CNN names Shirley Blumberg as one of the world’s leading architects in honour of International Womens Day

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As long as there have been cities, women have built them: shaping structures, influencing architecture, and designing the neighborhoods we live in. But today, in the world-leading firms imagining the cities of the future, equality remains a long way off.

Even as the gender gap closes in architecture school — with nearly as many women graduating in architecture as men — research shows that across the world women are hired less, paid less and blocked from key creative positions at the top of firms.

In a survey of the world’s 100 biggest architecture practices, only three were headed by women, and just two had as many female managers as male, according to magazine Dezeen in November.

But, at the same time gender equality comes under the spotlight across the creative industries — from the Hollywood to high art — a transformation is happening in architecture.
There is now a “crescendo” in female designers’ creativity, said Denise Scott Brown, the pioneering post-modernist designer who has blazed a trail through the industry’s male-dominated world for five decades.

“The efforts of women are making architecture a better atmosphere for women as they are in politics, art, and beyond,” said Scott Brown, the principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, and co-author of the classic “Learning from Las Vegas.”

“We need to be brave and encourage our children to be brave.”

In wake of movements such as #MeToo and the international efforts to force industries to publish their gender pay gaps, the architectural world is opening up to change and the realization that, by embracing women, we can create better cities, according to top designers.

For International Women’s Day 2018, we asked five of the world’s leading architects what it will take to break down barriers — from the classroom to the boardroom — for women in architecture, and offer words of advice for the next generation of female creatives.

Amanda Levete

Amanda Levete is founding principal of London-based architecture studio AL_A and the winner of the 2018 Jane Drew Prize for architects who have furthered the progress of women in the industry. She has been a guest editor of CNN Style

There’s never been a better time to be a woman than now. We have to seize this moment. The power of the #MeToo movement to change a culture is unstoppable.

Women, in my experience, are natural risk takers but also pragmatists — the perfect combination for leadership. It’s time to reclaim and celebrate risk in architecture as a positive force. I think we can do this by taking on less predictable risks, working in less predictable ways, finding different ways to collaborate and exploring fresh ideas in the field.

Now is our time — let’s make sure we do it our way.

Neri Oxman

Neri Oxman is an architect, designer and professor at the MIT Media Lab, where she founded and directs the Mediated Matter research group, which probes the relationship between the built, natural, and biological environments

Face it: most of history is patriarchal. Starting with the phrase “For Adam was formed first, then Eve,” Pharaoh’s Egypt, Gandhi’s India, Victorian masculinity, macho Latin America, the status of women in the Arab world…all confirm that since ancient times, biblical times, we have occupied cities designed and constructed by men.

I just returned from Taliesin West—a home, a school, a studio, kernel of humane architecture — where I recalled Jane Jacobs’ quote, “We expect too much of new buildings, and too little of ourselves.”

Jacobs was not trained as an architect; she was a journalist-activist, and has probably contributed more to urban design than many of us creators and builders of the physical environment. There is something to be said, then, about approaching urban planning and design through the lens of journalism, or designing a city by actively taking into account women’s rights since Mesopotamia, institutionalized not only by the book but by the (city) block.

There are now more women in higher education than men, including architectural education, yet this is still not the case in practice. As women expect more of themselves, and more of themselves than men, cities will become our purview.

Denise Scott-Brown

Denise Scott-Brown is one of the most influential architects of the Twentieth Century, whose pioneering theories and designs led the Postmodern movement in architecture

The efforts of women are making architecture better for women as they are doing in politics, art and beyond. Recent evidence seems to show what we do for ourselves is the most relevant. We need to be brave and encourage our children to be brave.

You need to fall in love with our profession because it is very hard to work in. If you have a swivel-tilted head, if you look around wherever you go and you like to draw all day, then go ahead. And I think a good book to start with is still “Towards a New Architecture,” by Le Corbusier.

Women are already designing in cities. And there’s been a crescendo in their efforts. However, women architects, like all architects, will not have exclusive roles. The design of cities is produced by societies.

Farshid Moussavi

Farshid Moussavi, is principal of Farshid Moussavi Architecture and Professor in Practice of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Don’t be alarmed by people who tell you architecture is dominated by men, or that there are few female role models.

Women’s power, and indeed that of any minority, is to introduce different languages, different gestures, and extraordinariness. By ignoring the status quo which focuses on doing things in a preempted way, you can be more creative, and are far more likely to normalize female success.

When will women design our cities? Surely any time now! There is an unprecedented need for fresh thinking about our cities in the 21st century. We need to rethink housing, rethink universities, rethink stores, and rethink the workplace, as cities have become home to diverse cultures, with greater dependence on knowledge and digital technologies. This means not sticking to clichés but fully committing to finding new ways.

I am optimistic that women’s exteriority, or being outsiders, can be a source of creative thinking about the city!

Shirley Blumberg

Shirley Blumberg is a founding partner of Toronto-based Canadian architecture firm KPMB Architects and co-founder of BEAT (Building Equality in Architecture Toronto)

Jane Jacobs succinctly stated why it’s critical for women to contribute to the design of our cities: “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because and only when, they are created by everybody.”

Women architects and planners are increasingly engaged in designing our cities. Under Mayor Bloomberg’s administration, Amanda Burden and Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City’s Planning and Transportation Commissioners, implemented transformative public space initiatives.

We founded BEAT to increase retention and advancement for women in architecture. The momentum with which BEAT has grown reveals the overwhelming need for structural and societal change.

But these achievements by women architects and planners are still the exception and not the norm. While I am optimistic, we are likely several generations away from women making an equal contribution to designing our cities.

Editorial: Awards for women architects will eventually become an anachronism

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While it is still the case that women have yet to achieve equality in the architectural world, the Women in Architecture awards applaud first architectural quality, and then the architect – who happens to be a woman

Women suffragettes led by Emmeline Pankhurst faced unprecedented opposition when fighting for the right to vote. This illustration, dating from 1906, depicts them being removed from the central lobby of the Houses of Parliament. This year we celebrate the centenary of the enfranchisement of women over the age of 30. Source: © Parliamentary Art Collection

This magazine makes no apology for its Women in Architecture programme, conducted with our sister title The Architects’ Journal. It is true that there is something slightly jarring about singling individuals out for recognition based on gender (not just quality of work). And it is also true, as Beatriz Colomina argues in this issue, that focusing on gender ignores or masks the reality of collaboration as the key engine for architectural design and production. 

However, it is even more jarring that after more than a century of being admitted to the profession and its institutions, it is still the case that women have yet to achieve anything like equality in respect of the commanding heights of the architectural world, a handful of names being the exceptions that prove the rule. When that ceases to be the case, then gender-based awards will begin to look like anachronisms and will no doubt fade away. Until that time, there is a strong case to be made that under-representation in the profession, and its effects, can be countered by celebrating minority excellence. 

One of those effects has been the restricting of access to potential talent that the architectural profession surely needs. That raises another question, which is the extent to which the design gene pool is also limited by the hurdles facing ethnic minorities and people of working-class backgrounds undergoing the long slog towards qualification. The identification of these minorities is not a simple matter: for example, in parts of London, young white people are an ethnic minority in their own neighbourhood or borough, even though they may not be in terms of national population. You can, of course, identify whether someone is ‘white’, but it is more difficult to say with certainty whether they are working class – until they start speaking. 

The question of class, yesteryear’s key angst-subject in the way that gender is today, plays an important role in the position of women architects across the world. Put simply, it is much easier to have a fulfilled life as a female architect if you can afford servants; it is a commonplace in some parts of the world, almost unknown in others. It is rarely discussed but is a critical factor in the extent to which women architects with families can operate in the same way as their male counterparts. Architecture is generally thought of as a middle-class profession, and it generally is, but the implications of that in different geographies and cultures are hugely varied. 

Life is rarely a matter of fairness and it would be perverse to try to start making awards to people based on class, social standing or degree of ethnicity. A women’s architecture award (itself possibly subject to criticism since it may be thought to exclude other gender minorities) is based on a binary condition which is both strength and weakness. However, the critical pre-condition for a decent awards scheme is that it rewards talent first. You should not be able to win an award just because you are this or that, it is because the work you have produced is first-class, if that is still an acceptable phrase. 

Which brings us to a further irony, which is that all good award programmes or procurement procedures are by their nature discriminatory because they judge some proposals to be better than others. Suddenly, equality has flown out of the window. Not everybody is comfortable with this. There are people (including architects) who think that only local or small practices are appropriate to work in communities or on particular scales of project. There are people who think that if you work for an ethnic community you should come from that community (like police officers). There are those who think that grand architects are incapable of designing housing for the poor, that men can never design for women and vice versa.

They are mainly wrong. What matters is what has always mattered: quality of thought and analysis, empathy for client and future users, budgetary responsibility, technical competence and professional delivery. And of course the indefinable magic of design talent, which has never been distributed equally. In celebrating the winners of this year’s AR Women in Architecture awards, we applaud first architectural quality, and then the architect – who happens to be a woman. It is in that order.

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Because it’s 2017: Gender Diversity in Canada’s Architecture Profession

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“Because it’s 2015” is, of course, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s much-reported retort to a journalist who questioned his first cabinet’s gender parity. In October of that year, the Ontario Association of Architects initiated a Women in Architecture series on its blog, 23 years after the organization first formed a Women in Architecture Task Force.

The state of diversity in the profession has been under increasing scrutiny both inside and outside of Canada. Despina Stratigakos’ recently published book, Where Are the Women Architects?, summarizes American and British research identifying barriers women continue to face as practicing architects, before cautiously positing evidence of an emerging “ third wave” of feminism in architecture. The latter, she writes, challenges almost 20 years of equity stagnation in the profession that followed significant advances from the 1970s to the 1990s.

While much less research has been undertaken in Canada, voices such as Vancouver’s Women in Architecture group are responding to strong anecdotal evidence that advances in gender equality in education are not being consistently transferred to professional practice. How should the profession respond to ensure more timely progress?

Source: Statistics Canada, National Household Survey

WHERE ARE THE LEAKS IN THE PIPELINE?

Given architecture’s complex licencing process, data on the representation of actual practicing architects can be tricky to obtain. The best general measure is the 2011 census, which reports that women represent 28.9 percent of architects nationwide.

Notably, the percentage of female architects varied widely from province to province. Equally significant are changes from the previous 2006 census. The proportion of female architects in Quebec and Ontario moved upwards (5.5 and 3.3 percent respectively), while in British Columbia, the rate declined by 2.2 percent. Results of the 2016 census are currently being tabulated, but based on the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA)’s figures studying the gender wage gap in Ontario, it is reasonable to assume the national rate will exceed 30 percent, with Quebec passing the 40 percent mark. In addition to reporting that 51.4 percent of students enrolled in Ontario’s architecture programs were women (approximately 10 percent higher than in the U.S.), the OAA’s data revealed that during the past ten years, 33.1 percent of newly licensed Ontario architects were women. By 2015, 45 percent of intern architects were women.

This suggests Canada is ahead of both the U.S. and the U.K., at least nationally. But there are still significant problems. In the States, a study by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) found that the “ licensure pipeline” has seen the percentage of women intern architects rise steadily from 1984 to reach 40 percent female in 2013. But, the ACSA argues, the virtual flatlining of practicing women architects at 25 percent since 2005 suggests significant “practice pipeline” holes.

Similarly, in Canada, representation outside Quebec suggests that the strong advances in the back end of the pipeline have not been appropriately reflected by a proportional national increase of practicing women architects. In contrast, the representation of women as practicing lawyers and doctors in Canada, both professions with similarly demanding licensing, apprenticeship requirements and long hours, is significantly higher. Some 40.3 percent of doctors in Canada are women—which rises to 51 percent for those aged 35 to 44 and 61.4 percent for those under 35.

The strong number of women training to become architects is promising. But unequal progress in practice representation raises key questions. What are the barriers to retention, as well as advancement to leadership levels? And, why is Quebec significantly ahead?

Building Equality in Architecture Toronto hosts an all-gender social at Harbourfront Centre. Photo: Scott Norsworthy

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Major American and British surveys over the last 15 years have suggested a plethora of barriers to women staying in architecture. Back in 2004, Sandra Manly and Clara Greed of the University of the West of England found multiple reasons why women left the profession at a higher rate than men. These included:

• Low and unequal pay;
• Long working hours coupled with inflexible/non-family friendly working hours;
• Being sidelined to limited areas of work, often based on protective paternalism, preventing development experience;
• Stressful working conditions with more job satisfaction elsewhere;
• Macho culture and sexism; and
• Lack of “returner” training after a maternity leave

Twelve years later, the American Institute of Architects (AIA)’s 2016 national survey found all the same barriers—but added fewer job offers on graduation, slower rates of promotion, a lack of women role models, and a broader set of poor return-to-work strategies, including lack of upgrading for technological advances.

