Women in Architecture: The African Exchange : Conferences 

SAH 75th Annual Conference, Pittsburgh/PA (USA), April 27- May 1 2022

Abstract

In recent years there has been an international resurgence of interest in modern architecture and urbanism in Africa. In books, articles, lectures, and conferences, much has been explored about the work of male designers in the African regions, their colonial and post-colonial endeavors. On the other hand, the African legacy of women in architecture and the overseas exchanges promoted by their work have largely been ignored or relegated to be a minor topic by mainstream historiography. While examples on Jane Drew’s housing in Ghana and Denise Scott Brown’s “African view of Las Vegas” are known, more recent scholarship, for example on Ute Baumbach’s involvement in Ethiopia and Erica Mann’s master plan for Nairobi, have only initiated the exploration of a subject that deserves consideration in its own right.This session wishes to help filling the lacuna.

By applying an intersectional lens, it proposes to investigate the role of women architects, their individual motivations within the multiple specificities of the African framework, and the embedding in original or existing networks that connected Africa to North-America and Europe. Papers should cover a key period in women’s history, from the 1960s to the ‘80s–from when feminist debate emerged prominently in iconic architecture schools to the end of the second wave of feminism—but earlier examples could also be discussed. Papers are welcome that explore hidden histories of women in architecture and urbanism and their experience of migration to and from Africa. Topics might include, but are not limited to, the diaspora of women’s architectural ideas, the surging interest in women’s work in architectural publications and conferences, the role of women in architectural schools in Africa or their relations with overseas institutes.

Session Chair: Dainese Elisa, [email protected]

Deadline: June 2, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. CDT

Submission Guidelines:

1. Abstracts must be under 300 words.
2. The title cannot exceed 65 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
3. Abstracts and titles must follow the Chicago Manual of Style.
4. Only one abstract per conference by an author or co-author may be submitted.
5. A maximum of three (3) authors per abstract will be accepted. 
6. Please attach a two-page CV in PDF format.

Abstracts are to be submitted online using this link.

For more information about the event see the dedicated website.