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Foreword by Beverly Willis, Introduction by Amale Andraos, Edited by Jan Cigliano Hartman, Princeton Architectural  Press, 2022

Reviewed by: Bobbi Pinkert, Class of 1999

It’s about time, right? This is a paean, at 336 pages, to the builders and designers of architecture careers and architecture, paying homage to 122 female architects and their histories.

Separated into historic eras from 1881 to 2021, this tome gives readers a glimpse of both the challenges and opportunities facing each generation of women as they take ownership of their own inspiration and talent. 

Willis states, “the reluctant acceptance of women in architecture, historically, mirrored the larger societal acceptance of women in all areas of work life.” Yet, in 1848, years before the Women’s Suffrage movement, Louise Blanchard Bethune opened the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, followed by “groundbreaking” schools specifically for women in many eastern cities. 

In the 1860’s and 1870’s the University of Illinois, a land grant college, saw its first woman degreed architect in the nation, Mary L. Page. The 1893 Columbian Exposition and Bertha Palmer’s desire for the Women’s Building saw many more female architects enter the national spotlight for the first time. By the turn of the 19^th century, more than two hundred women were practicing architects including Julia Morgan, the designer of the Hearst Estate and the first woman graduate of the Ecole de Beaux Artes.

By the end of World War I, women were “Paving a New Path”, away from domestic architecture to designing commercial buildings, schools, hospitals, government centers, and even skyscrapers. Unfortunately for these women, lower pay, explicit bias, and limited opportunities was de rigueur. 

The ”flower power” years were not strewn with roses for women architects as they continued to fight for equality in pay and stature. Although women were accepted into the AIA, they pushed the boundaries by forming alliances, exploring and talking with other women, leading to collective power. Several of the architects featured in this section were “Advancing the Agenda”, by moving beyond the traditional office practice to become integral to the larger cultural picture as filmmakers, authors, educators, and social activists.

Women architects “Rock(ed) the World” at the century’s close into a new era of independence and a strictly feminine voice by starting women-led practices and forming collaborative partnerships. Billie Tsien, who with her partner Tod Williams, is designing the Obama center identifies the women of this era. “’Service’ is very important in architecture. Not ‘servile’ but the pursuit of doing something for someone else.” 

As the book enters the era of Jeanne Gang and Maya Lin, women architects are “Raising the Roof” and blasting through what’s left of the glass ceiling to form individual practices that blur the boundaries between “architecture and landscape, between architecture and art, between old and new, between interior and exterior,” according to Julia Gamolina in her introduction to this section. These women, who grew up as “architects, not female architects”, bring a feminist sensitivity to their work without being crusaders.

New millennium women are now heads of large practices, international professors, and innovators. They’re promoting an architectural practice that is diverse, ecologically responsible, and equitable for all participants. They are “Innovating for a Better World”, and their story is still being written. 

“The Women Who Changed Architecture” is a long overdue journey through the coming of age across all periods and a compendium of professionals both known and unknown. Each architect is given at least two pages that include education, representative projects, and biography. It is a delightful first glance that will lead many, including me, to delve much further into the history of women making architecture. 

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