International Women’s Day: Which Woman Designer is Inspiring to You?

Zaha Hadid

Ben van Berkel: “She would always go for bolder, bigger and more imaginative projects. When I would show her a small drawing, she always said ‘No, go for two metres, try things out on a larger scale and be as courageous as possible.’"

Stella Nikolakaki: “She kind of changed the way you think. It wasn’t my crit, but I was observing, and she asked the person, ‘there are 360 angles, why did you choose just to use 90 degree angles?’ At that moment, it was like a click in my head, that you should not see things

Jane Jacobs

Liva Sadovska: “She is someone I remember from history class specifically because of her bravery. In a time when Modernism in architecture was at its peak in the 1950s, she has the courage to write a book on her ideas opposing it and the different vision she had. She shaped modern society and what we think of as cities or the environments we live in.”

Lina Bo Bardi

Enrique Lopez: “She created a few iconic buildings  at a time when not many women were famous for their work; especially the Museum of Art of São Paulo, I think it’s such a nice way to give back to the community and the public space. And she did it in such an impressive way with this daring structure.”

Maya Lin

Le Chang: “She reminds me to look at the world from different angles. Once she mentioned in an interview that a cemetary in Copenhagen reminds her of the multiple use of spaces, where cemetaries can also be used as parks where people walk through. I also passed this cemetery many times, but had not thought of these multiples uses of the space.”

Denise Scott Brown

Eyukewe Dogo: “She is an architect that was overlooked for a Pritzker prize in 1991, and it was instead given to her husband. Thankfully, there was a petition by architects to right this wrong and give her this prize because she really gave a lot to architecture. She wrote really interesting theories, including ‘Duck Architecture’; she also wrote, with her husband, Learning from Las Vegas. She’s really inspirational for me and for architects in general.”

Dotre Mandrup

Ilaria Ronchi: “The thing that is very rare these days is that she is the only female director of her offices. Her designs are mostly horizontal so they create a balanced dialogue with nature and the landscape.”

Dara Huang, Karen Barad, Lydia Kallipoliti

Gakku Jumaniyasova: “With their lifestyle, with their attitudes to navigating life they show that you can have everything. You don’t always have to choose between a great career of a family or living a happy life. You can have it all.”

Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

Gerard Loozekoot: “She is helping to transform the country Qatar. She is supporting that in all ways possible and she is really dedicated to bringing this 2030 vision alive. You can see that she is able to link the vision with reality and that is something that is very inspiring to see.”

Kalpana Viswanath

Sugandha Gupta: “She works a lot with navigating gender in public spaces and urban design. She inspired me to work with women’s safety in public spaces and it really inspires me how she also sees how gender can influence design.”

Lotte Stam-Beese

Caroline Bos: “She is the architect and urbanist at the centre of the regeneration of Rotterdam. I am inspired by her motto: ‘because the land belongs to all of us.’”

Eileen Gray

Phyllis Cheung: “She was a pioneer that made her way into the male-dominated, antagonistic world of modernism. She was already a very successful furniture designer before moving onto architecture. Without any formal education, she still managed to create really iconic buildings.”

Ray Eames

Alexander Paul Meyers: “I really admire her for her innovative, timeless design, but also for the way she introduced play into design and architecture.”

Carme Pinós

Inigo Arrotegui: “She has been a constant reference in my work as an architect. Her ability to create innovative spaces has always fascinated me.”

Jeanne Gang

Biqin Li: “Her design for the Aqua Tower is the tallest skyscraper that was ever designed by a female architect. She forces us to abandon the stereotype that only can men be associated with skyscrapers.”

Kazuyo Sejima

Dongjie Qiu: “She is an inventive Japanese architect. Her enigmatic, tranquil, and neutral design always inspire me to think imaginatively.”

Photo credits:

Zaha Hadid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaha_Hadid#/media/File:Zaha_Hadid_in_Heydar_Aliyev_Cultural_center_in_Baku_nov_2013.jpg

Jane Jacobs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Jacobs

Lina Bo Bardi: https://www.casatigallery.com/designers/lina-bo-bardi/

Maya Lin: https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/maya-lin/

Denise Scott Brown: https://www.archdaily.com/895624/the-often-forgotten-work-of-denise-scott-brown/5b11df48f197cc753f0000bd-the-often-forgotten-work-of-denise-scott-brown-image

Dotre Mandrup: https://www.architonic.com/en/microsite/dorte-mandrup-arkitekter/5202741

Dara Huang, Karen Barad, Lydia Kallipoliti: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara_Huang, https://egs.edu/biography/karen-barad/, https://www.lars-mueller-publishers.com/lydia-kallipoliti

Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/arts/design/sheikha-al-mayassa-hamad-bin-khalifa-al-thani-of-qatar-museums.html

Kalpana Viswanath: https://slocat.net/team/kalpana-viswanath/

Lotte Stam-Beese: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_Stam-Beese

Eileen Gray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Gray

Ray Eames: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/arts/ray-charles-eames-artists.html

Carme Pinós: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carme_Pin%C3%B3s

Jeanne Gang: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Gang

Kazuyo Sejima: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuyo_Sejima