One reason for stunted promotion rates, reported the AIA San Francisco chapter’s Equity by Design Report (2014), was that women were less likely to see promotion systems as fair and “ effective,” with senior male architects often engaging in “ in-group favouritism.” The U.K.’s Architectural Review ran an international survey in 2016 that also raised the problem of weak mentoring. This issue dovetails with the frequent finding that women architects lack role models; in the States, less than 18 percent of licensure supervisors are women. A related issue is women’s limited opportunities to lead on projects.

In the Equity by Design study, women architects reported they were more likely to be assigned production and construction documentation roles than their similarly situated male counterparts. According to architect Melissa Higgs of HCMA Architecture + Design, who is active with Vancouver’s Women in Architecture group, a disparate ability to access hours of leadership- and management-related work experience is the number-one problem faced by female interns, followed by lack of mentorship.

As for more diverse role models, many have noted the continued poor recognition of women’s achievements in architecture. Examples range from the Pritzker Prize’s male-dominated record of awardees, to sexist obituaries for Zaha Hadid—even by renowned critics. On the positive side, in Designing Women (2000), McGill architecture professor Annmarie Adams and Peta Tancred offer insights on why women have done so well in Quebec. The Quiet Revolution of the 1960s coincided with Montreal’s building boom, which included highly visible work by women architects, not a few of whom trained in Eastern Europe, where women played a much more central role. With women architects at the centre rather than at the margins, female entry into the profession skyrocketed in the 70s and 80s.

Some reasons women give for leaving architectural practice—such as low pay, stressful working conditions and more job satisfaction elsewhere—also apply to men. But according to the Architectural Review, only 28 percent of women report overall job satisfaction compared with 41 percent of men, suggesting that the adverse impact of these pressures is gendered. Female architects’ satisfaction levels were much better in firms with more women managers and with balanced mentoring programs.

Liz Wreford, Elsa Lam and Johanna Hurme discuss equity on a Winnipeg panel. Photo: Jaya Beange.

Tellingly, all surveys find a significant divergence in how men and women assess the state of gender diversity in architecture. Men are only half as likely as their female counterparts to have seen discrimination against women, and hold similarly divergent perceptions about the fairness of promotion and pay levels. The AIA found that 84 percent and 81 percent of female respondents wanted a change in office culture and increased job flexibility, respectively, compared to 63 percent and 58 percent for men. With males still dominating management roles and partnerships, a significant disconnect remains between how men and women perceive the extent of the problems and the best ways to respond.

Certainly, the issues of work/life balance, flexible work arrangements and return from maternity leave play a central role in women’s professional experience. Historically, women in female-dominated jobs—from office cleaners to flight attendants, to professional nurses—have found ways to cope with these issues in the modern economy. Yet an Australian journalist still felt it appropriate to title a 2015 article “ Women in Architecture: To Be or Not To Be a Mother,” and childless women form an abnormally high percentage of women in architecture. Not incidentally, Quebec’s remarkable increase in women architects from 2001 to 2011 (25.2 to 38.9 percent, compared to Ontario’s increase from 21.3 to 26.5 percent) coincided with the first 12 years of that province’s affordable daycare program, introduced in 1999. However, as Stratigakos told the Princeton University blog, “ The simplistic explanation, trotted out for decades, that women leave practice to have babies doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.” She points out that not all mothers leave architecture, and women without children are also struggling in the profession.

The most disturbing conclusion of the recent surveys and history of architectural recognition may be this: it is not a lack of educational attainment or career interest that creates the gender gap. It is not even systemic barriers that unintentionally exclude women. Instead, it is the presence of significant subtle (and sometimes overt) attitudes and biases that both exclude women, and disproportionately lead them to abandon architecture as a profession. As one senior woman architect who asked not to be identified told me, “Being a woman in business, there is still an attitude that women can attain a certain level within an organization—but that women just may not be as good, or as appropriate, as men.”

THINKING GLOBALLY, ACTING LOCALLY

There is a need for—and signs of—Stratigakos’ third wave of architecture feminism, as well as for much stronger messaging by professional organizations. But change also requires direct action by individual firms to ensure that barriers are identified and eradicated. Architecture is increasingly drawing from evidence-based design studies; the same precept must be applied to its human resource practices.

Since 1986, Canada’s Federal Contractors Program (FCP), which covers provincially regulated employers (including most architects) with major federal contracts, requires employers to apply just such an approach by developing and implementing an equity plan.

Under the FCP, employers must first tally their representation of women (as well as Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minority groups), classified by their occupational group. This is followed by a workforce analysis, where representation is compared against availability (the expected representation without barriers) to determine “ gaps” or areas of under-representation. The third, and most difficult step, is an employment systems review that involves a complete audit of all employment systems, practices and processes, including attitudes, for adverse impact. From the findings, an employment equity plan is developed that aims to remove identified barriers, implement special measures like targeted mentoring to speed up the closing of gaps, and introduce supporting initiatives, such as accommodation and harassment policies as well as equity champions in management. Like all proper business plans, goals rather than quotas are set, then used to assess progress. As a data-based system, employment equity works best with larger firms, but its principles can also be used even with smaller practices.

Some provinces—notably Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec—have required similar structured action, but legislated employment equity survived into the new millennium only in Quebec. Certain larger firms, however, remain subject to the FCP through their federal contracts. I spoke to three such firms that have recently completed successful compliance reviews with Labour Canada: AECOM Canada Architects, IBI Group and Diamond Schmitt Architects.

Paul Vincent, vice president with AECOM, reports that 45 percent of the international firm’s approximately 130 Canadian architects are female, including its lead architect for North America. The key first step, he says, is developing and regularly communicating clear corporate values, including a commitment to a diverse and inclusive workforce. This is backed up by regular workforce analyses to monitor representation, an appointed architecture “ diversity champion,” a mandatory annual code of conduct course, and a well-communicated complaints process. A zero-tolerance policy toward harassment or discrimination is also conveyed to contractors and subs

Good representation of women has been achieved by using general recruitment sources, although the firm has used targeted recruitment to improve Aboriginal representation in their workforce. Once hired, women architects can avail themselves of an active mentoring program, which Vincent believes has helped reduce turnover. The firm’s Women Excel Program, explains HR Director Sharon Burton, is an online program that also helps bring women together with mentors and allows for open communication on topics including gender integration. AECOM’s flexible work environment includes options to work from home and a parental leave top-up program.

Women in Architecture Vancouver members on a construction tour of Telus Garden. Photo: Wia Vancouver.

At IBI Group, a recent workforce analysis revealed gender disparity only at the senior architect level—a “legacy” from the original partnership structure, says Jane Sillberg, Global Director of Human Resources. “We need to focus at the leadership level when it comes to gender,” she says. This focus includes a well-structured succession plan, as well as an initiative that identifies the top 20 percent of young high-performance architects and elicits their perspectives on the practice. Although both programs are open to men and women, “we are particularly working with women who may face challenges,” says Sillberg. She notes that women frequently become licensed later than men, often into their early thirties. When combined with having families, this requires flexible work arrangements.

Diamond Schmitt Architects has been under the FCP since 2003, and successfully completed its most recent compliance review this spring. In the analysis prepared by Labour Canada, 32 percent of senior and middle managers and 42 percent of professionals and technicians at Diamond Schmitt were women, in line with Labour’s assessment of availability. Equally important, over half of the firm’s associate architects and 60 percent of its directors are women.

Given Jack Diamond’s long-term involvement with human rights, including as a Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, it is perhaps not surprising that the company has a long-standing, strongly articulated equity policy. Like AECOM, it offers a work/life balance program as well as parental top-up for new mothers and fathers taking leave. This is augmented by an employee assistance program that provides counselling resources 24/7. To eradicate any forms of harassment, the firm has established appropriate policies and procedures, and implemented office-wide training. Other initiatives include active mentoring and networking for women in the firm, with a focus on ensuring women have access to leadership roles. The firm is a Gold Member of Building Equality in Architecture Toronto (BEAT), a non-profit organization promoting equality through advocacy, mentorship, networking and promotion.

Employment equity practices can be readily adapted to smaller operations. Johanna Hurme, an outspoken advocate of women in architecture and founding partner of Winnipeg’s 5468796 Architecture, notes that through a conscious decision and due diligence in its recruitment, the collaborative-based firm of 16 sustains equal numbers of men and women employees.

DIVERSITY AND THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE

Paul Vincent makes a compelling business case for diversity when he says: “ Ultimately, we are an ideas firm and a problem-solving operation. The world is changing and you have to do things in different ways—and to do that, you have to have people that come in with a different pair of glasses.” The dramatic shift in women training as architects, coupled with the similarly huge demographic shift underway, adds urgency.But in the end, it is simply the right of women to take their place within the profession that must drive change. 

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Meet BEAT's Persis Lam

What is your favourite part of being an architect?

Being able to work on the bigger picture of a project whether it's community  building or city planning as well as the tiniest details of construction or client relations.

What are some challenges in the architecture industry today?

We need to get better in compensating ourselves.  Fees are too low for what we do but as we chase more work we constantly compete with each other to get the work done with the lowest price.

Do you have any passions outside of work?

Yes, music.  I've studied music for over 20 years, I enjoy playing various instruments, and I love cooking.

What do you do in your spare time?

I have a 4 year old and 2 year old at home so that takes up a lot of my time.  I play in the office rock band

What projects really inspire you?

Projects that are whimsical and playful, that aren't too serious.

How does 'good' architecture build the community?

Good architecture should be multi-faceted and holistic, it should address not only good design but community needs and the human experience

What's you biggest motivation?

Knowing that each project is different and therefore each experience is something to learn from.

Meet BEAT's Stephanie Hosein

Where did you start your #architecture training? 

I attended Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia for both my Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies (BEDS) degree and my Master of Architecture (MArch) degree. 

What has been your most inspiring project to work on?

My most inspiring project to work on is a restaurant that is currently under construction.  It is the first time I am seeing a project through as Project Architect from start to finish and it has been an eye-opening experience to be involved in every single aspect, from city approvals to millwork drawings.  It has been challenging but also incredibly rewarding

Tell us your favourite part about being an architect?

My favourite part about being an architect is working with people.  As architects, we are designing spaces for people to live, work, eat, play... at the end of the day, it always comes back to people.  Whether it’s the client, the users, the consultants, or even the building officials, it’s a very collaborative process and you have to be good at working with people (and you should enjoy it!) to strive in this profession, and that’s one of the aspects I like the most.

Do you have any passions outside of work?

I do my best to lead an active lifestyle outside of work, which ranges from exploring High Park with my greyhound and cycling around Toronto, to getting out of the city for canoe trips in Algonquin Park.  I love to travel, particularly to destinations where I can explore different landscapes and cultures, improve my photography skills and ideally fit in some scuba diving!  Fine arts has always been a passion of mine, and I try to make time for that in some capacity when possible. 

How does ‘good’ architecture build the community?

I think ‘good’ architecture is design that captures the attention of the everyday user - in particular, people without a design background.  It catches the attention of those who normally don’t pay attention to the buildings around them.  I have a lot of friends and family members who are not in the architecture profession, and I often notice that design is often overlooked unless it’s absolutely terrible, or really fantastic.  It’s those fantastic projects that can open peoples’ eyes to the built world around them.  Good architecture helps people see their environment a different way, enhances how they experience a place and may even provide a better understanding of place through means as simple as filtering views and incorporating local materials and building techniques.

RAIC announces 2018 Honorary Fellows

OTTAWA, January 24, 2018 –  The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has selected four international architects to receive 2018 Honorary Fellowships. This year’s Honorary Fellows demonstrate the diverse ways architects contribute to the profession and society, over and above exemplary design and practice.

For example, French architect Odile Decq has taught for decades and recently started a school of architecture. Diébédo Francis Kéré, the first child in his village in Burkina Faso to be sent to school, now provides opportunities to others by building schools and finding construction methods appropriate to local needs.

American architect William J. Stanley III has been a trailblazer for architects of African descent and a community leader, while John Sorrenti, also American, has given time and thought to the associations and boards that make it possible to be an architect.

“We are thrilled that these exceptional professionals have accepted to become members of the RAIC,” said Diarmuid Nash, FRAIC, Chancellor of the RAIC College of Fellows. “Odile Decq is one of the most successful women in architecture and serves as a role model to many. Diébédo Francis Kéré creates inspiring architecture that uplifts communities and helps an exchange of ideas between Africa and Europe. In addition to running a thriving practice, John Sorrenti has devoted countless hours to professional associations, while William Stanley has broken new ground for African American architects in the American South.”

Honorary fellowship recognizes extraordinary achievement. Decq, Kéré, Stanley, and Sorrenti will be inducted into the RAIC College of Fellows at a ceremony during the RAIC Festival of Architecture in Saint John, NB, May 30 - June 2. Kéré will deliver the keynote address at the College of Fellows Convocation, and Decq will be the keynote speaker at the RAIC Foundation Luncheon.

“I have had a long, friendly relationship with Canadian architecture since my first visit in the early 1990s,” says Decq. “It is a great honour for me to receive the Honorary Fellowship. Being from Brittany in France, I have always been looking over the horizon line of the Atlantic Ocean towards the Canadian coast, and receiving this honour in Saint John is more than just a personal pleasure of discovering the place.”

