MAS Context Spring Talks 2019
Despina Stratigakos

Architecture Barbie © Courtesy of Despina Stratigakos

Architecture scholar Despina Stratigakos lectured as part of the MAS Context 2019 Spring Talks in Chicago. The lecture took place on Thursday, April 25, 2019 at Ross Barney Architects (10 West Hubbard Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654).

Unconscious Bias in Architecture: Why Don’t Architects Wear Pink?

Unconscious bias in architecture creates beliefs about who does or does not belong in the profession, which can undermine our best intentions to be inclusive. By bringing those biases up to the surface so that we can examine them, we can be more intentional in the decisions we make in our everyday and professional practices. Using lessons from history and the power of Architect Barbie, this talk explored architecture’s gendered biases and how we can uproot them.

Suggested readings:

Despina Stratigakos, Where Are the Women Architects?, (Princeton University Press, 2016)
www.press.princeton.edu/titles/10665.html

Despina Stratigakos, “What I Learned From Architect Barbie,” Places
www.placesjournal.org/article/what-i-learned-from-architect-barbie

Despina Stratigakos, “Hollywood Architects,” Places
www.placesjournal.org/article/hollywood-architects

Despina Stratigakos, “Architecture Has a Woman Problem. Zaha Hadid Knew It Well,” Slate
slate.com/human-interest/2016/04/where-are-all-the-women-architects-by-despina-stratigakos-examines-the-gender-inequalities-in-the-world-of-architecture.html

Lecture by Despina Stratigakos, Ross Barney Architects, Chicago, 2019 © Iker Gil

Thank you very much to Ross Barney Architects for hosting the talk.

Architecture Professor Despina Stratigakos is an internationally recognized scholar of diversity and equity in architecture. Her books, including A Women’s Berlin: Building the Modern City (University of Minnesota Press, 2008), Hitler at Home (Yale University Press, 2015), and Where Are the Women Architects? (Princeton University Press, 2016), explore the intersections of power and architecture. She has published extensively on barriers to equity and diversity in the building professions, including stereotypical representations of architects in history books, the lack of diversity among elite architecture prize winners, and the absence of female architects and architects of color in Hollywood films. She has served as Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence since 2018, focusing on the University at Buffalo’s efforts to create a culture of inclusive excellence and enhance diversity, equity and inclusion across the campus community. She also serves as chair of the Inclusive Excellence Leadership and Advisory Council.
www.buffalo.edu/inclusion/AboutUs/OurRole/leadership-and-administration.html