#ArchinectMeets is a series of interviews with members of the architecture community that use Instagram as a creative medium. With the series, we ask some of Instagram’s architectural photographers, producers and curators about their relationship to the social media platform and how it has affected their practice.
Social media has undeniably affected the way we perceive, interpret and share opinions about architecture today. While we use our own account, @Archinect, as a site for image curation and news content, we wanted to ask fellow Instagram users how they navigated the platform.
We spoke to Sophie Chanson, the curator of @shesthearchitect. Put simply, the Instagram page celebrates the works and lives of women architects with exemplary photographs of their finest work. After realizing how difficult it was to name female architects off the top of her head, Chanson began to check the margins of architecture history to pull out rarely-seen treasures.
What is your relationship to architecture?
My studies in architecture at ETH Zurich instilled in me a sense for materiality, proportion and space and taught me about architecture history in a way that changed the way I look at the world. While these years were deeply formative, I also realized that I needed to get some distance of this environment, which can feel dogmatic and little inclusive at times. I have always been fascinated by the potential of architecture to create change beyond the scale of a single building, so I went on to work with UN Habitat in New York. I’m currently an Urban Development Specialist at the World Bank in Washington DC where I support governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to adapt their cities to the reality of climate change.
How did @shesthearchitect begin?
When I realized how few female architects I could name from the top of my head and how few of my architectural idols were women, I decided to start digging through the rubbles architecture history and to actively seek out the work of contemporary women. From the beginning, I was convinced that the low awareness about female architects is not because they don’t exist, but rather because we’re not taught about them in school and they don’t receive the same platforms as men do. I was amazed by the works and incredible stories I came upon and wanted to share them with others, and that’s how @shesthearchitect was born.
What have you hoped to communicate about the field of architecture through your posts?
@shesthearchitect showcases interesting buildings designed by women. Often I add an Instagram story to accompany a post, taking followers on a tour of the building or telling a story about the architect’s life. With that, I hope to bring the work by women architects across the globe and throughout history to the attention of a broader audience and to create a different narrative for women in the profession. There is a lot of talk about gender inequality and „big dick“ attitude in architecture - which is real, and I appreciate it’s making headlines, but this can’t be the only story told about women in the profession. Let their work speak, give it the platform it deserves.
Were you collecting these images before you had a social media presence, or did social media encourage you to take image curation more seriously?
I started collecting photographs, articles and books a couple months before launching the account, but already with the intention to eventually share them with others. This first phase of research allowed me to test my hypothesis that women have indeed been out there designing amazing buildings for at least a hundred years and it also gave me a cushion of material to fall back on for when work gets too busy and I don’t have time to do the research on the side.
How do you typically find the images you post on Instagram?
Sometimes it begins with an article I read, or I see a name mentioned in an exhibition. And sometimes it’s a wild guess at the start of a long online research session, leading me down the rabbit holes of the internet. It’s like thrifting: sometimes you find a gem and other times you don’t. I can easily spend an entire evening doing that. And when a quote, a plan or a photograph speaks to me, I read everything I can find about the author. By the time I choose which photograph is going to make it into the feed, I have amassed so much information that I often feel I can’t do justice to the fascinating stories of these women and their body of work by featuring only a single photo. That’s how the idea of telling their stories in Instagram stories came about.
Recently followers have also started to reach out to me with tips and suggestions, which is amazing. I’m excited to see that that the topic resonates with so many people and that there is the demand to see more architecture by women.
Has Instagram (or social media in general) affected your views toward the practices of architecture and design?
I wouldn’t say that it has transformed what I think to be good architecture or urban design, but it has certainly sharpened my sense for visual communication. Photos that have an effect on you in an exhibition or in a magazine don’t necessarily work on Instagram and vice versa. Since we live in an age of visual overstimulation, the message you want to convey with a picture or a feed has to be very much on point if you want to reach an audience.
Too many pictures and feeds on Instagram look alike, the app feels like a giant echo chamber, for better or worse, this certainly impacts architectural visualizations too. I really appreciate accounts that challenge people’s visual habits and provide meaningful content beyond a pretty picture, I strive for that too.
What are some of your favorite Instagram profiles to follow?
I really enjoy the account of Mona Chalabi (@monachalabi), who translates boring statistics into witty, sometimes shocking, always bold data illustrations.
@modarchitecture is an architecture photographer focusing on modernist architecture. His feed and travel guides are a great inspiration to find amazing buildings to visit while travelling.
I like @kntxtr for how they use the question tool of Instagram stories to spark meaningful discussions about the architecture industry.
My friend Abby @clothesandpizza is the only fashion blogger I follow, not because I dress in any way similar or because she is a friend, but because her style is unique and surprising, which is such a refreshing thing on this platform. On top of that, she is a UX designer at Apple, so clearly not your typical influencer.
No Comments
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.