Morning team,

Whenever I take architecture as my topic it’s a stressful Friday morning because it usually takes me between two and five tries to spell “architecture” correctly. I am not sure which cees have aitches and which do not. No matter, because in this week’s Fem Friday we celebrate women who do not need to worry about spelling architecture because they can actually do it.

We start in South London, with a landmark that is near to my heart and not only designed by a woman, Kate Macintosh, but designed when she was 26 years old. I always like to see this building on the skyline and it sounds pretty great to live in as well:

Macintosh devised a ziggurat-style scheme which ensured that two thirds of the flats had views in both directions and all had views to the north.  The varied height of the blocks, rising to twelve storeys at their central peak, made sure that every flat received sunlight even in deepest midwinter.

https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/dawsons-heights-east-dulwich-an-example-of-the-almost-lost-art-of-romantic-townscape/

We then move to Washington DC, and my favourite war memorial there. If you have not seen the Vietnam War Memorial, I strongly encourage you to have a look – especially if you can see it in person – it’s one of the most moving places I have visited. This was also designed by a woman, Maya Lin, and designed when she was very young – 21, and still in college. She writes about her thought process in the below article:

This apolitical approach became the essential aim of my design; I did not want to civilize war by glorifying it or by forgetting the sacrifices involved. The price of human life in war should always be clearly remembered. […] But on a personal level, I wanted to focus on the nature of accepting and coming to terms with a loved one’s death. Simple as it may seem, I remember feeling that accepting a person’s death is the first step in being able to overcome that loss.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2000/nov/02/making-the-memorial/

Have fun building what you are building today,

Alex.