With information available at our fingertips, discovering resources like a list of female architects, for example, should be a breeze. However, like most professions, these texts and resources were often written and curated by male writers. In 2021, female writers and curators continue to reclaim their place within academia, architectural history, and professional practice by writing themselves into the canon they have been excluded from.

If you look up "female architecture writers" on Google, the first search result is a blog created by architect, writer, researcher, and academic Dr. Harriet Harriss titled "Women Who Write Architecture."

In 2019 I interviewed Dr. Harriss for our Archinect Dean's List series. As she spoke of her plans for Pratt's School of Architecture and her take on pedagogy she shared, "architecture's value is embodied in its processes, not just its outputs, and tomorrow's most successful architectural designers will be those education has enabled their intellectual agility, connectivity to community, and a predisposition towards innovation and invention." With this in mind, it's fitting that Harriss would initiate this particular blog. While she is one of many female architects, curators, and writers who continue to address this disparity, it also highlights the dedication women in the industry have towards cultivating a platform for others as they add to this robust reading list.

Since her initial post back in September 2017, the reading list covers writers and subject matter relating to architecture. "From planning to pedagogy, technology to professional practice. Its aim is to provide a useful resource to address reading list imbalances – for institutions, educators, and students alike."

While highlighting this curated reading list and its contributors may be well-timed with International Women's Day, it is a reminder that women in the industry will continue to press on. We must also acknowledge the influential and trailblazing women, both past and present, who understand that their actions and efforts towards reforming a discriminatory profession will help reinforce a stronger and better-informed community of designers with access to resources that reflect the industry and its pursuits for equity.

Below is an excerpt from the first "Women Write Architecture" blog.

The WOMEN WHO WRITE ARCHITECTURE reading list is therefore designed to address this imbalance. It features over 300 women writers (so far), and readers of this blog are encouraged to propose other members through comments and direct messaging. 

This will not only encourage more female students to feel equally represented within the profession of architecture, but it will hopefully encourage more of them to enter academia. Simultaneously, the careers of the many incredible women writers in architecture will be given more recognition for their work, and greater opportunities for professional advancement, including access to leadership roles. Put simply, architecture cannot serve the needs of a diverse society equally if its members do not reflect that diversity. Real change starts with a small change: I look forward to your comments and suggestions.