Written by Jaden Parker
We’ve heard already about some other female pioneers of architecture in the past. From Zaha Hadid to Norma Merrick Sklarek, women are making themselves known in the architectural industry. Not only are these women making space for the next generation, but they are also redefining what people think of when they hear the word “architect.” The twelve I will be focusing on are by no means an exhaustive list of women’s achievements in architecture, so I do encourage you all to explore the other stories out there!
Louise Blanchard Bethune
Louise Blanchard Bethune was the first woman to practice as a professional architect in the United States. She was the first woman to be in the Western Association of Architects and the American Institute of Architects. She was also the first woman to become an American Institute of Architects Fellow. She designed countless buildings in the Buffalo area of New York, including the Kellogg Residence in 1887, the Lafayette Hotel—finished in 1926—and numerous public schools throughout the 1880s. In 1891, she refused to submit a design for the Women’s Building of the Columbia Exposition in Chicago competition because the winning fee was $9,000 lower than the fee for the male architects of other Exposition buildings. That same year, she was the first woman to own a bicycle in Buffalo at the cost of $150 (which is over $5,000 today!).
Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham
Considered the UK’s first female architect, Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham entire career isn’t very well known, as she had to practice architecture in secret. However, there are claims that she contributed to the designs of over 400 buildings in the United Kingdom during her life, while male architects took public credit for her work.
Marion Mahony Griffin
The second woman to graduate from the architecture program at MIT in 1894, Marion Mahony Griffin was an employee of Frank Lloyd Wright. The only female draftsman in Wright’s studio, Mahony was the first licensed female architect in the world. She was commissioned to design Henry Ford’s house in 1909, but a dispute between them led him to find another architect. There are plans of the home she’d designed in the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University. She is considered the designer of Wright’s famous prairie houses.