“It is an incredible honour to me to be appointed as an Honorary Fellow of the RAIC because beyond recognizing my work, it recognizes the importance of socially and environmentally responsible architecture,” says Kéré. “It attests to the fundamentality of it in today’s architectural landscape. Since I started, I always tried to incorporate the people and their environment in my designs, and being recognized for it sends the message that it is important.”

“I have always cherished my feeling of endearment to Canada,” says Stanley.  “Early in the 20th century – a period of segregation and Jim Crow in the U.S. – my great-uncle received his highly touted medical degree from McGill University.  Nearly a century later, I have come to appreciate sharing best practices for mentoring young architects with colleagues who are Fellows in the RAIC.  My great-uncle would be very proud of my receipt of this high honour.”

“This award is especially significant to me because it recognizes and reinforces the work of the RAIC and the AIA’s past Chancellors,” says Sorrenti.  “Our collaboration has focused on enhancing Fellowship by increasing awareness of architects’ global responsibility.  This recognition also reinforces continuing this dialogue to strengthen the value of both Colleges within the architectural community.  Having an opportunity to work with my Canadian colleagues has been an amazing experience.”

To view original article - https://www.raic.org/news/raic-announces-2018-honorary-fellows

Crazy-Comprehensive Guide to the Toronto Design Offsite Festival 2018

Click here to view Designlines

Not surprisingly, all of our favourite winter pastimes revolve around Toronto Design Week. We love to mix and mingle with local and international talent, discover new products, and indulge our inner voyeurs at awesome exhibition and event spaces, otherwise hidden from view. What’s more, during the Toronto Design Offsite Festival (TO DO) and the Interior Design Show (IDS), our editors get to adorn the best stuff we see with our DL Loves tags. You’ll see them hanging in TO DO window installations and on newly minted products you’ll want to own after IDS.

Follow the action on our homepage as we spread the love, one day at a time. We’ll also be sharing updates via our Instagram under the hashtag #DLLoves2018. Be sure to tag your posts so you too can share in the fun.

Inside the hallucinatory installation at last year’s party. Photo by Rob Shostak.

1. TO DO Festival Party

True to its name, the Toronto Design Offsite Festival likes to party in unusual places. This year, the celebration migrates from the Church of the Holy Trinity to Lightform’sshowroom and warehouse. Here, Jordan Söderberg Mills bends the laws of physics with the installation, ‘String Theory,’ while the experimental ‘Feelbot’ by Toronto based Equal Parts Studio adds emotional depth to your live tweets from the dance-positive event.

LightForm Toronto, 267 Niagara St. 7-11pm

Tickets: bit.ly/TODO18FestivalParty

Architect Joy Charbonneau posted shining examples of Canadian design to Instagram every day in 2017.

2. 365 Days of Canadian Design

The culmination of an ambitious year-long project, 365 Days presents images of Canadian design as curated by KPMB architect, artist and designer Joy Charbonneau. Her Instagram account, @marianadesigncanada, shows an awe-inspiring number of home furnishings, ceramics, textiles, objects, and illustrations made by our fave Canucks. We can’t think of a better way to orient yourself before you plunge into the festival’s full program of events.

Artscape Youngplace, Hallway Galleries, 2nd Floor, 180 Shaw St., Jan 15 – 27

Opening Reception: Jan 16, 6-9PM

Mercury Bureau presents a range of compositional vases created with it-floral studio Flùr.

3. More Like Weather

Mercury Bureau joins forces with Flùr, leader of the indoor flora movement in Toronto, to create a collection of elegant vases fit for ikebana devotees. Take respite from the cold inside the shop’s resplendent interior by MSDS Studio (who stage an exciting intervention of their own at Aesop on Queen W) while enjoying some therapeutic greenery.

Flùr, 1087 Bathurst Street, Jan 16 – Feb 3

Opening Reception: Tue, Jan 16, 7-10PM

Intricate detailing, like this gold-threaded bird, is a mainstay of traditional Japanese textiles.

4. Diligence and Elegance: The Nature of Japanese Textiles

If you’ve been waiting for a social occasion at which to flaunt your kimono, this is your moment. Luxurious silk and gold textiles are presented alongside humble hand-dyed indigo cottons, representing a wide spectrum of textiles from 19th and 20th century Japan. Additionally, the festival invites Marta Turok to introduce the robozo, a rectangular shawl worn by women across Mexico, followed by an intimate gallery tour.

Textile Museum of Canada, 55 Centre Avenue, Jul 12, 2017 – Jan 21, 2018

Lecture: The Ikat Robozo from Mexico, Wed, Jan 17, 6:30-8:30pm

Tickets: http://bit.ly/2CedHUc

Gallery Tour: A Special Evening with Marta Turok, Thu, Jan 18, 6-7:30pm

Tickets: http://bit.ly/2zadke2

The creative force, made up of OCAD U students, behind the interactive group exhibition.

5. Hacking Black Futures

In 1870, Jules Verne predicted that electrically powered submarines would transport humans underwater. Now, a group of Black-identifying designers and makers are using speculative fiction to envision a better future for themselves and their communities. We’re excited to see prototypes alongside hacked technologies that engage ideas of food sovereignty, the maker revolution, and sustainability.

BAND Gallery and Cultural Centre, 19 Brock Avenue, Jan 17, 2018 – Jan 21

Opening reception: Wed, Jan 17, 6-9pm

Montreal’s Allstudio elevates office life beyond the ordinary with these planters/side tables.

6. Work/Life

Don’t hit the snooze button on this sure-fire exhibition, which showcases contemporary products for the home and office from 10 Canadian designers and studios we love: Allstudio, Area 91, Dear Human, F&Y, Char Kennedy, Jacob Mailman, Mercury Bureau, MPGMB, Geof Ramsay, Stewart Shum and Ange-line Tetrault. The show is a great opportunity to peruse the Umbra collection, and at the bustling reception, meet other design lovers.

Umbra Concept Store, 165 John St, Jan 15 – Jan 21

Opening Reception: Wed, Jan 17, 6-9pm

RSVP: bit.ly/TODO18WorkLife

Last year’s OCAD U expo offered fascinating design solutions to real-world problems.

7. Off Course

A showcase of prototypes and works-in-progress from students of the Industrial Design and Graphic Design programs at OCAD University, this is the place to get a leg up on the future of Canadian design. Identify tomorrow’s superstars while grappling with urgent questions to do with modern life. We’re still enraptured by Paolo Aguila’s balcony chicken coop from last year’s show.

Radiator Gallery, 358 Dufferin Street, Suite 103, Jan 16 – Jan 21

Reception: Thu, Jan 18, 7-11pm

Dear Human‘s mottled contribution to the annual materials-focused exhibition.

8. Matter

A conceptual exhibition with a tangible foundation, Matter asks us to consider the life-span of materials. View objects by 12 designers and artists that tread the line between product and sculpture, made from materials such as wood, ash and Styrofoam. We’re intrigued by James Michael Shaw‘s recycled plastic candle holder, which resembles a mound of melted soft-serve ice cream.

Urbanspace Gallery, 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto, ON

Spanish designer Jaime Hayon poses in front of his Ceasarstone creation at last year’s show. Photo by Liah Chesnokov.

9. Interior Design Show (IDS)

IDS attracts an impressive roster of bigwigs each year. To name-drop a few: Karim Rashid, Jay Osgerby and Snarkitecture, who collaborate with Ceasarstone on a range of kitchen islands. Other guests include celebrity interior designers Kathryn Ireland and Desta Ostapyk, who you may recognize from the Bravo TV shows Million Dollar Decorators and Love It or List It, respectively. We’re hoping Jonathan Friedman of Partisans, the architecture firm featured in our current This Creative Cityissue, will autograph copies of our mag onsite.

Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building, 255 Front Street W., 7-11PM

Tickets: http://bit.ly/2nZu2JH

Opening Party: Jan 18, 7-11pm

Afterparty: The Drake, 1150 Queen St W., 11PM

Dresscode: Karim Rashid’s 2007 Designlines cover look.

Kaitlyn Bourden created this tangled installation for last year’s hotel intervention.

10. Come Up to My Room

When breathtaking art installations and a magical party come together, you get CUTMR, one of TO DO’s best-loved events. The historic Gladstone is barely recognizable after a host of artists takeover four floors of the hotel. Best of all: the artsy backdrops stay up all night at the TO DO Love Design Party, which closes the festival.

The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street W, Jan 15- 21

Opening Reception: Sat, Jan 20, 7-10pm

Tickets: http://bit.ly/2ADq6nO

After Party: Sat, Jan 20, 10pm-2am

Aberrant Architecture brings their fire-engine red Tiny Travelling Theatre to Toronto.

11. In Place

Harbourfront Centre hosts a group exhibition by TO DO’s inaugural international guest of honour, Aberrant Architecture, and a coterie of North American studios from Winnipeg to St. Paul, Minnesota, who all present interactive works that highlight community and locality. Learn about Abberant’s Tiny Travelling Theatre, a public performance apparatus on wheels.

Artport Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Jan 13 – Jan 28

Public Reception: Friday, January 19, 7-10pm

Jeneca Klausen of Saint John, NB shows her (pendant) face at the travelling exhibit dedicated to North American design.

12. Outside the Box

Unpacking this showcase is a delight for our editors. Objects that reflect the resources and inspirations of designers living across North America are shipped in Bankers boxes across the continent. Their Toronto Offsite Design Festival stop, at the Harbourfront Centre, forms a perfect complement to the show In Place (#12 on this list). Share your impressions of both exhibits with the hashtag #DLLoves2018.

Artport Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, January 13–28, 2018

This fiesta-ready installation celebrates the festival’s arrival at Yonge & St Claire.

13. #ohdeer by Gensler

What better way to end the Toronto Design Offsite Festival than to visit, and help dismantle, a towering deer piñata? The party favour looms large in a slick lobby at Yonge and St. Claire, paying tribute to the former inhabitants of Deer Park across the street. We love the community focus that architecture firm Gensler brings to the project.

2 St. Clair Avenue West, January 15–21

Female architects respond to gender survey: "It's getting better but far too slowly"

Click here to view Dezeen

After our survey revealed a lack of gender diversity in the world's biggest architecture firms, five prominent female architects from the UK gave us their views on what's gone wrong and how it can be changed.

The survey, which looked at the 100 biggest firms from around the globe, revealed that only one in 10 senior positions are occupied by women, and that 16 per cent of firms have no women in their management teams.

We shared the results of the survey with five high-achieving women who run their own small or medium-sized firms.

Sadie Morgan, co-founder of dRMM and winner of this year's Stirling Prize, said she was "disappointed" by the findings. "My hope is that it shows a lag in the rise of women to the top of our profession rather than a full stop."

"Women architects are not being recognised in these large commercial firms, which is a loss for both," said Angela Brady, director at London studio Brady Mallalieu Architectsand past president of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Dara Huang, head of architecture studio Design Haus Liberty, said the survey showed that large firms are "old-school in their thinking".

However Amanda Levete, founder and principal at AL_A said she was optimistic for the future. "Our government is led by a woman, as is our police force and our fire brigade," she said. "It can't be long before the conversation about gender in architecture becomes irrelevant."

"It is improving," agreed Jane Duncan, director at Jane Duncan Architects and past president of the RIBA. "There are more and more savvy young women architects coming into the workforce. Once some break through the glass ceiling they become role models for others on their way up. It's inevitable."

But things are improving at a glacial pace and larger practices effectively have a glass ceiling in place, preventing women from rising to senior positions, they feel. One of the key reasons for this is an outdated attitude to childcare, which women are expected to do alone, according to the architects.

"The most obvious reason for losing senior woman is their choice to leave work to have children midway through their career," said Morgan. "We have to be much better as a profession to offer a culture where women can return to work and balance childcare with a demanding professional career. It's totally possible and there are many good examples of practices who do so."

Yet all agreed that firms that do not strive to improve their gender balance will increasingly be viewed as out of touch and will lose out commercially.

"Men are not any better at design and management than women," said Brady. "Women are very good negotiators and listen well to clients to develop the brief for the best type of architectural outcome. Men and women working together and sharing their skills make the best architecture."

Key findings from our gender survey
› Just three of the world's 100 biggest architecture firms are headed by women
› Only two firms have management teams that are more than 50 per cent female
› Women occupy just 10 per cent of the highest-ranking jobs at the world's leading architecture firms
› The percentage of women falls at each ascending management tier
› 16 of the top 100 firms firms have no women at all in senior positions

What does our survey reveal about attitudes to gender balance in architecture today?

Sadie Morgan: I am always disappointed to read surveys that show such a disparity of female to male representation at a senior level. There is enough credible evidence now showing that a better and more diverse senior team makes for a more successful business. It seems counter-intuitive for practices to continue with an outdated mode of working and not try to address this issue.

Angela Brady: Women architects are not being recognised in these large commercial firms, which is a loss for both. The day-to-day business of architecture, particularly in these large firms, is very competitive and men are simply better at putting themselves forward in competitive situations, where being pushy is rewarded with salary increases and job promotion. They are regarded as more ambitious.

