Skills:

This research project will provide an opportunity for the BA and MLA1 students to expand their current knowledge on feminist principles within architecture, landscape and design. We will enhance their design and presentation skills by creating a series of graphics and animations to accompany a blog for the How Women Build? online conference. There will also be a focus on research and analysis skills and opportunities to work on the social media platform. Software skills will include Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.

Social Value:

Working with How Women Build?, we aim to provide exposure to women who are unknown and unseen in the industry. We want to provide them with the platform they deserve, encourage more women to join the industry and promote equity in the Architecture and Landscape professions. The project will bring a new, more detailed understanding of the recent history of the professionals in these fields and will celebrate the female contribution in its many formats.

Icebreaker Challenge! Today we met the wider team, as the BA1 and BA2 have now joined us. We decided to break the ice and invited everyone to change their background to something fun, for instance their pet, a place they would like to be, etc. Everyone was then asked to explain the photo they have chosen. Have a look at some of the fun photos!

Day 2: Research
For day 2 of How Women Build? we have split our team up into three groups. Each group has been given 6 names of women who have graduated from the Manchester School of Architecture and have gone on to be successful in various different fields. It has been interesting seeing how different groups have approached the research and how they have collated their findings onto the group Miro Boards.

Day 2: Research
For day 2 of How Women Build? we have split our team up into three groups. Each group has been given 6 names of women who have graduated from the Manchester School of Architecture and have gone on to be successful in various different fields. It has been interesting seeing how different groups have approached the research and how they have collated their findings onto the group Miro Boards.

Day 2: Research
For day 2 of How Women Build? we have split our team up into three groups. Each group has been given 6 names of women who have graduated from the Manchester School of Architecture and have gone on to be successful in various different fields. It has been interesting seeing how different groups have approached the research and how they have collated their findings onto the group Miro Boards.

Today we had a guest speaker, Joy Burgess. Joy is currently carrying out her PhD at the MSA in collaboration with Historic England. She is researching the work of female landscape architects in post-war Britain and looking to make a contribution towards a feminist history of landscape architecture.

Joy gave the group a talk on Mary Mitchell, a landscape architect she has been researching for her PHD. Mary Mitchell is one of the case studies group 3 are working on, she graduated from the MSA in 1953 with a Landscape Architecture Degree. We discovered a lot about Mary's career, she has been extremely influential and successful in the landscape profession and accomplished a lot in her lifetime. We discussed legacy for women, why her projects are less known or no longer exist in the built environment and the need to protect those projects that still exist. It was interesting to see that many of her projects were recognised, but we didn't know her name.

Each group were asked to analyse the data provided by our collaborators, documenting every person who had enrolled and graduated from Manchester universities (excluding University of Manchester), in architecture or landscape architecture, from 1852 to 2005. Group 01 were given the years for the first wave of feminism (1852 to 1960). The group found that 8.5% of enrolments were women. Out of those women, 40% studied landscape and 60% architecture. This ratio of men to women would be expected for this period, as women’s rights were still progressing. However, we found it surprising that the second world war did not have a drastic effect on admissions, a small increase in women and decrease in men was documented.

Group 02 looked at the second wave of feminism (1960-1990). While the ratios of women to men are still extremely low, the number of women enrolling in these courses was increasing. This may be a result of women’s rights improving. Another factor would be Manchester Metropolitan University merging with the University of Manchester in the 1990s, to create the Manchester School of Architecture, causing a rise in admissions. It was also noted the amount of women studying landscape architecture was higher than architecture.

Group 03 analysed the third wave of feminism (1990-2000). The data after 2000 is slightly inaccurate, therefore this is where the data stops. The ratio of men to women is improving, however it is still 2/3 male to 1/3 female. However, as a collective we found this was a great improvement compared to the first wave percentage of 8.5%. The group found it shocking how imbalanced these figures were, especially considering the year 2000 was not that long ago.

This group started off looking at feminist propaganda posters, historic and modern examples. They were keen to find any reoccurring interesting images that could be used in the wallpaper. After this, the group moved onto look at wallpaper precedents, although this imagery was interesting, they didn’t feel like this aligned with the type of wallpaper we wanted to create. Each group member created a concept design for the feminist wallpaper.

The first was created by Bima, taking inspiration from Helene Cixous’ Medusa. The design starts small and then grows into a large and explosive pattern, reflecting the amount of women enrolled in architecture over the years. Our second design was by Ruby, who wanted to create a link to architecture with a repetitive modular structure. The design also shows women out of windows holding a banner with their names on. The final concept was designed by Nicole, who started to combine the two ideas. After group discussions, the design was finalised.

