Driven by a desire to document and highlight the contributions of women who are still under-represented in the history of architecture, AWARE has developed this programme that demonstrates the importance of women in this field. It traces the paths and careers of women, from the first women to graduate from architecture schools to those now leading international architecture firms.

The biographical entries published within this framework highlight major and often overlooked figures such as Julia Morgan (1872–1957), the first woman to graduate with a degree in architecture in the United States, Aina Aalto (1894-1949) from Finland, and Lyn Huiyin (1904-1955), in China. This programme also showcases influential 20th-century architects such as Jane Drew (1911-1996), Itala Fulvia Villa (1913-1991), Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992), and Minnette de Silva (1918-1998), as well as contemporary figures such as Renée Gailhoustet (1929-2023), Denise Scott Brown (born in 1931), Brit Andresen (born in 1945) and Zaha Hadid (1950-2016). Through these biographies, AWARE will highlight the diversity and importance of women’s contributions to the history and evolution of architecture on a global scale.

The research coordination of the programme was provided by Élise Koering and Stéphanie Bouysse-Mesnage, architectural historians working at the intersection between architecture and gender.

This project was supported by the Fonds de dotation Élysée Monceau as well as by the Ministry of Culture (direction générale des patrimoines et de l’architecture).