Telling their stories: a celebration of women in architecture

The currency of crowdsourcing like this is invaluable. “We started the original exhibition by providing 10 names ourselves. We have now published over 100 names through our website and have received over 100 more submissions and counting,” says Mieke Vermaak, who sits on the all-female committee.

Not only does the database raise awareness and ignite conversations around the lack of representation of females in the field, it also serves as a precious resource with literature, poetry, documentaries, listed organisations and more available to reference from the website. The long-term goal is to register the project as an NPO and offer scholarships to women wanting to enter the built environment.

As it turns out, women in architecture aren’t such a scarcity, but recognising their work is.  Historically, as with so many professions, the built environment has been dominated by men, beginning at a time when women were not permitted to own businesses, let alone study the discipline. Yet while these rights have shifted to include women over the course of centuries, the names of those who have made an impact are still largely unknown. Further still, in dual roles today, it’s most often the male counterpart that gets the acknowledgement.

As it stands, the archive begins in 1814 with Sophia Gray, who is deemed SA's first female architect and is behind the design of more than 40 Anglican churches in the country. It goes on to list names like Jeanne Gang, Ilze Wolff, Zahira Asmal, Mariam Kamara, Neri Oxman, Zaha Hadid and many more.

“We have been surprised by the number of female architects that were born in the 1800s and practiced when it was unheard of for women to even have a career, never mind one in a male-dominated field,” says Vermaak, adding that the work of young architects has also been particularly impressive to note.