Feminist Wallpaper!

This is a section of the feminist wallpaper, the design was completed by group 02. The whole group, then, collaborated to help add all the names to the pattern. The final design incorporates stairs in to the modular pattern, symbolising different levels and heights that women can reach. The names of all the women who enrolled in landscape and architecture courses over the years have been placed on individual steps, providing them with the platform they deserve. This is only one section, the full wallpaper is 3m long incorporating around 800 women's names.

One of the MArch students took the finished feminist wallpaper and helped to photoshop the design on to a wall. This visual allowed the group to see what the final product would look like in real life. After some tweaks, the whole group was really happy and proud of the final product.

From far away, the design appears to be simply a cubic pattern. As you zoom in and look closer each individual woman can be identified, providing different levels of detail and information.

Group 02 worked on a feminist timeline, documenting the years from the data records of admissions to the Manchester School of Architecture. The timeline records gender, architectural and landscape history, worldwide historical events, as well as the many previous adaptations of the Manchester School of Architecture, to learn and highlight the trends and common themes of female admissions in the last 100 years. From the timeline, we were able to notice some patterns. For instance, in the third wave of feminism the amount of women graduating increased. It has also been interesting to discover how the later waves of feminism and the merging of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University to create the school of architecture caused spikes in female admissions.

First Wave of Feminism Timeline

The timeline documents major events from 1875 to 1959. The text in yellow describes key figures from the records of architecture and landscape architecture student enrolments in Manchester. For example, in 1875 the first woman joined the landscape architecture course. The text in white details important moments in feminism, such as women's right to vote. These timelines helped the students to compare what was happening with women's rights and the number of admissions in Manchester. For instance, we all expected a low number of women studying these courses as women had less rights than men, but the group were shocked by how low this number was. As expected, the number of female enrolments rose slightly after women gained the right to vote.

Second Wave of Feminism Timeline

The timeline documents major events from 1960 to 1980. The text in yellow describes key figures from the records of architecture and landscape architecture student enrolments in Manchester. For example, in 1967 only four women joined Manchester Metropolitan University (2 architecture and 2 landscape architecture) compared to 48 men. The text in white details important moments in feminism, such as the passing of the Abortion Act in 1967. These timelines helped the students to compare what was happening with women's rights and the number of admissions in Manchester. For instance, we all expected the number of women studying at MMU to rise in the second wave, however it didn't begin to rise significantly until 1978 (the end of the second wave).

Third and Fourth Wave of Feminism Timeline

The timeline documents major events from 1990 to 2010. The text in yellow describes key figures from the records of architecture and landscape architecture student enrolments in Manchester. For example, the average number of female admissions doubles in 1996 (64 women). The text in white details important moments in feminism, such as the #MeToo Movement. These timelines helped the students to compare what was happening with women's rights and the number of admissions in Manchester. For instance, the number of female student enrolments begins to significantly rise throughout this period, as women's rights are becoming more recognised and accepted. The timeline also helped us to realise the spike in female admissions could be a result of the merging of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University to create the school of architecture.

Each group were asked to analyse the data provided by our collaborators, documenting every person who had enrolled and graduated from Manchester universities (excluding University of Manchester), in architecture or landscape architecture, from 1852 to 2005.

Group 01 were given the years for the first wave of feminism (1852 to 1960). The group found that 8.5% of enrolments were women. Out of those women, 40% studied landscape and 60% architecture. This ratio of men to women would be expected for this period, as women’s rights were still progressing.

Each group were asked to analyse the data provided by our collaborators, documenting every person who had enrolled and graduated from Manchester universities (excluding University of Manchester), in architecture or landscape architecture, from 1852 to 2005.

Group 02 looked at the second wave of feminism (1960-1990). While the ratios of women to men are still extremely low, the number of women enrolling in these courses was increasing. This may be a result of women’s rights improving. Another factor would be Manchester Metropolitan University merging with the University of Manchester in the 1990s, causing a rise in admissions. It was also noted the amount of women studying landscape architecture was higher than architecture.

Each group were asked to analyse the data provided by our collaborators, documenting every person who had enrolled and graduated from Manchester universities (excluding University of Manchester), in architecture or landscape architecture, from 1852 to 2005.

Group 03 analysed the third wave of feminism (1990-2000). The data after 2000 is slightly inaccurate, therefore this is where the data stops. The ratio of men to women is improving, however it is still 2/3 male compared to 1/3 female.