Description

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Despite increasing numbers of female students graduating from architecture programs, women remain heavily underrepresented in the architecture profession. Few female architects enter the profession, and when they do, it remains difficult to retain them, and they continue to be the exception in leadership and top-ranking positions. So, why do women turn their backs on the architecture profession? What are some of the gaps created by their absence in the planning and design of spaces? Would our cities look different if young women architects were naturally part of a diverse urban design culture? Karin Hartmann reveals the structural discrimination faced by women in architecture, illustrating what is missing from the built environment when women don't have a seat at the table, and what impact a cultural shift in city planning could have. At the same time, Hartmann provides a context and arguments for how to adequately function within the framework of a traditional industry.

About the Author

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Karin Hartmann is an architect and an author as well as associate member of the Bund Deutscher Architektinnen und Architekten (BDA). She researches, writes, and speaks on building culture and intersectional feminism. Since 2013 she has initiated artistic and architectural interventions in the urban fabric of Paderborn and written for both industry publications and her own blog. From 2016 to 2021 she was a policy officer at the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), and she has worked as a freelancer and for Baukultur Nordrhein-Westfalen since 2021. www.schwarzerrollihornbrille.de