However research in the US has shown that having more women at board level and at the top of firms brings in more business and makes for a more friendly working atmosphere and, I would add, better and more thoughtful design outcomes. Certainly of the many boards and advisory panels that I have sat on, the level of conversation has been better when there have been more women.

Many of the men in these large firms leave the majority of the child rearing to their other halves, thus preventing the women from earning promotion. Men need to accept their fair share of child-raising duties. They need to be encouraged to do this by their firm and by society as this is one area that holds women back.

Firms need to recognise that for a very short period in the life of an architect, children's needs can make a temporary change to their work-life balance. But as an architect works for 40 years on average, and they get better with age, it is foolish not to support them for a short career break.

It is no wonder that most women choose to work for smaller firms with a better working environment or set up on their own or with a few colleagues.

Dara Huang: It doesn't surprise me that progressive cities with higher gender equality such as Stockholm show a greater gender balance, because there are more government incentives to help women go back into the workforce.

I experienced similar equalities working in China, where childcare is very accessible and there was no stigma attached to pregnancy. Also it doesn't surprise me that Japan leads the way in zero women at the top levels because again, culturally women in Japan are expected to leave their jobs when they are pregnant, and if they don't they are fired immediately. I use to live there and it's a very sexually segregated culture with huge gender discrimination.

I think that making changes in the workforce needs to start with a cultural shift and also government support, otherwise it's virtually impossible to be a working mother when the typical architect in London gets paid circa £40,000 and a live-in nanny is £30,000.

There is this fear that if a company hires a women in her mid 30s, she's going to disappear for a decade to have children. They don't realise that's because they have not set up a system that gives women more choices.

What management needs to do instead is to create flexibilities and build long-term relationships with their female staff. And men and women could be equally committed to childcare and receive equal pay.

Amanda Levete: My experience of being a woman in architecture today is an extremely positive one. I've been in practice now for over 30 years and seen huge changes for the better during that time. Personally, I've never encountered any barriers to practice and the women starting their careers at AL_A will never be prevented from fulfilling their potential. The message I want to project is that there is no limit to achievement in our discipline for anyone.

At AL_A, the gender balance is close to 50/50, as it is at director level. We've certainly had more women applying to work with us in the last few years, although interestingly they have been almost exclusively from the EU. I do think having a good gender balance in the office encourages more women to apply and having two female directors probably makes a difference too.

We always take the very best people, so widening the pool of talent available can only be positive. I'm proud of everyone who works here – as a studio, we've never been more productive and creative, and balance plays a part in that.

The majority of people at AL_A are relatively young – they are making London their home and starting families. So creating a supportive culture is very important, but it is a culture not driven by gender.

I'm optimistic for the future. Our government is led by a woman, as is our police force and our fire brigade. It can't be long before the conversation about gender in architecture becomes irrelevant.

Jane Duncan: I suspect it is no surprise to women in architecture that the survey has revealed such a dearth sure of women at the top of these large companies. It takes years, decades probably, for bright young women architects to be recognised and assisted to reach the upper echelons, and then only with the backing of proper proportionate equity policies, embedded within practices.

It also takes bright management to understand that their companies will prosper if these positive policies are not just created and nodded at but acted upon in mind, spirit and body by all staff.

Does the lack of women at the top of architecture firms imply there is a glass ceiling in operation?

Jane Duncan: Of course it does. In the past, and in some cases in the present, firms without flexible people-friendly policies inadvertently or blatantly discourage equity of participation and seek board members like themselves – i.e. men. This will change only when these firms see others with better attitudes doing better financially.

Sadie Morgan: My hope is that it shows a lag in the rise of women to the top of our profession rather than a full stop. Since I entered the profession 22 years ago, I have seen a steady increase in the number of female graduates, architects and women in senior positions. I would suggest that we need to find ways of accelerating that trend. If there is a glass ceiling in place, the best way to break it is by the sheer pressure of numbers pushing from underneath.

Angela Brady: To me, the lack of women at the top implies a prejudice within firms, which is easy to spot. So my advice to the larger firms is to redress the balance and add talented women architects to your senior levels. You will benefit in many ways. If you don't, you will be regarded as old fashioned and not great people to do business with.

Dara Huang: Yes I do think that there is an unspoken attitude towards women in the workforce. It's a ceiling that is set by the culture of each individual practice though and there are ways to break away from it. I noticed that practices run by men will have more men in the practice at various levels, while practices led by women such as mine or Amanda Levete's have more women.

What practices don't realise is that they can set examples. If they promote a woman who exudes confidence, this becomes inspirational for other women to step up and have their voices heard. I've had women who've worked for me saying that I've changed their perceptions of themselves. I have also have many female role models who have inspired me in my career, including Farshid Moussavi and Christine Binswanger [senior partner at Herzog & de Meuron]. These women walked, dressed and exuded confidence, which had a knock-on effect on me.

I try and set that example to the women I work with now because it's such a male-dominated industry. It's important to find that voice within and it does take practice – I wasn't always so confident in my twenties. We should embrace our differences as a positive force and learn how to be empowered by gender rather than being pushed back by it. I think we're coming to a point where personality creates a brand and it's much better to be unique and stand out than to melt into the status quo.

What are the reasons for the increasing gender imbalance the higher you go up a company's hierarchy?

Dara Huang: Probably because the top 100 practices are old-school in their thinking. For some offices it might take generations before we see gender equality taking place. It's not that women are less capable; it's a cultural attitude thinking that women and mothers are ineffective employees, are less committed or not as strong. This further shuts out women in the organisation.

Sadie Morgan: The most obvious reason for losing senior woman is their choice to leave work to have children midway through their career. We have to be much better as a profession to offer a culture where women can return to work and balance childcare with a demanding professional career. It's totally possible and there are many good examples of practices who do so.

Angela Brady: An old-fashioned attitude to women and equality, lack of judgment and prejudice against promoting women. As more women enter the profession there should be more in senior positions, but it needs a change of attitude and maybe a campaign to promote it.

Jane Duncan: This doesn't happen in all firms of course. But attrition has long been an issue preventing promotion. A long-hours and poor-pay culture just doesn't work for most people, and particularly women who still handle the majority of childcare or indeed any care. This results in huge numbers of women leaving the profession when they start having families, or ageing parents to care for. If they are not helped proactively to stay in touch, keep their skills up and be encouraged to step back in when it suits them, they will not return.

How can this be changed?

Jane Duncan: This is simply a business imperative. Firms spend fortunes training staff in their working methods, establishing collaborative working relationships with colleagues and clients. It costs huge amounts to find replacement staff and lots of time to train up successors. These firms just need to appreciate that staff who are appreciated and treated well, irrespective of gender or any other consideration will be loyal and productive.

Angela Brady: Promote women to board level. It's easy. Make more women associates and partners at the next office meeting. Workforce diversity says a lot about who you are as a practice and clients are taking notice of this. There are also more women clients giving out work than ever before.

It is no surprise that many successful small practices are those in husband-wife relationships where there is equality and mutual respect and support. Also women leaders like Grafton Architects' Yvonne Farrell and Shelly McNamara or indeed Zaha Hadid, who fought hard to be recognised in a man's world by producing world-class architecture.

But things are changing slowly for the better, with more women graduating than ever before. Women now make up 25 per cent of architects in practice.

Men are not any better at design and management than women. Women are very good negotiators and listen well to clients to develop the brief for the best type of architectural outcome. Men and women working together and sharing their skills make the best architecture.

Ask for a pay rise if you think or know a man at the same level is being paid more than you. Don't be afraid to check this out and ask. Men have no problem asking. Shout about how good you are – the lads don't hold back! Help more women coming through the ranks by encouraging and supporting them. Be a mentor to boost their confidence.

If you feel you have been overlooked for promotion, ask a director for an explanation and threaten to move on if it continues and you will be appreciated elsewhere. If there is ever sexism in your office, confront it immediately. Report it and ask management to deal with it ASAP. There is no place for sexism in any office today.

Dara Huang: I think change is closer to us than we know it. We don't have to wait for laws to pass or generations of people to replace current management. Heads of companies should come up with strategic ways to make both sexes more equal in the three pillars which segregate us: childcare, pay and support.

Upper management is usually older and therefore either have families or will have families soon. Therefore it's more male-dominated because women had to make choices about their careers based on their family. If men and woman are entitled to the same paternity/maternity leave and the same pay, then change will inevitably happen. Also I think that women should have female mentors and be able to have someone in the field they can use as a role model. Perhaps more female organisations in large corporates and support systems is a good idea.

Sadie Morgan: As a profession, we need to set a precedent in which we highlight best practice. Embedding the importance of diversity at the early stage of every project, brief and commission in the studio. But it's not just practices that need to work harder. From speaking engagements to articles, juries to panels, the industry must make sure that all aspects are representative of a wider and more diverse workforce. We have to lead by example.

Do you think things are getting better or worse?

Sadie Morgan: It's getting better but far too slowly. Every new survey shows an inability for the profession to act quickly, we need to be light on our feet and adapt quicker.

Angela Brady: Things are getting better slowly. But in a recession, women get hit the hardest. So with Brexit on the horizon, improvements may slow again, although I hope not.

Jane Duncan: It is improving. There are more and more savvy young women architects coming into the workforce. Once some break through the glass ceiling they become role models for others on their way up. It's inevitable.

Dara Huang: If you look at history, it's obviously much better than before. But I'd be interested to see how steep the curve on progression actually is, because it does feel as if it has flat-lined. I wouldn't be pessimistic about it though because again I realise it's a culture that's been hundreds of years in the making, and it only takes a few progressive thought leaders to fix it in their own office environment, not just in architecture but in all professions.

Equity in the AEC Industry - Online event (Nov 16)

Click here to register 

Women are under represented in the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Only 20% of registered architects in Canada are women, are 23% of engineering graduates and only 14% of skilled trades. The barriers to participation for women in non-traditional occupations are complex and the journey to a fulfilling career an be complex.

Join our panelists, moderated by Tanya Doran, Senior Sustainability Lead - Stantec:

• Hillary Carter, Director of Faculty– Blockchain Research Institute,

• Betsy Williamson, Principal – WilliamsonWilliamson and Board Member with BEAT (Building Equality in Architecture Toronto), and

• Erin Davis, Director, Corporate Talent Engagement – Stantec

for an online discussion of best practices for the attraction, retention and advancement of women to move the architecture, engineering, and construction industries to gender equality.

Organizer of Equity in the AEC Industry - Online event

Who is the Smart, Sustainable, Resilient Infrastructure (SSRI) Innovation Supercluster?

The SSRI Supercluster is a collaboration of industry, post secondary and not-for-profit organizations with a mission to provide:

• Technological leadership through collaborative demonstration and pilot projects;

• Facilitate partnerships to enhance large, medium and small firms across the multiple disciplines of the AEC Industry;

• Recruitment, re-training and develop highly qualified personnel;

• Access to shared resources to the development and commercialization new products and services;

• Positioning of the AEC industry in key global markets.

Partners include:  Stantec, PCL Construction, Ledcor, All Weather Windows, Manasc Isaac Architects, NAIT, SAIT, University of Calgary, University of Alberta, Athabasca University, Integral, Barry Johns Architecture, Connect Thermal Energy Solutions, Archineers Consulting, Terravent Systems, Fox Architecture, Earth Tube Systems, Dante Consulting, Matchbox Energy, Vanderstar Engineering, Prima, Canada Green Building Council, Alberta Innovates and Go Productivity.

Daniels: “Architectural presentations: what I know so far” with Shirley Blumberg

Click here to view Daniels News & Events

Thursday, November 23, 2017 – 12:00pm to 2:00pm

Room 230, 1 Spadina Crescent

This event is a collaboration among BEAT, the Daniels Faculty Committee on Diversity and Equity and the Graduate Architecture Landscape and Design Student Union (GALDSU).

Shirley Blumberg is a founding partner of KPMB Architects and a Member of the Order of Canada “for her contributions to architecture and for her commitment to creating spaces that foster a sense of community.” Notable award winning projects include the Fort York Public Library, the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre at UBC, and the Centre for International Governance Innovation Campus (CIGI), recipient of a Governor General’s Medal, an American Institute of Architects Honor Award, and a Royal Institute of British Architects International Award. She was also the partner-in-charge for KPMB of major new student housing complex, Ponderosa Hub, at the University of British Columbia, which opened in 2016. Recently completed projects include the Global Centre for Pluralism for the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada in Ottawa and the the Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building and the Louis A. Simpson International Building (formally 20 Washington Road) at Princeton University. Current projects include the Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan, the Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Shirley is a member of the Toronto Community Housing Design Review Panel and established Building Equality in Architecture Toronto (BEAT), an independent initiative dedicated to the promotion of equality in the profession of Architecture.

Dori Tunstall Wants to Decolonize Design Education

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Here’s how the dean of design at OCAD University in Toronto is advocating for respectful design – and why cultural readdressing matters more than ever.

When Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall was hired as Dean of the Faculty of Design at Toronto’s OCAD Universityin 2016, she brought an impressive body of work – and many expectations – with her. As Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Design at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, her previous posting, the South Carolina-born design anthropologist – and now the first black woman to head a design faculty anywhere – pioneered work in areas such as respectful design (as informed by Indigenous principles) and the “decolonization” of design education (by encouraging and helping realize the work of Indigenous and racialized peoples).

The latter concept is among six codified principles in OCAD University’s newly developed academic plan, the others being diversity and equity, sustainability, interdisciplinarity, valuing faculty and health and wellness. Tunstall recently sat down with architect Janna Levitt to talk about the anxieties that decolonizing education sometimes produces, why it’s worth pursuing and what it might mean for students, educators and creative industries.

Your area of study is design anthropology. How did it prepare you for your current job?

I define it as a field that tries to understand how design translates values into tangible experiences. At OCAD University, we’ve identified a core set of values – diversity, inclusion, “decolonizing” the curriculum – and expressed them through our academic plan, then tried to make them tangible through our curriculum, how we do research, the relationships we establish to build communities.

So you’re talking about design in the broadest and highest terms?

Yes, almost in meta terms. But also about the work created by students.

How do you measure successes?

Well, you can gauge whether students, all students, feel a sense of community. Sometimes they’ll tell you, but you can also see it. Are they sitting there in isolation or are they talking in groups? How we construct our physical environment has an impact on this. What we have to be conscious of is whether we’re building opportunities, physical and otherwise, that promote diversity, inclusion, decolonization and sustainability.

So how is that going? You’ve been in your job for a year now.

I always say to people that I’m riding a wave. In the job description for the Dean of the Faculty of Design, experience with decolonizing curriculum and leading that kind of transformation was explicitly requested, so the university was deeply into these conversations before I arrived. The academic plan took a year and a half to ratify and that happened in January. My job here now is to take all of the grassroots energy that has been part of OCAD for a really long time and to remove some of the institutional barriers that slowed the faculty down or led it in directions we no longer want to go.

What are some of those barriers?

Not having enough Indigenous faculty to interweave Indigenous perspectives into our curriculum. Not having enough black faculty to do the same with black perspectives. People of colour are already well represented here but we need to do more. Institutionally, we want to promote an ethos of respectful design. That includes making sustainability a key part of everything we do, considering feminist perspectives, interweaving Indigenous content and principles into our curriculum.

The decolonization push is part of that shift, of creating the structures that allow Indigenous perspectives to be brought to the fore. This past spring, we had a workshop where the faculty went through the core courses for each program and identified where we had Indigenous content and principles and where we needed more.

Some professors could say, “Well, I have Indigenous content because we talk about this designer from Peru,” but there was a realization that we need to do more with regard to local cultures. Among other things, we brought in [Métis architect and academic] David Fortin from Laurentian University to help create a space in which we can have these discussions on a very granular level, like how to highlight Indigenous perspectives through our assignments, in new courses, etc.

Indigenization seems to be a top priority. How does decolonizing OCAD’s curriculum by highlighting Indigenous culture affect, say, students of Chinese or South Asian ancestry?

Colonization was global. There is no place in the world it didn’t touch. So if you are a student of, say, Indian heritage, first or second generation, you also have a history of decolonization, a commonality with, say, one of our Anishinaabe students. In Australia, where I also did research on respectful design, Asian and other racialized students who reflected on their place in the Australian context and on their relationships with the Indigenous communities there in many cases reconnected with things in their own cultures that were ignored or inhibited.

This was especially true in the context of design, where they might have aspired to be a great designer in the European tradition, but all of a sudden had permission to approach the process of making from a place of deep cultural knowledge and deep cultural appreciation. So focusing on the Indigenous perspective doesn’t erase. It opens up more possibilities, to ask the questions like, What is my relationship to the land? Not just the land here, but wherever the land back home was? To whom do I feel kinship in my community here? Who is my new family?

This process of self-reflection about all the relationships you have, which you get from engaging with the questions around the continued colonization of a place and its impact on its various Indigenous communities, brings you to a closer relationship with yourself.

How is this reflected in actual work?

It results in pieces and projects through which students express critical perspectives on their individual identities and on their identities within the Canadian context. Indigenous students at OCAD already have a good foundation for this in the Indigenous Visual Culture program, where faculty members such as Bonnie Devine help give them the space and tools to deal with issues of identity and to express identity through their work.

It is harder to see that in the work of the black students we’ve had, which is why that group is also a focus.

You mentioned faculty workshops and other staff initiatives. Has there been any resistance to the decolonization effort among professors?

I would characterize it more as anxiety. What I mean by that is that it’s coming from a place of “I want to be able to do this, but I don’t have the knowledge, I don’t have the tools, I don’t have the resources.” It is less about, “No, no, no, don’t do this. The Bauhaus is the best.” It’s daunting for everyone because we’re in the middle of a process.

We are redefining what it means to be a great designer. And these types of conversations are happening everywhere. They’re happening in Australia. They’re happening in Latin America. They’re happening in Europe, where I spent much of last summer.

In London, they’re asking, “How do we recognize the colonial legacy we’ve created and the harm it has done, to others and also to ourselves? How do we acknowledge, in London, the presence of those who were part of our colonies? What does that mean for who we are and the way we make things and what we use?” It’s part of the global zeitgeist.

How much of this zeitgeist is market-driven, a recognition of growing demographics and markets?

It’s all still operating within a capitalist/consumerist framework, but it’s a positive phenomenon over all, I think. The whole sustainability movement is also somewhat consumerist, but it’s changing our understanding of how and what we consume, getting us closer to some of these other values that are not about rapid consumerism.

In a similar vein, getting new immigrants to Canada or Australia or wherever to think of themselves less as settlers and more in alignment with Indigenous struggles could result in a paradigm shift that ultimately benefits all citizens.

On that positive note, I’d like to thank you for an interesting discussion.

Thank you very much.

"Stop the silence culture, the architecture world is sexist"

Click here to view Dezeen

Readers are embroiled in a sexism row in this week's comments update, following an opinion piece that drew parallels between attitudes towards women in architecture and the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Gender gap: columnist Anna Winston argued that the architecture industry is culturally similar to Hollywood when it comes to overlooking sexist behaviour, igniting a fiery debate in the comments section.

Labattsbleu felt that, if there was a comparison, it was not specific to architecture: "There are predators in every profession. I think using Weinstein's boorish/criminal behaviour as a broader indictment of the architecture profession is a stretch."

But architect Dorte Mandrup, who wrote her own opinion piece about the negative effects of labelling female architects earlier this year, felt that some readers might be missing the writer's point.

"Ms Winston is not claiming that the architecture business is sexist in the direct and primitive Hollywood way, but might be in a much more subtle and sophisticated way," she said.

"The problem is more systemic than individual cases of sexual assault. I challenge all men to reflect on the ways they have taken advantage of or even inadvertently benefitted from the industry's existing power dynamic," added Ruth.

"I wish we were told on the first day of architecture school that the profession is dominated by old white boys," commented Locker Room Talker wearily.

But Armand Tamzarian was clearly on the on the opposing side of the argument. "Articles such as this serve to victimise women and demonise men," he wrote. "Call me old-fashioned, but when a colleague of mine does a good job, male or female, they have earned a pat/pinch on the bum."

This reader felt the comments section had validated the argument made in the column.

Self-aware: Saudia Arabia's decision to recognise Sophia, an artificially intelligent female humanoid robot, as an official citizen raised more than a few readers' eyebrows this week.

"Seems like a robot now enjoys superior citizenship status to a human woman in Saudi Arabia," wrote HeywoodFloyd, making a point echoed by various commenters.

"Should machines have a gender at all? Seems like defining a gender of a machine is sexist either way," pondered Alexey Shishkin.

Susan Liddell suggested that Saudi Arabia had its priorities all wrong: "Do cows and sheep and other sentient beings not deserve this status before highly developed AI dolls?"

However, RubberDucky was willing to give the country the benefit of the doubt: "It is not a stunt nor something that scratches human rights, take it as it is, a step to display a futuristic view.

All this reader seemed to care about was being able to say: "I told you so".

Wall Street: Readers were mainly concerned this week, after prototypes of eight proposed designs for Donald Trump's US-Mexico border wall were constructed, for testing over the coming months.

Mark Power held no punches with his thoughts: "Monuments to America's turn towards fascism."

"I just can't believe that there isn't something more positive to spend money on. Any other context and this would be called environmental pollution" wrote a frustrated Liz Parker.

Sylver C Stephens was asking the important questions: "How high will the wall be Mr Trump, that will prevent drugs coming over it via drones?"

Greg questioned if any of us should be focusing on the wall at all: "Seems to me that this offensive concept being perpetrated by the consummate anti statesman Trump, this "design", is normalised by being featured on this site."

But Blau thought it was vital to keep updated with the project's development: "Are you suggesting self-censorship? I actually feel it's important for this story to be featured here. We don't always like what we see."

Bittersweet: Zaha Hadid Architects' recently completed oil research centre in Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, made up of honeycomb-like hexagonal pods came under scrutiny from commenters this week.

"Like a second year undergrad architecture student who just Googled parametricism for the first time," sneered HeywoodFloyd

"I think this is a very refined parametricism and has moments of great beauty. Undergrads work with the imagination. This is real life," responded Z-dog.

Derek_V was left with a sour taste due to the scheme's location: "Nice project. Unfortunately, for one of the most oppressive regimes on the planet"

One reader was still picking their jaw up off the floor.

"Does architecture have a Harvey Weinstein hiding within its ranks?"

Click here to view Dezeen

Architecture has a culture of quietly condoning sexist behaviour, just like Hollywood, argues Anna Winston.

"To be dangerous is to be artistically daring". In all the comment pieces I have read so far on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, this, from British playwright Lucy Prebble's piece in the London Review of Books, stood out. This was the piece that came closest to pinning down what it was about this whole debacle that made me feel both relieved and angry.

If you're a woman working in architecture, you might not be so surprised to hear that it reminded me of your industry – an industry I have been writing about for more than 10 years.

Prebble's comment hit home because it reflected a common trope in architecture – the eccentric but brilliant man who is allowed, even encouraged, to behave badly and is thus tacitly allowed to treat other people like things.

Architecture, like Hollywood, has a culture of quietly condoning and facilitating gender-related power games and sexually inappropriate behaviour from men while publicly wringing its hands about equality. I have been directly affected by this, and I'm not even an architect. Even architecture journalism is infected with this disease of silent acceptance.

Does architecture have a Harvey Weinstein hiding somewhere within its ranks? The simple answer is, probably, yes. But wherever he is, he is being enabled by a much wider problem, and one that the seemingly endless debate about women in architecture – with its worthy awards programmes and debates – has sadly had too little effect on.

Prebble's text contains more than just the one parallel. "Today's monster is yesterday's 'character'…" it reads. "Hollywood is run on charm as well as tantrums. There are elements of machismo that are glorified as an eccentricity of showbiz power. The flare-ups of big producers and agents are legendary… Ex-assistants will exchange war stories with the relish and nostalgia often reserved for remembering a classic Broadway production."

This too: "In the arts, professionalism can be interpreted as a sort of inauthenticity, and those who can't control themselves are seen as more 'instinctive'." Now doesn't that sound familiar?

It's not always easy to put your finger on why something made you uncomfortable

Weinstein was enabled by an industry caught up in a sticky and insidious web of power and control. Architecture is not the same as the film industry. But when pundits scratch their heads about the disparity between the number of women who study architecture and the number of women who actually end up working in senior positions within the industry, it's hard not to want to bang your head against a brick wall.

How is it that so many people can't see that the problem is not women deciding to have children? It is not the long hours, or the bad pay. It is the power structure. It is the condoning of otherwise unacceptable behaviour in the name of genius or talent. It is, in the words of actress Emma Thompson "a system of harassment and belittling and bullying and interference".

To give you some idea of the scale of this problem, more than half of the women who took the 2017 Women in Architecture Survey said they had experienced direct or indirect discrimination in the past year. Of those, 14 per cent experienced sexual harassment, while 32 per cent reported sexual discrimination. One architectural assistant was even told "women do not belong in architecture as they bring too much emotion to the subject".

The findings included incidents where women had been expected to flirt with clients, been ignored and talked over, and been expected to prepare food and drink when male colleagues were not.

A survey carried out last year in New Zealand found that women accounted for only one per cent of senior roles in architectural practices. Architecture schools in the country have had more than 50 per cent female students since 2000. It takes a long time to qualify and even longer to make it to the top in architecture, but this incredible disparity can't be accounted for by time alone.

The stats vary, but they tell variations of the same story. In 2013, 44 per cent of architecture students in the UK were female, while just 12 per cent of partners in practice were women. In the US last year it was more like 50 per cent of students and 18 per cent of registered, practicing architects.

All of these stats are easy to find, thanks to a small handful of women who pushed for the data to be gathered and disseminated. You don't really need the stats though. A quick glance around the industry will quickly demonstrate that in architecture, women are still largely the facilitators, while men are the feted geniuses.

