Seven female architects who have made their mark on the world.

„Where are all the women architects?“ Allison Arieff, a design and architecture writer, was asked in an opinion piece for the New York Times in 2018. „Almost half of architecture students are women. Why do so few remain in the profession after graduation?“

Since people stopped living in caves around 10,000 BC, women have always built houses and cities and contributed to their civilizations in immeasurable ways. However, they have not always received recognition for it.

Despite some recent efforts toward gender equality in construction, women in architecture are still significantly underrepresented.

In 2017, the design magazine Dezeen conducted a survey on gender equality and inclusion in top architecture firms. The researchers called the results „shocking“: Only three out of 100 companies surveyed had female CEOs, while 16 firms had no women at all in their leadership teams. Only 10 percent of the women employed in these companies held leadership positions, while most others worked in administration. What makes these results particularly striking is that about 50 percent of graduates of architecture schools are women.

To highlight the talent and vision that women bring to architecture, we present seven women architects who have left their mark on history and the skylines of the world—and will certainly continue to do so. These visionaries and hundreds more are paving the way for younger generations to make it easier for them to realize their dreams. [The list is in alphabetical order by last name.]

Gabriela Carrillo

Gabriela Carrillo was born, raised, and educated in Mexico. In 2017, at just 39 years old, she was named Architect of the Year, a prestigious award given by the Architectural Review.

She has designed, among other things, criminal courts, cultural centers, and a library for the visually impaired. Carrillo’s trademark is her humane and sensitive approach to community buildings. She makes optimal use of Mexican sunlight to create aesthetic depth in her designs through the interplay of light and shadow.

Carrillo co-leads the Taller | Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo with her design partners and also teaches at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Zaha Hadid

When Zaha Hadid opened a small office in London’s Clerkenwell district in the early 1980s, the idea that she would become one of the most famous architects in modern history may have seemed far-fetched.

But even Hadid’s early drawings from those years imagined a world that did not yet exist. In the following decades, until her untimely death in 2016, Hadid built structures to adorn the skylines of the world and pushed the boundaries of architectural imagination.

This Iraqi-British genius was behind many century-defining designs such as the Galaxy Soho in Beijing, the London Aquatics Centre, the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, and the Guangzhou Opera House.

„There are 360 degrees—why stick to one?“ Hadid famously said, encapsulating her design philosophy.

Dubbed the „Queen of the Curve“, Hadid received numerous prestigious awards, including architecture’s highest honor, the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, which she was the first woman to receive.

The Guangzhou Opera House in China was designed by Zaha Hadid. It opened on May 9, 2010.

Farshid Moussavi

The Iran-born British architect is the head of Farshid Moussavi Architecture and is among the most sought-after architects in the world.

Moussavi is also a Professor in Practice at Harvard and has designed, among other things, the Ōsanbashi Pier in Japan. This international passenger terminal is a paragon of architectural genius and appears as a natural creation. No stairs, beams, or columns were used in its design.

„Buildings have a practical function, but they also contribute to the culture of our urban and rural landscapes,“ Moussavi said in an interview with Riposte. „They can therefore also be studied as ideas and how these stand in the intellectual history of architecture and art.“

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, Ohio, has six sides and is completely covered with mirrors. It was designed by London-based architect Farshid Moussavi.

Suchi Reddy

The founder of Reddymade Architecture, Suchi Reddy, was born in the Indian city of Chennai and now lives in New York City, where she moved as a newly married 18-year-old. Reddy had to resist conservative structures to realize her dream of becoming an architect.

„I had to fight to go to architecture school and not just stay home and have babies,“ she said in an interview withKultivierten.

Her works have included a kinetic umbrella façade for a building in her hometown Chennai and a prototype space for sensory healing designed to influence the recovery rates of children awakening from comas. Although Reddy is naturally drawn to these topics, she does not see herself as an „architect“.

I think that a gender-based distinction in the way the work is done makes no difference, but to be taken seriously, you have to work harder.

Suchi Reddy, India-born and New York City-based architect

Denise Scott-Brown

This architect, who shaped much of 20th-century architecture, is a true legend. Born in Zambia, raised in South Africa, and living in Philadelphia, Denise Scott-Brown has been an icon for decades.

In her prolific career, she designed many famous buildings such as the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London, the Seattle Art Museum, the Provincial Capitul Building of Toulouse, and many others.

The architectural icon made her way to the top at a time when it was almost impossible to do so. She wrote about her frustrations in a 1989 essay titled „Room at the Top? Sexism and the Star System in Architecture„.

Although she retired from practice at Venturi Scott Brown Architects at the age of 88, she has a full schedule and is working on books. Her health is a priority for her to remain productive.

„If I fell, I would have to stop this work. And I still have too much to do,“ said Scott-Brown.

Roberta Washington

When Roberta Washington founded her eponymous architecture firm in the heart of Harlem, New York, in 1983, she was one of the first African American women to do so. Washington’s passion for inclusion and equality, as well as the four years she spent in Mozambique designing hospitals, inspire much of her work.

In recent decades, Washington has completed many successful projects specializing in health centers, educational institutions, and affordable housing. Among her notable works is the African Burial Ground Interpretive Center, which is part of a national park monument. She also pioneered the first green building in Harlem, which consisted of 60 percent recyclable or renewable materials.

I have encountered racism and sexism, but to be successful, I cannot focus only on that.

Roberta Washington, one of the first African American women to found her own architecture firm

Growing up as a woman of color in New York City, Washington wanted to be an architect from an early age. But she had no role models, something she has tried to change for future generations through her leadership at the National Organization of Minority Architects.

Lu Wenyu

Lu Wenyu is based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou and founded her office “Amateur Architecture Studio” in 1997. The name she chose for her office was a rebuke to what she and her business partner Wang Shu called “professional, soulless architecture” practiced in China.

Born in 1966, Wenyu grew up during a time when China was undergoing rapid modernization, economic growth, and urbanization. Thus, Wenyu’s passion for cultural heritage and natural materials shaped much of her architectural vision. Her studio focuses on traditional and artisanal practices, using natural materials such as wood, stone, and clay, and incorporating aspects of the landscape. Among her notable works are the Huang Gongwang Museum, the Ningbo History Museum, the Ningbo Tengtou Pavilion, and a new campus for the China Art Academy.

Wenyu’s distinctive and culturally thoughtful work has also been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, such as the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2012, which she won together with her partner Wang Shu.

The Ningbo Museum is a museum in the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, China. It was designed by Chinese architect Lu Wenyu.

More Room for Women Architects at the Top

Denise Scott-Brown described in her 1989 essay „A Room at the Top„ how architecture was “twice as hard” for her as a woman. She struggled to be taken seriously, and people attributed her good ideas and successful designs to her husband, who was also an architect. She felt hurt when she was called “just a wife.”

Although people around her encouraged Scott-Brown to take on an administrative role in the office or to teach, she did not give up doing what she loved most: designing iconic buildings.

„On the larger stage, not all is lost,“ Scott-Brown wrote in her essay. „Not all architects belong to the men’s club; more architects than before are women; some critics are learning; the American Institute of Architects (AIA) wants to help actively, and most architects would, at least in theory, prefer not to practice discrimination if someone could prove to them that they were and show them how to stop.

Many women architects may have had similar experiences to Scott-Brown over 30 years ago. But thanks to the commitment and courage of these women, there is now a clearer path to the top, despite ongoing challenges.