ARCHITECTURE
I am not a Female Architect.
by Nwabisa Madyibi , University of Cape Town
Meditations on the lectures of Women in Architecture ll conference speakers Dorte Mandrup And Nili Portugali, and the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. A reflection on the convictions of female architects in shifting feminist paradigms.
Forethoughts - Mercedes Benz visit
…Slow patters of footsteps echo on swooping concrete ramps and distant ‘tinks’ on steel stairs. Descending smooth curves surrounded by a vast and budding city scape. The studied memories of beauty on the pages of books and magazines are dull as I think, “Wow, THIS is good architecture.” What is ‘Female’ Architecture
10 January 2018, Zaha Hadid’s Mercedes Benz Museum visit
Introduction - is ‘she’ known by her curves?
Swooping lines following the zeitgeist of innovation. The Museums curved walls are emphatic of an elegantly portrayed streamlined and futuristic design. Zaha’s Iconic mastery curves is made signature in this museum. I’ve seen, read, and been inspired by this museum countless times. However, today, the building has finally come to life. It reminded me why I chose to make architecture my life pursuit. However, I am brought to contemplate the serious adversity Zaha would have faced being a female architect in a playing field dominated by male minds. And Hadid has been one of the few, if not only female architects, I have consistently drawn inspiration from. Where are the women? Is that a relevant question in this context? Are there fewer acclaimed female architects because female architecture is merited uniquely? Is this a part of defining good architecture?
In Tübingen, l am luckily caught amid these discussions among contemporary architectural giants at the women in architecture ll conference. Where these vital questions are being raised and the public are given light to new role models, and beautiful architecture that happens to be designed by women. Women whom, I must admit, I had not known about before attending the conference.
16 January 2018, Dorte Mandrup - Building in Context (Lecture)
Is ‘she’ speaking in context?
“I’m not a female architect. I’m an architect.” … Dorte Mandrup
Women from previous generations needed to be emancipated and empowered for their ideas to be acknowledged and credited. Hence, female architects had their own awards and prizes based on competition amongst females. However, when Dorte boldly stated, in the heat of sharp critique, that she refused to be known as a female architect but an architect in her own right. She was not discrediting the achievements of the women that came before her who had fought for her to be emancipated enough to be make those statements. Perhaps her statement could not have been made and accepted in a context prior to this. However, in this time, this statement is relevant. Poignant as it may be, I stand with her in the belief that there is no female or no male ‘type’ of architecture. There is only good or bad architecture. This can, and surely is, made by both men and women. Good architecture is only made by a masterful craftsman. Who, through arduous effort, nurtures the skill to create thought provoking art pieces, riveting compositions of forms, knowledge, and narratives that tell a captivating story of a place. This is my body experience of good architecture. Solidified by the Mercedes-Benz Museum visit.
30 January 2018, Nili Portugali - Holistic phenomenological approach to architecture (Lecture)
Is ‘she’ universal and ancient?
Nili’s point was simple and profound. She had spent years reflecting, meditating and unraveling her thoughts on her pursuit of a ‘holistic architecture’ through many mediums. Wrestling with many ideas and finally returning a simple point. Her lecture was a still, rhythmic, quiet and slow film that revealed why old towns like Tübingen, Tel Aviv, Paris, Japan’s Sacred red canopy walks, and the village I grew up in, in rural Mthatha, are all beautiful and enchanting. It’s in the hidden patterns of a place. The feet that patter on the cobbled or gravel roads that visit the elderly and welcome visitors, and the moments of silence in between that hold eons of meditation. A beauty all can acknowledge and experience. Without gender, race or nationality. Crafted for eons by masterful craftsmen and women.
Conclusion - I’m not a female architect.
To say that women in architecture are to be revered separately from men is to patronize them. This does not deny the long strides of achievement that feminists have gained in trying to encourage women’s work in the face of a dominant patriarchal industry. Women like Hadid, Mandrup, Portugali and, in time, I, must be taken seriously enough that our ideas have standing across boundaries, and awards are rightfully earned and not condescendingly given for the sake of empowerment. This is real empowerment. I am convinced that this furthers the legacy of Hadid, and those before her, for good architecture to prevail.