This has been changing slowly, and there are an increasing number of female-led practices, but it will take more than a handful of visionary women to change the culture of the profession.

It will take more than a handful of visionary women to change the culture of the profession

The Architecture Foundation – one of the rare examples of an organisation that actively promotes equality through its programming instead of just talking about it – still struggles to sell tickets to lectures by female architects in the same volume as it does for lectures by men of equal professional standing.

For more of what we're up against, read some of the comments on stories about inequality in architecture on Dezeen – and bear in mind that the worst sexist comments don't even get published, thanks to the poor moderators who have to read them.

Or attend one of the international festivals or exhibitions where men regularly put their colleagues into uncomfortable positions by pursuing younger, less powerful women within the same field in plain view.

Or remember that Zaha Hadid is still the only female to have won both the Pritzkerand the RIBA Gold Medal in her own right. Or that she was often described in disparaging terms for behaviour that, in men, generally becomes part of their genius mythos.

There is a pattern that recurs across architecture. Women handle the promotion, organisation and dissemination of the work and ideas, creating space and platform for the men to do the actual architecture – or at least to take credit for it. It is no coincidence that most of the biggest and best-known architecture firms are led by men, but the most successful architectural PRs and specialist PR practices are led by women.

"I think the design world's Harvey Weinsteins are a special breed of horrific and especially prey on the intellectual labour of women," one architect told me.

I don't think many women in architecture and its related fields would ask for positive discrimination

It doesn't just affect women either. The culture of bullying and belittling affects people of all genders, colours and backgrounds.

Many of the powerful men in architecture are wonderful to work for and with – capable of engaging in fiery debate, and pushing us to do better without making it a power play and without bringing sex into the dynamic in any way. But most of us know the stories about those who might be described as more "problematic". You are warned about them before accepting jobs or commissions. You go in knowing that you need to focus on the positive effect the association will have on your careers long-term and grit your teeth to get through a few months or years. Your livelihoods hang in the balance if you say anything. Architecture is a small world – much smaller than Hollywood.

It's not always easy to put your finger on why something made you uncomfortable, to pinpoint exactly when you realised that something was awry, to explain why you left that job or didn't go to that event. It isn't an easy thing to publicly identify specific examples and talk about solving this problem.

In a recent Facebook thread relating the Harvey Weinstein, a Seattle-based curator, writer and educator – who studied architecture at Yale – wrote: "In architecture, art, academia, they are too genteel for anger. Instead we'll get frozen out and gaslit with the implication that the confrontation is evidence of our lack of analysis and intellectualism."

Women have their own secret language of warning and sympathy when it comes to handling unwanted sexual attention. There is the quiet suggestion to watch out for wandering hands and bat away inappropriate comments. The sympathetic glance when the inappropriate hug from that older male architect goes on a bit too long at a social event. The gossip about the womanisers and the late night sharing of knowledge over drinks on the rare occasions when there are no men around. The quiet support for women who have held on and made it through despite everything. Some might argue that these quiet support systems are part of the problem. But for most of us, it's the only coping mechanism available, and the pressure shouldn't be on us to name and shame.

This pervasive problem is all over the design industry too. Perhaps it seems more pronounced in architecture, as the role of the architect carries more historic baggage and more anxiety about its relevance and power today. Perhaps it is because being a "character" was, for a long time, the best way to get a building through all the hoops from inception to opening without compromising on absolutely everything, and it just became a habit. Perhaps it's that seven years of education produces a sense of entitlement, swiftly followed by disillusionment and an endless angst. Perhaps it is because it is to do with the way practices are structured, how much work you need to do before you get paid, and how hard it is to go it alone. Or perhaps it is because it is so closely in contact with the development and property industries, where the sexism is both rampant and often far more blatant. Perhaps I just know more architects. Ultimately, it doesn't matter why the problem is there. What matters is that it stops.

Let us do our job without all the gender-based power games

I don't think many women in architecture and its related fields would ask for positive discrimination. And they don't necessarily want to be labelled as "women architects" or "female architects", or even "female architecture journalists" or "female critics". Some women in architecture have pointed out that this kind of language can be useful in recognising and focusing on the achievements of women who would otherwise be neglected. But you could easily argue it also normalises the idea that men are more entitled to be architects because they don't need to qualify their job title with an extra word.

"I am not a female architect. I am an architect," argued Danish architect Dorte Mandrup in a piece published by Dezeen. "When we talk about gender, we tend to talk about women. Men do not really have a gender. They are just... neutral. Non-gender. That is why you do not recognise the term 'male architect'."

We are not asking to be the female equivalent of anything. We are just asking to be architects, designers, journalists, critics, consultants, directors, partners, professionals, without having to be wary or to make ourselves small, without being overlooked or having to be a "bitch" and "difficult" to be heard. Let us do our job without all the gender-based power games, pay us fairly for it, and I promise you that the entire industry will benefit.

In the process of writing this piece, I spoke to a number of people who shared their experiences of abuse, assault, harassment, discrimination, gas-lighting, predatory and manipulative behaviour and more. Some of them have given very specific examples and have named names. They include some of the most famous architects in the world, as well as rising stars in respected practices, curators, heads of schools, tutors, colleagues and friends. They are not easy to talk about or read. This is a problem in every kind of practice and at every level. Anyone that would like to share their own experiences is welcome to contact me.

What is the best Canadian city for a woman? Toronto is ranked 10th

Click here to view the Toronto Star

A new study suggests Victoria is the best city in Canada to be a woman, despite the wage gap between men and women there worsening slightly in recent years.

The study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives looks at differences between men’s and women’s access to economic and personal security, education, health and positions of leadership in Canada’s 25 biggest cities.

The CCPA says Victoria is the only city on the list where more women than men are employed, and they account for nearly half of all senior managers and elected officials.

But it says the wage gap in the city is on par with the rest of the country, with women earning 73 per cent of what men do — slightly worse than five years ago.

In Windsor, Ont., which ranked worst in the study, the wage gap is actually smaller than average, with women making about 75 per cent of what men earn.

But the study says only 23 per cent of elected officials and 34 per cent of senior managers in the region are women, and women are more likely to be living below the poverty line than men.

The CCPA also says that sexual assault is the only violent crime that’s not on the decline in Canada, and every city still struggles with high rates of sexual and domestic violence.

“Statistics will never be a substitute for the full experience of lives lived. But as signposts they mark the spot where more attention is needed from our political leaders and policy-makers,” says study author Kate McInturff, a senior researcher at CCPA. “We hope they follow through.”

Here is the CCPA’s ranking of the cities it studied:

1. Victoria

2. Gatineau

3. Hamilton

4. Kingston

5. Vancouver

6. Quebec City

7. St. John’s

8. Sherbrooke

9. Halifax

10. Toronto

11. Ottawa

12. London

13. Kelowna

14. Abbotsford-Mission

15. Montreal

16. St. Catharines-Niagara

17. Winnipeg

18. Edmonton

19. Saskatoon

20. Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

21. Regina

22. Calgary

23. Barrie

24. Oshawa

25. Windsor

Click here to view the Toronto Star

A new study suggests Victoria is the best city in Canada to be a woman, despite the wage gap between men and women there worsening slightly in recent years.

The study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives looks at differences between men’s and women’s access to economic and personal security, education, health and positions of leadership in Canada’s 25 biggest cities.

The CCPA says Victoria is the only city on the list where more women than men are employed, and they account for nearly half of all senior managers and elected officials.

But it says the wage gap in the city is on par with the rest of the country, with women earning 73 per cent of what men do — slightly worse than five years ago.

In Windsor, Ont., which ranked worst in the study, the wage gap is actually smaller than average, with women making about 75 per cent of what men earn.

But the study says only 23 per cent of elected officials and 34 per cent of senior managers in the region are women, and women are more likely to be living below the poverty line than men.

The CCPA also says that sexual assault is the only violent crime that’s not on the decline in Canada, and every city still struggles with high rates of sexual and domestic violence.

“Statistics will never be a substitute for the full experience of lives lived. But as signposts they mark the spot where more attention is needed from our political leaders and policy-makers,” says study author Kate McInturff, a senior researcher at CCPA. “We hope they follow through.”

Here is the CCPA’s ranking of the cities it studied:

1. Victoria

2. Gatineau

3. Hamilton

4. Kingston

5. Vancouver

6. Quebec City

7. St. John’s

8. Sherbrooke

9. Halifax

10. Toronto

11. Ottawa

12. London

13. Kelowna

14. Abbotsford-Mission

15. Montreal

16. St. Catharines-Niagara

17. Winnipeg

18. Edmonton

19. Saskatoon

20. Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

21. Regina

22. Calgary

23. Barrie

24. Oshawa

25. Windsor

Female Perspectives on Design, and What We Lose Without It

Click here to view Azure

We asked 10 leading practitioners what society as a whole has missed out on due to women not having equality in the architectural profession.

If you haven’t seen or read it yet, the October issue of Azure features an in-depth article on gender inequality in architecture. Written by Montreal journalist Linda Besner, the story outlines how a profession that prides itself on innovation has failed to overcome the glass ceiling syndrome when it comes to female architects. The statistics are as stark as the anecdotes. Many women in the profession report pay inequality and that they’ve been routinely overlooked for promotions, while statistical data backs up the fact that gender discrimination remains alive and well. In Canada, Besner writes, only 29 per cent of practicing architects are female. The numbers are even lower in the U.K. (26 per cent) and in the U.S. (24 per cent).

So, what has been lost in this imbalance? What does design lose when female architects and their perspectives are not an integral part of our built reality? We posed this question to 10 leading architects who understand first-hand the particular challenges women face. Here’s what they told us.

“The world loses lateral thinking, which relates to our ability to make creative connections between things that might be assumed to be discrete. We need to think more about how things are—or could be—imagined relationally in the world. This includes the ability to imagine technology, nature and the built environment as integral parts of a singular spatial system, what we have called ‘soft’ design.”

— Sheila Kennedy, Professor of Architecture at MIT, Director of Design & Applied Research at MATx, and principal of Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Ltd.

Mette Kynne Frandsen of Henning Larsen Architects

“Women excel at designing to a human scale and have incredible artistic sensibilities. Their influence secures a holistic approach to architecture, and, in our experience, often refrain from getting lost in technical solutions and details. Architecture must create connectivity between people, and women are important in shaping and developing these designs.”

— Frida Ferdinand & Mette Kynne Frandsen, Henning Larsen Architects, Copenhagen

"Research shows that innovation occurs when there is a nearly equal team of men and women. It’s also been found that companies with more women in executive positions achieve better financial performance. We are designing and problem solving for a very diverse set of people, needs, desires and values—the people at the helm had better be able to approach these challenges with an equally diverse set of ways of seeing the world.”

— Monica Adair, co-founding partner of Acre Architects, St. John, New Brunswick, RAIC 2015 Young Architect Award recipient

“I have been thinking about this question a lot… in the end, in this day and culture I reject the notion that, as a rule, women’s designs can be picked out from a line of buildings. To me they cannot—great architecture is great architecture. Women are equally capable of producing potent and powerful architecture as men are. And I am not able to pinpoint any specific characteristics that I could assign to a female architect alone. What would these more feminine characteristics be? The typical labels such as ‘soft’ and ‘more inviting’?”

— Johanna Hurme, founding principal of 5468796 Architecture, Winnipeg, Canada

“We are already suffering the design and construction of cities by the eye of a “perfect” 1.80-metre handsome male, with all his capabilities in excellent health; with a perfect wife that gets secluded from the world till their children are old enough to be “suitable” for being in society … It is not just the influence or perspective of a female point of view, but the lack of any other ‘minority’ group eye. That is why today we need to ‘heal’ our cities with accessible policies. We need to start designing our cities, not just from a male or female perspective.”

– Gabriela Carrillo, principal of Taller de Arquitectura-Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo, Mexico City, and 2017

“I will answer your question with a statement by my husband Massimiliano Fuksas: “Doriana sees, and sees with an incredible speed if something works or not. The feminine qualities are: an unimaginable strength, a lot of courage, extensive determination, more than men have”. I totally agree with him because, in my experience, this criteria is applicable when working on small projects because when you work on a small project you see the interior base and form and you can have a global check on material details and the project becomes like a jewel, and so, if there is something that does not work, it is more evident and so you have to check and control every small piece. Therefore, attention to detail, for sure, is typical of women.”

– Doriana Fuksas, principal at Studio Fuksas, Rome, Italy

“Each building is designed by the priorities placed onto the project by the client, the jurisdiction, the site and by the architects’ vision and experience. As architects, we are trained to understand and contemplate a variety of often incompatible views—it is our work to find balance in those views. This is a question of philosophy, not gender. The same thing that is lost when any other influences or perspectives are not integrated into our built reality: a segregationist, generalized urban environment that fails to reflect our shared humanity.

