This publication is an edited transcript of the We Need to Talk About Moving Towards Gender Equity in Architecture symposium held at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture on February 7, 2020.
The gender chasm in architecture persists. Students see it in their mentors, practitioners experience it in the office, and media representation of the profession follows in kind. While schools of architecture are more and more demographically gender-balanced in their student populations, faculty and the practice both remain vastly skewed, indicating that programming in schools may be leading genders into the profession inequitably or “losing” certain populations along the way, or that the bridge between academia and practice is broken. This doesn’t even include the experience of people of non-binary genders in architecture, of which documentation is almost non-existent. Without equal representation of all genders in the profession, it is virtually impossible that the practice of architecture as a whole is serving its clients and communities equitably. It takes a multitude of perspectives to serve diverse communities thoughtfully and effectively, and it is architecture’s charge to do so.
This dialogue series aims to address issues that are important to students, that they face in studio every day, and put people in conversation with them who can help them understand how to clarify and use their voices for the betterment of their experience in school, and of the profession they are bringing their voices into.
This event was made possible by the Austin Foundation for Architecture.
AUTHORS
Adam Miller
Shelby Elizabeth Doyle
Grace La
Damon Leverett
Mabel O. Wilson
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Welcome
Background
Identity
Masculinity
Successful Projects
Alliance
Tools
Closing Remarks
EDITOR
Leora Visotzky
ASSISTANT EDITORS
Hailey Algoe
Carly Choi
