which also had a noticeable reflection in her projects. The architect who lived from 1914-1992 is also famous for her furniture and jewelry work apart from architecture.

Her famous works include:

- Casa de Vidro (The Glass House), 1951: Bo Bardi's residence

- Solar do Unhão, 1959: sugar mill converted to a craft museum in Bahia.

- Museum de Arte de São Paulo (São Paulo Museum of Art), 1968.

- Caipiras, Capiaus: Pau a Pique (Exhibition), 1984.

Brinda Somaya

Source: goodhomes.wwmindia.com

The celebrated Indian Architect Brinda Somaya is also an urban conservationist. Brinda Somaya is the current Chairperson of the Board of Governors for School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, and has built more than 200 projects in a span of 40 years.

She has received innumerable awards and prizes. Some of her spectacular works are as follows:

- Bhadli Village of Bhuj

- St. Thomas Cathedral

- Nalanda International School

- Birla Institute of Science and Technology, Pilani

- Goa Institute of Management, Goa

Sophia Hayden Benett

Source: ad009cdnb.archdaily.net

The American architect Sophia Hayden was the first female graduate of the four-year program in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She tirelessly fought for the aesthetic integrity of her design for the Woman’s Building of 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Benett was a role model back then for young aspiring female architects. She was born in the year 1868 and breathed her last in 1953.

Sheila Sri Prakash

Source: lookaside.fbsbx.com

The Indian and urban designer Sheila Sri Prakash is the first woman in the country to start and operate an architectural firm on her own. She is the founder of Shilpa Architects which started functioning in the year 1979.

Sheila Sri Prakash is counted among the most influential female architects in the world today, having designed and completed over 1200 architectural projects, most of which are known for use of local arts, culture, and heritage as an inspiration for her designs. She is known for architectural theories surrounding Reciprocity in Design. Some of her famous works will include:

- Bamiyan Cultural centre

- HITEX exhibition center in Hyderabad

- Mahindra world city

- Chengalpet School

- Cholamandal center for contemporary art and more.

Marion Mahony Griffin

Source: pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org

American architect and artist Marion Mahony Griffin was one of the first licensed female architects in the world. Her work in the United States developed and expanded the American Prairie School and produced some of the finest architectural drawings in America and Australia. She was instrumental in envisioning the design plans for the capital city of Australia.

She was born in the year 1871 and breathed her last in 1961.

Chitra Vishwanath

Source: elledescor.in

The Bengaluru-based Indian architect work on themes interconnecting ecology and architecture. She has been running her own architectural firm since 1991 and working on projects in India and Africa.

Some of her works are:

- Swastika Dance School, Bengaluru

- Buddhi School | Biome, Bengaluru

- Olde Clubhouse, Bengaluru

- Oland Estate | Biome, Kulakumbai

- Govardhan Eco Village, Maharashtra

"Architecture is the mother of all arts. See what is happening in the world but never forget the ethos of the place you are designing in."

- Sonali Bhagwati