— Marianne Amodio, founding principal of MAAStudio, Vancouver, Canada

SO-IL installation, Blueprint, at Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York

“Since women make up half of the population, half of what it should be and half of what it could be is lost when women are not an integral part of the process. The narrative, aesthetics and professional structure of architecture have been built up over centuries almost exclusively by men, so for women to be part of the conversation, it takes many of us to write, build and interpret – to make contribution to the discipline as well as the build-environment. We have come a long way in the past 50 years to gain access to the field, but there is still a long way to go.”

– Jing Liu, founding principal of SO-IL, New York

“I don’t think you can generalize about a male or female perspective. But I do think that multiple perspectives, personalities and cultural viewpoints only enrich the design process and the built environment. As a young female architect, it is extremely important to have female influencers we can look up to.”

— Jodi Batay-Csorba, founding principal of Batay-Csorba Architects, Toronto, Canada

“It is difficult to separate out nature from nurture, and there is a broad spectrum of personality across male and female individuals.  Even if a “female perspective” could be defined, it would morph and change as our culture changes and becomes more equitable, which has been the slow trajectory since the first wave of feminism in the mid-19th century.  Multiple studies show that diverse teams are successful because they are more likely to constantly reexamine facts and remain objective. They also encourage greater scrutiny of each member’s actions, and are less likely to accept things on face value; they process information more carefully and critically.  As an added bonus, they have also been shown to be more innovative, because people are forced outside their comfort zones in considering solutions.”

– Joan Blumenfeld, principal at Perkins + Will, New York

“Jane Jacobs said it the best: ‘Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.’ When female influences and perspectives are not part of the design of our built reality, we lose out on making our workplaces, homes and cities places where women can thrive and be equal citizens.”

— Joy Charbonneau, artist, designer and architect at KPMB, Toronto, Canada

Inclusive design

Click here to view the Globe and Mail

For many people, design is expensive, elitist and excessive – the layering on of unnecessary, strictly luxurious features that fancy-up otherwise basic objects. It's the difference between a Faberge egg and a Kinder Surprise – maybe nice, surely pretty, but undeniably extravagant.

Design museums, fairs and expos, therefore, offer little of interest to many people. As institutions, they merely collect and showcase esoteric objects and are usually only frequented by design professionals and diehard fans.

To disrupt this tendency, Toronto's Design Exchange (DX) museum is launching EDIT (Expo for Design, Innovation & Technology), a 10-day festival running from Sept. 28 to Oct. 8. Under the wildly optimistic theme of Prosperity for All, and with a diverse lineup of speakers, curators and thinkers (including doctors, economists, urban planners and musicians), it eschews the aesthetic to instead celebrate what design can do to solve the most pressing problems of our times and improve our lives – all our lives.

EDIT was conceived by Shauna Levy, president and chief executive officer of the DX, and is part of her mandate to make design accessible to a broad, general audience. When she took over the leadership of the institution five years ago (after running Toronto's bustling Interior Design Show for 15 years), she immediately replaced the arcane with the populist. The first show she built from the ground up was This is Not a Toy, which focused on urban art and was co-curated with music icon Pharrell Williams (wearer of outrageous hats and writer of infectious pop hits such as Happy).

Although the show drew crowds, it also taught her an important lesson. "We received many calls and e-mails from young adults asking us what the dress code was, simply because they had never been to a museum before," Levy says. "Too many cultural institutions are just simply not speaking to a large part of our population."

Hence EDIT, which focuses on design's ability to help solve the biggest challenges of our time. "Beauty is important," Levy says. "But there's also some heavy lifting that design can be doing."

To give EXPO a serious sense of purpose, Levy has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme, whose 17 Sustainable Development Goals form the backbone of the show. "The ultimate objective of the goals – which include zero hunger and quality education – is to eradicate global poverty and climate change by 2030," Levy says. "I see the goals as design challenges."

And instead of a rarified gallery space (the Design Exchange's home is Toronto's financial district, in the city's former stock exchange), Levy chose the kind of site that wouldn't carry any preconceived baggage about who belongs and who doesn't: East Harbour, a disused Unilever soap factory on the edge of a major highway, the Don Valley Parkway. She hopes that visitors find the raw, unpretentious setting – with its backdrop of old industrial equipment and exposed duct work – "welcoming and an experience in and of itself."

With a something-for-everyone approach (including activities just for children), the show is huge. To help navigate the four-storey, 150,000-square-foot event, here are six of EDIT's highlights for six different tastes.

For foodies: Feeding the 5000

EDIT's final event, on Oct. 8, will be the Toronto edition of Feeding the 5000, a global series launched in 2009 by London-based charity Feedback that focuses on reducing food waste. Hosted by Food Network star Bob Blumer, a free meal, made from ingredients that would otherwise be put in the trash, will be served to anyone in attendance.

For economic activists: Equalizer

Inspired by EDIT's theme, Prosperity for All, London-based artist Moritz Waldemeyer (who worked on the closing ceremonies of the Rio Olympics and designed a jacket for pop star will.i.am) has created an interactive field of LED lights that literately illuminates the ways tax rates for different income groups impact society. Viewers can use a touch pad to change our tax rates, modulating the intensity of the light.

For big picture thinkers: Making Change speakers series

During the festival, more than 125 speakers will cover a range of topics. Familiar names include environmentalist David Suzuki and musician and Metric lead singer Emily Haines (who will be talking about creating a better future for women and girls). The lesser-known names, though, are equally interesting, such as Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde, who is researching ways to compress air pollution into solid objects such as rings and cufflinks.

For design optimists: Prosperity for All

The show based around EDIT's central theme, Prosperity for All, contrasts harrowing photography of global conflicts (famine, natural disasters) by Magnum photographer Paolo Pellegrin, alongside design solutions helping to mitigate such conflicts (ways to clean up the air and oceans, boost economic activity in under-serviced communities). It is curated by Canadian design legend Bruce Mau, co-founder of the Massive Change Network and chief design officer at Freeman. "Designers are not operating in some utopia," Mau says, "disconnected from the conflicts and violence that is happening simultaneously … we are collectively working to solve the great challenges that we face."

For science lovers: Care

Curated by Canadian physician and scientist Julielynn Wong, Care looks at how design and technology (drones, 3-D printing) is making health care more affordable, accessible and humane. The exhibit includes Project Unicorn, a whimsical, glitter-shooting prosthetic co-designed by Jordan Reeves, an 11-year-old whose arm stops just above her elbow. "Today's digital world has the design, innovation and technology resources to better the health and well-being of people around the globe," Wong says. "Thinking big can have a positive impact on billions of lives."

For Design-Curious Kids: ACTUA's Innovation Station

EDIT isn't just for adults. "I'm particularly proud of our youth and kid's programs," says Levy, including ACTUA's Innovation Station. Taking place during the opening weekend, the hands-on exhibit enables young ones to learn the basics of coding, build their own robots and make musical instrumentals.

MIA: Where Are the Women Architects?

MIA: Where Are the Women Architects? 

The representation of women as practising lawyers and doctors in Canada is approximately 40 percent (rising to 61.4 percent for doctors under 35). Why is it then that the similarly demanding profession of architecture stagnated in 2005 and remains at 25 percent? What are the barriers women face in this field, why are they not advancing to leadership levels and what can be done? These questions and more will be discussed on this timely topic, featuring a panel of women architects from all positions in the profession.

Panelists: Mary Lou Lobsinger, Camille Mitchell, Barbora Vokac Taylor, Delnaz Yekrangian

Moderator: Elsa Lam

In partnership with The Great Hall

Venue is wheelchair accessible.

TIme: Sunday, May 28, 2017 - 4:00 PM  5:00 PM

Location: The Great Hall1087 Queen Street WestToronto, ON, M6J 1H3

"I am not a female architect. I am an architect"

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I was mentioned on Dezeen's list of 50 inspirational female architects and designers, to mark International Women's Day back in March. While I greatly appreciated the gesture and sympathise with the idea of giving tribute to the relatively few women who have managed to make their mark on the international world of architecture, I do, however, find these particular kinds of lists a step in the wrong direction.

Allow me to explain; I am not a female architect. I am an architect.

Rarely are women known as female accountants, female lawyers, female taxi drivers or female journalists. But "female architects" seems to be an unshakeable phrase.

When we talk about gender, we tend to talk about women. Men do not really have a gender. They are just… neutral. Non-gender. That is why you do not recognise the term "male architect". It just goes without saying.

Female architects are the exception to that rule. An anomaly worthy of applause and attention once in a blue moon – and International Women's Day seems as blue a moon as any.

"When we talk about gender, we tend to talk about women"

Groucho Marx famously quipped that he refused to join any club that would have him as a member. You might think that this is my problem. That I simply – due to some private, troubled relationship with my own gender – consider being a woman a personal failure, and that I would rather have go unnoticed. But you would be wrong in that assumption.

I am simply asking for the professional courtesy of being considered an architect, without a pre-fixed set of values or attributes. As a creative person working within a creative field, I rely on my ability to take on complex challenges with a full and multifaceted skill set. I do not approach assignments as a woman, but as a professional architect. But this last part seems to be confusing to many men and women within the business.

In 2007, I received a prestigious Danish award. Among other qualities, the jury based their choice on the "femininity" reflected in my projects. I could not help but wonder if the jury would have praised the masculinity of a male architect in the same fashion. Unlikely, seeing as the term "feminine architecture" is often used as a non-explicit label for architecture that poses no real threat to the top boys in what I like to call "the boy zone".

"Feminine architecture" is quite harmless. Beautiful, but harmless. No skyscrapers here. No towers. No corporate headquarters. No competition.

A very famous architect recently paid his version of a compliment to Lina Bo Bardi of Brazil for her fabulous SESC Pompéia, saying: "It is all so incredibly raw and ultra-brutal that one almost can't believe that it is the work of a woman." In other words: she is so good, that she could almost pass for a man. Just imagine what it would sound like if a male architect was equally praised for his surprising ability to design with real compassion and human insight? To create something so empathetic that one could hardly believe it was made by a man?

When addressing the discrepancy between the number of female architects and the kind of attention awarded to female architects, the compensational go-to-solution seems to be these well-meaning lists naming women who, in spite of or due to their gender, are doing well. Or special exhibitions featuring solely female architects. Or enthusiastic articles and interviews with female architects, and so forth. Because women are considered special, they deserve a special list.

"Despite all of the efforts to make female architects feel special, the result is quite the opposite"

There is a well-known test in journalism, called the Jew Test, for anyone who is in doubt about whether they are being accidentally discriminatory against a certain group of people, or simply focusing on attributes that are irrelevant. The trick is to substitute the name of the characteristic in question and replace it with the word Jew. The logic is that, since the second world war, the misuse of the word Jew still triggers a reflex in most people's brain. It immediately sounds wrong.

So how about a list of 50 inspirational Jews in architecture and design? Or would you care to visit a special exhibition of Jewish sculptors? And would you be surprised to read an article about nine memorable films by Jewish directors?

"Are we not long overdue a mind shift allowing men and women to work – and compete – within the same parameters?"

There is nothing wrong with competing in the Paralympics – unless of course you are perfectly qualified to compete in the regular Olympics. And despite all of the efforts to make female architects feel special, once a year, with special lists, the result is quite the opposite. It creates the distinct feeling of being second-class citizens within the business. An "every dog has its day" moment for the female architect!

However well-meaning, I cannot help but wonder whether magazines, galleries and websites could instead find a genuine and conscious way to remember to include women in their daily mentioning of architecture? Singling out a small group of women is just a case of misguided charity and does not simply buy atonement for forgetting about women for the remainder of the year.

Some architects cherish lists like these. Their argument is that, as women are still seen as second-class citizens in the profession, we should bask in the sun whenever it happens to shine. That a special mentioning is better than no mentioning at all.

I suppose this is a very pragmatic attitude towards the role of female architects. But it is terribly unambitious. Are we not long overdue a mind shift allowing men and women to work – and compete – within the same parameters, known simply as good architecture? And can we collectively make the verbal separation between "architects" and "female architects" a thing of the past?

A shorter, Danish-language version of this article originally appeared on Politiken.

This architect’s artistic spirit brings beauty into the world

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Toronto-based architect, artist and community builder Joy Charbonneau has a generosity of spirit that defies the stereotypes of creative types.

She believes in collaboration, not total control. She is interested in helping other designers promote their work, almost more than she is in finding an audience for her own. And she goes about her work with a bright, inviting smile (not a duck-lipped scowl or cerebral pout).

"My name is Joy," she says, "I have a lot to live up to."

Which she does by bringing beauty into the world with her works, and helping others do the same. She makes her own art (a black-and-white map of Canada that highlights the vital role of water in shaping our country's geography), and designs charming furniture with her husband-designer Derek McLeod (their Tufted Bench is made from walnut but looks like a pillow-y, soft cloud).

At the same time, she is an architect at one of Canada's most decorated studios, KPMB (where she's currently leading a project in New York City) and has a long history of helping promote contemporary Canadian designers and designs.

In 2017, for example, Charbonneau launched @marianadesigncanada, a daily Instagram feed that promotes one work of contemporary Canadian design, produced by makers and manufacturers from across the country. The collection of images bubbles with pride in our collective creative identity, and is a digital extension of the early design showcases she used to organize as part of the Toronto Design Offsite Festival. "I respect creativity," she says, "And I think that by calling out to other people's talents, we all learn and appreciate what's out there. The whole community gets stronger."

