Unless otherwise noted, all text is paraphrased comments
| Could you tell me how you first became interested in architecture? |
I was originally interested
in becoming an art teacher, as early as 6th grade. However, I soon came to realize my
artistic talents were not what they would need to be, and I realized that
I also enjoyed mathematics. I was first introduced into architecture
from my aunt and uncle, who lived in a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oak
Park, Illinois. When I was later introduced to the concept of
perspective drawing and being able to draw mathematically, I knew I wanted
to become an architect. |
| What is your academic and professional history? |
I attended the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign starting my sophomore year of college,
and received my BSAS. I attended the University of Minnesota afterwards, and
received my M.Arch. After receiving my degree I accepted a job at
Riverside Architects, where I worked for three years. Two women
owned the firm, and at first I didn’t like that idea, but it wound up
being an excellent experience for me. The second firm I worked
at was only for a short time. |
| Have you ever faced any sexism as a student or practitioner? If so, how did you handle the situation? |
“I have not really ever felt
that way.”
Although many of my female friends have had problems in that area, I have
never really had a major difficulty. On the job site, I am often
faced with ‘proving myself’, particularly because of my young
appearance. I feel that when I set the tone, and show that I am
knowledgeable, there is never a problem. Often, when I am on the
jobsite for the first time, masons will stop what they are doing, turn
around, and whistle. Once they realize I am the architect they do
not behave that way. It really doesn’t make me very
uncomfortable. Some of my female friends have had continuous
problems with this issue, one in particular often feels people are not
listening to her and not respecting her. I think it is maybe more of
a personality issue than a gender issue, however. I feel like when
I express self-confidence, I am respected. |
| What are differences between male and female architects? |
I believe that, because I am
one of the longest-employed people in my office, I have been able to
set the tone for the kind of banter, etc. that goes on there. Originally, there were
fourteen or fifteen people and I was the only female architect. Now,
there are about twenty people, with five female architects and other
female staff members. Because I am a female in an authority
position, the ‘immature, male humor’ is probably much less than it would
otherwise be. I believe people are probably more sensitive to each
other because of a tone I have set. However, I think that is not
necessarily because of my gender, but because of my personality – I try
to understand people based on their qualities, not their
gender. |
| Has your gender given you any advantages over your male counterparts? |
I believe that many of the male
‘higher-ups’ at the company are more prone to speak nicely to me because
they are more concerned with upsetting me, versus a man. In addition, some are
more likely to listen to my thoughts and be more polite towards me.
I believe that one of my strengths includes being a good
communicator/interviewer – I am able to judge character very well, and
understand if he or she will be an asset to our team. Again, I
am not sure if this is due to my gender or my personality.
In response to your early question, I guess there is one man in particular, who everyone is the butt of his jokes. I am sure that I am the butt of some of them behind my back. So, yes, “there is female bashing to some degree, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting me.” I have never had a problem with any male employee, or not being able to communicate with them. |
| Compared to a ‘typical’ white male in the profession, how do you feel your opportunities for advancement have been? |
My advancement has been very good. I
had the opportunity not long after I began to work in Moline, Illinois,
which is a long drive from Chicago. I worked on this project with
the president of the firm, and therefore got an opportunity to get to know
him personally, and vice versa. Years later, he has expressed that
my advancement, having nothing to do with my gender, probably related to
the fact that he had an opportunity to get to know me personally. I
am currently at the equivalent of a ‘junior partner’ level, and do own a
small part of the company. I am the highest-ranking female in the
company, but again I do not believe this is a sexism issue, simply a
fact of who the longest-employed people were. |
| Personal anecdotes: |
There are two stories, which
happened many years ago, when I first joined the firm, which do relate
to sexism. The
first happened on one of those trips to Moline. We were meeting
with someone in a position of authority, and
at the end of the meeting he said something equivalent to, “I’ll have
my gal call your gal…”. Soon, everyone was saying this, including the president
of my company. After we left the school, I made an irritated comment
to him about how his secretary was most certainly NOT his ‘gal’.
Well, a few weeks later a co-worker told me that he had heard I told off
the president. Apparently the story had been repeated at the
partners meeting. Although I hadn’t really told him off, what he
was saying was ridiculous so I’m glad he listened to me.
Secondly, when I first started at my current job, I soon noticed that all of the women always wore skirts (both architects and administrative staff). I had never been told that was necessary, and often wore pants/pantsuits to the office. One day, one of the women came up to me and explained that the ‘boss’ had asked her to tell me that we were all to wear skirts to work, pants weren’t appropriate. I was outraged that he at least didn’t have the manners to tell me himself, and I continued wearing pants. I had worn a pantsuit to one of my interviews for the company, so surely if there was a problem they should have addressed it then. After all, this was not IBM, and it was the 90’s, so this was definitely an outdated rule. Sure enough, soon after that, at a company meeting, a new dress code went into effect and said nothing about the necessity of women to wear skirts. |
| To ask a more far-reaching question, how do you think the architectural world would be different if women’s contributions to the field had been appreciated and acknowledged to begin with? For example, Charles Rennie Mackintosh married a woman who had already established a successful art business with her sister. However, after she married him her work became devalued and she was criticized widely, as her role was now ‘architect’s wife’. Even Mackintosh himself had acknowledged her superiority on several design issues. |
I have heard that women design
buildings from the inside out, whereas men design the exterior. The woman’s approach
means the building is less of an icon. But, in my personal
experience, I have not seen any true difference between the way men and
women design. Earlier in my career, I helped organize a traveling
exhibit that came to Chicago, called ‘100 Years of Women in
Architecture.’ I was excited to see the photographs at first, but
soon realized they really didn’t look much different from what men were
designing at the same time. Many of the images were residential,
also, so to perceive the overall effect of women was difficult. To
me, it is essentially the idea that the more people with more rich experiences
contributing to architecture, the more interesting it will be.
Personally, I have found that one way being a woman is advantageous to the design process is that many female clients are more comfortable with me (and express that), because they believe I will listen to them better than a male architect would. Particularly, since I do a lot of school work, I deal with lots of female principals and teachers. So, in that respect, the comfort level and ability to communicate is greater because of their higher comfort with another woman. |
| What advice would you give to your daughter if she told you she wanted to be an architect? |
“Find a role model. Do
what you need to do to have a role model.” As a child, it is extremely important to know what to expect from a career. I had no idea that architecture would take over my entire life, and it totally has. I would have been more in tune with my environment if someone had shown me that. Now, I work with kids in different programs, teaching them about architecture, and I love it. My oldest nephew, in particular, has really taken a great understanding of architecture. He will ask me questions about why things that are further away look smaller but they’re not, and he really understands so much. I really enjoy teaching kids about architecture. |