Charbonneau, in part, developed this spirit of sharing as a master of architecture student at the University of Toronto. She won a fellowship that involved intensively studying Frank Lloyd Wright for a year, including living at Wright's Taliesin studios, alongside other Wrightian scholars, in Wisconsin and Arizona. "When you live at Taliesin, you have to participate," she says. "Every week you would be on a different chore schedule, including cooking and setting the tables. If you were on landscape, you had to rake the rock garden."

Her unique mix of artistry and leadership abilities goes deeper, back to her childhood. Her mother "had an artistic spirit," introducing her to music and creativity at a young age. When her mother passed away, though, when Charbonneau was 11, she went to live with her aunt and uncle, who were more practical.

"My uncle was a businessman," she says. "He taught me things, like, if you aren't 10 minutes early, you're already late." Dating McLeod, who shares her passion for design, helped, too: they met in high school, and "he helped reignite my creative side," she says.

Charbonneau further learned to hone and balance both the left and right sides of her brain through studying architecture, which takes both the aesthetic sensibility to envision a project, and a certain ruthless discipline to bring it to life (including wading through mountains of contract documents and mundane details such as doorknobs and door hinges).

That discipline also helps Charbonneau co-ordinate all the things she's involved in. "I say yes a lot," she jokes. "But when you want to do something, you also just find the time. You find a way."

And when totally overwhelmed, she lives by the words, "When you don't know where to start, just do something." A further example of optimism for a joyful presence.

On International Women's Day: Meet the BEAT Team!

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Building Equality in Architecture Toronto (BEAT), is an independent organization dedicated to the promotion of equality in the profession of Architecture through advocacy, mentorship, and networking.

Since its launch in 2015, BEAT has continued to successfully deliver events and web content that promote the advancement of women in the profession, and provide mentorship, networking and leadership opportunities.  The success of BEAT, and its initiatives are reflective of the commitment and dedication of its Executive and Advisory Committee members. 

BEAT’s Executive Committee consists of: 
Joy Charbonneau, KPMB Architects
Rachel Cyr, KPMB Architects
Timea Jakab, Holt Renfrew
Stephanie Hosein, Omar Gandhi Architects Inc., 
Camille Mitchell, KPMB Architects
Dimitra Papantonis, Williamson Williamson Inc.
Sonia Ramundi, Williamson Williamson Inc.

BEAT’s Advisory Committee consists of:
Shirley Blumberg, Founding Partner, KPMB Architects
Meg Graham, Principal, Superkul Inc.
Pat Hanson, Founding Partner, gH3 Inc. 
Brigitte Shim, Principal, Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc. 
Betsy Williamson, Principal, Williamson Williamson Inc

In honor of International Women’s Day, we are pleased to present this Q&A with few of the Executive Committee members of BEAT. 

Timea Jakab, Executive Committee

1) Can you tell us a bit about:
a. Your educational background? 
I have an undergraduate and graduate degree of the University Waterloo School of Architecture. 

b. Your cultural background? 
I am Hungarian, moved to Canada when I was three.  

c. Professional background (how did you begin your career...)?
I began doing co-op terms through Waterloo and then continued to work in the field in a variety of firms; interior, residential, commercial. I'm currently on the Store Planning & Design team at Holt Renfrew and love it. 

2) What stage are you at your career in architecture?
I will be licensed as of this January - finally! 

3) Why the field of architecture? 
I love the idea that spaces can tell or create stories.

4) What is your role with B.E.A.T? 
My role is primarily that of Social Media & Communications. 

5) What provoked/inspired you to be part of B.E.A.T? Share your story? 
The idea of women in architecture not only coming together, but rooting for and helping each other is paramount. This is a male dominated profession and it's so important that women have conversations with each other that move beyond an explanation of their portfolios; the experience of being a women in this field is unique and universal and one that needs to be shared. 

6) What do you hope to gain/what messaging are you hoping to send out by being part of B.E.A.T? 
For me, the most important message would be one of females supporting females. Be in career mentorship or general life advice, BEAT is a great group and resource.

7) Your thoughts on cultural diversity within the profession of Architecture? 
It's so important that our organizations and workplaces foster the changing face of young architects. In any office in Canada, you'll find an eclectic mix of people, in ranging ages, genders and ethnicities. This needs to be highlighted more. 

8) What do you see as the biggest challenges in the coming years for architecture (and women in architecture)?  
I think one of the biggest challenges is (and has been) getting women licensed, promoted and represented in the field. There's a missing and important discussion too which revolves around the emphasis on a work-family balance. Though it's not a new idea, perhaps I'm at the age where it's becoming more and more relevant. 

9) Do you have a particular project -a project that you worked on- that you can say changed the way you perceived the profession of architecture in Ontario?
I don't have a particular project in mind. In general, every project I've worked on has taught me a different aspect of the profession and that's been very rewarding. 

10) Words of Wisdom for emerging young professional just entering the field of architecture? 
Just be yourself!

Stephanie Hosein, Executive Committee

1) Can you tell us a bit about: 
a. Your educational background?  
I spent two years at UBC in Vancouver studying science and fine arts before returning home to Halifax to pursue architecture at Dalhousie University.  I completed both my BEDS and MArch degrees at Dalhousie. 

b. Your cultural background? 
I was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  My father is from Trinidad and Tobago, and my mother is from New Brunswick.  Even though I never had any Trinidadian relatives in Halifax, I have a group of close family friends who have become as close as family and who have introduced me to the food, music, lifestyle and rich culture of Trinidad.  I have German roots through my mother, and its interesting reflecting back on how the incredibly different cultures of both sides of my family have played a large role in defining who I am today.   

2) What stage are you at your career in architecture?  
I am a recently licensed architect who joined Omar Gandhi Architect’s Toronto office as an Associate in October 2016.  Prior to that, I worked at KPMB Architects for five years. 

3) What is your role with B.E.A.T?  
I assist with programming of various events, and also help behind the scenes with accounting and logistics.  I am currently working to collect relevant statistics about women in architecture in Canada.
There are many statistics related to women in architecture in the U.S., but very few in Canada. 

4) What provoked/inspired you to be part of B.E.A.T? Share your story? 
I didn’t know the extent to which the profession is still male-dominated until I finished school and entered the work force.  The ratio of men to women in most Canadian architecture schools is equal, but that ratio changes drastically in the working world.  It was a harsh wake-up call to face this reality, and to realize how large of a factor gender plays in one’s delegated responsibilities, confidence and ultimately success in the field of architecture.  Another concern that led to my involvement with B.E.A.T. was the large number of very talented female colleagues leaving the profession for various reasons, many of which have roots in inequality.  I have since learned that this is the norm in architecture based on statistics released by architectural licensing bodies in the U.S., the UK and Canada.   

5) What do you hope to gain/what messaging are you hoping to send out by being part of B.E.A.T?  
There is a lot of work to be done in this industry, but I am fully aware that this is not an issue that is isolated to architecture.  I've encountered sexist and discriminatory attitudes throughout my career.  Female architects are just as knowledgeable and competent as their male counterparts, but in many instances are not valued as such.  There are a variety of reasons for this, one of which is that it is still a male-dominated industry.  I read an interesting article last year about how media has shaped the public perception of “the architect”.  When you think of architects in major Hollywood productions or popular tv shows, can you think of one that that has been portrayed by a female actor?  Or a role that has been played by a person of colour?  Even Hollywood perpetuates the stereotype that architecture is a career for men – more specifically, a career for older, white men.  

6) Your thoughts on cultural diversity within the profession of Architecture? 
I believe it is extremely important to create and maintain diversity within architecture.  You will be working with clients from a wide range of cultural, racial and gender backgrounds so it is very important to have an equally diverse profession to represent the needs of those for whom you are designing.  Especially living in a city as diverse as Toronto, it is critical to encourage cultural diversity in all professions, including architecture.  My sister is a big advocate for equity and equality among marginalized people, including racialized and LGBTQ* persons, and has been a tremendous influence in my life in that respect.  

7) What do you see as the biggest challenges in the coming years for architecture (and women in architecture)? 
When I speak to female colleagues, an issue that comes up time and time again is the retention of women in the architecture profession.  It is a difficult career to lead while also maintaining work-life balance, and many women hoping to start families face the harsh reality of feeling like they need to choose between excelling professionally or having children.  There are definitely some who are able to make it work, but that decision may come with sacrifices on both ends – perhaps not putting as much face time in the office as the employer expects, or missing out on precious family time at home.  I don't have an answer to this dilemma.  Architecture is an amazing profession because of how collaborative it is - that's one of the aspects of my work that I enjoy the most.  But on the other hand, the importance of face-to-face teamwork makes it difficult to entertain flexible work hours to balance work and family responsibilities.  For example, working from home part-time is not realistic for most architects as they are expected to spend the majority of their time in the office in a team setting.  

Camille Mitchell, Executive Committee

1) Can you tell us a bit about:
a. Your educational background?
I completed the undergraduate and graduate program at the University of Waterloo.  

b. Your cultural background?
I was born in Canada and am involved with Caribbean and African diaspora. 

c. Professional background (how did you begin your career...)?
My first exposure to architecture profession was through placements in high school. I was primarily exposed to architecture through colleagues at Garwood Jones and Hannam at Hamilton.  I was interested in applying for university program at University of Waterloo. I am grateful for the undergrad program at University of Waterloo, for it was very diverse and provided both practical and theoretic experience. The Co-op experience was an honour of the program and I was fortunate enough to complete studies in Waterloo, Cambridge, Montreal and Rome. 

2) What stage are you at your career in architecture?
I am a liscenced architect with the OAA. 

3) Why the field of architecture?
Interest in building and contributing to shape our surroundings. 

4) What is your role with B.E.A.T?
Assist with managing and associating programs or events that provide opportunities to network and promote diversity for architects across Toronto. 

5) What provoked/inspired you to be part of B.E.A.T? Share your story?
Initially, I became a member of BEAT to associate and network amongst other architects across the city. 

6) What do you hope to gain/what messaging are you hoping to send out by being part of B.E.A.T?
I hope to continue to encourage and support opportunities and celebrations that promote diversity. 

7) Your thoughts on cultural diversity within the profession of Architecture?
I am honoured to advocate for the profession and minority groups that are underrepresented professionally.  

8) Do you have a particular project -a project that you worked on- that you can say changed the way you perceived the profession of architecture in Ontario? 
My projects have been out of province for the past six years. 

9) Words of Wisdom for emerging young professional just entering the field of architecture?
Make the best and interpret the architectural profession how you feel and see fit. 

Dimitra Papantonis, Executive Committee

1) Can you tell us a bit about:
a. Your educational background?
My undergraduate was an Honours Double Major in Architecture and Economics at the University of Toronto, where I also completed my Master of Architecture. Fun fact, my graduating M. Arch class consisted of two thirds women.

b. Your cultural background?
First generation born in Canada, with a Greek cultural background.

2) What stage are you at your career in architecture?
Currently completing my internship.

3) Why the field of architecture?
As a child I wanted to be multiple things at once: a mathematician, a teacher, a builder, an accountant, etc - all this while also saying I'd be a writer and artist on the side. In the end architecture found me while I was applying for university and has since stuck. 

4) What is your role with B.E.A.T?
I'm a member of the Executive Committee. Currently helping coordinate our third annual Women in Architecture Seminar. 

5) What provoked/inspired you to be part of B.E.A.T? Share your story?
There is a Greek proverb that says 'a society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in'. I want to share my experiences, learn from others, and help shape the future of our profession. Overall, I want to plant trees I may not be able to sit under.

6) What do you hope to gain/what messaging are you hoping to send out by being part of B.E.A.T?
It’s not just about women. It's about equality. The first two seminars had a great male turnout, as have some of our Mentorship Mondays. Through these events BEAT provides exposure to and mentorship by leaders in a profession that, although fairly equal at the university level, is still male dominated. This is what it's all about, awareness of what is happening around us, and helping bridge gaps through mentorship and networking.  Change doesn't come from women only talking to women, but by engaging everyone. The same goes for all other minority groups in architecture. Everyone should have an equal voice and opportunity.  

Our events really are open to everyone! From seminars, to building tours, and parties to name a few. Check out our website and sign up for our mailing list for more information: http://www.beatoronto.com/about-2/ 

7) What do you see as the biggest challenges in the coming years for architecture (and women in architecture)? 
I’d rather discuss things to look forward to. It is exciting to see more women in different roles on site and on project teams - from architects, engineers, plumbers, contractors, and more. It is equally exciting to be working with groups of both men and women who treat each other with the respect and trust they deserve. We all have something different to bring to the table. I look forward to more of this in the coming years. 

8) Words of Wisdom for emerging young professional just entering the field of architecture?
Find mentors you respect and learn from their years of experience. Feel comfortable asking questions, it’s okay not to know everything. Trust yourself. 'Proceed and be bold' - Samuel Mockbee