How is this possible? The American Institute of Architects, the bigger and a lot of affecting architectonics alignment in the country, had never, ever awarded a Gold Medal—its accomplished honor, which it has been bestowing aloft architects aback 1907—to a woman. Until now.
I alone absolutely accept one catechism here.
What took so long?
The woman in catechism is no agnosticism worthy: Julia Morgan was the aboriginal changeable artisan accountant in California and had a continued and affecting career, designing over 700 buildings. She is best accepted as the artisan of Hearst Castle, accommodating for 28 years with the active William Randolph Hearst.
Hearst with Morgan at the website of La Cuesta Encantada, bigger accepted as Hearst Castle, in 1926, photo by Irvin Willat
But she aswell advised dozens of YWCAs in California, including the the Asilomar appointment centermost abreast Monterey; abounding clandestine homes; and the attractive (and currently vacant) Los Angeles Examiner Building in city L.A. She majored in civilian engineering at Berkeley and was an aboriginal able in able accurate architectonics methods, which came in abnormally attainable afterwards the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
The Oakland YWCA, advised by Morgan in 1915, photo by Sanfranman59
It was a changeable AIA lath member, Julia Dohono, who nominated Morgan afterwards acumen the Gold Badge had never gone to a woman. She nominated Morgan because she acquainted that the alignment bare to go aback and admit Gold Medal-quality women who were "overlooked," she tells Karrie Jacobs in Architect.
But this affect has not been decidedly well-recieved by the architectonics community, abounding of whom apperceive the move as "too little, too late." Over at Metropolis, Martin Pedersen says that what may accept been an attack at a political annual artlessly came off as tasteless: "The accolade acquainted beneath like the annual it is, or was, and added like a abuse acclaim from a socially awkward but well-meaning relative."
But why did it yield so long?
One could altercate that there were beneath women in the acreage until a few decades ago, and you'd be right—up to a point. Morgan was the aboriginal woman to appear the celebrated École des Beaux-Arts, an affecting French academy that accomplished abounding architects at the time. But that alibi bound becomes invalid. The AIGA—a agnate able affiliation for clear designers which has been about about as continued as the AIA—first gave its badge to a woman in 1967, and has aback accustomed 24 more. It is attainable in contempo years that they've fabricated a abundant accomplishment to actual their oversight.
Denise Scott Brown alfresco Las Vegas in 1966; photograph from the Archives of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown by Frank Hanswijk
When the AIA revised its rules this accomplished summer so that a duo, not just a alone practitioner, could win a Gold Badge together, anybody affected that the alignment was prepping its own ballsy acknowledgment to a media firestorm about addition architectonics award, the all-embracing Pritzker Prize. Last spring, Harvard architectonics acceptance had just launched a petition ambitious that Denise Scott Brown, wife and architectural accomplice of 1991 Pritzker champ Robert Venturi, aswell be accustomed by the Pritzker jury, retroactively. The Pritzker board said no.
The AIA's new "duo" aphorism goes into aftereffect January 1, and I anticipate this agency that next year the AIA will annual Venturi (who has never accustomed the Gold Medal) and Scott Brown together, somewhat alteration the Pritzker's wrong. Yet even the Pritzker—which, yes, has altered criteria, but has accustomed abounding of the aforementioned American architects—has accustomed its cost to women twice: Zaha Hadid in 2004, and the changeable bisected of the duo SANAA, Kazuyo Sejima, in 2011.
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So, really, what took so long?
On Thursday, an exhibition opened actuality in L.A. that advised the aboriginal career of Deborah Sussman. The affecting 82-year-old artisan got her alpha in L.A. animate for Charles and Ray Eames, and created the transformative cartoon for the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Architect Barbara Bestor, who co-curated the exhibition, told me that one of the affidavit they organized the appearance was to boom up absorption online and in amusing media in the hopes that added abeyant admirers would ascertain Sussman's work. "If you're not on Wikipedia or accept a appearance that creates belief that abide in the accepted anatomy of media, you basically don't abide because cipher goes to the library anymore," Bestor told me. "Curating is a acceptable way to do that."
Deborah Sussman in 1965 and associates of the Eames Office cutting glasses she advised for the 4th of July
What Bestor told me ashore in my arch for the next few days. In contempo years, we've apparent the "revival" of some added changeable designers, like appliance artisan Greta Grossman, who was rescued from obscurity if Design Within Reach put some of her appliance aback into production. Or screenprinting artisan and nun Sister Corita Kent, who was rediscovered afterwards a film and alternation of books celebrated her work.
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The sad accuracy is that so abounding legends of architectonics and architectonics are only, largely, accepted to added practitioners of architectonics and architecture.
Seriously, why did it yield so long?
I ran into one of those architectonics legends at the farmers bazaar Saturday morning: Gere Kavanaugh, an industrial designer who formed at GM in the 1950s afore affective to L.A. to architectonics furniture, bolt and interiors. "I just begin out I'm not on Wikipedia," she told me, so she was headed to an accident organized by L.A.-based online art annual alleged East of Borneo alleged Unforgetting LA. It was a hackathon of sorts, aggressive by an commodity by Despina Stratigakos, one that hoped to abide Wikipedia with added changeable designers and architects, namely those animate and practicing in Los Angeles.
A dozen volunteers aggregate at the MAK Center, housed in the above home and flat of modernist artisan R.M. Schindler, area they were abreast on Wikipedia's appearance and coding language. "Everyone there had brought their own laptop and was harder at work," artisan Rachel Allen told me. "Once you alpha dabbling about a bit, it's appealing abominable the women who don't accept even a nominal attendance on Wikipedia."
Kimberli Meyer, Louise Sandhaus, and Gere Kavanaugh at Unforgetting LA, photo by East of Borneo
Designer Louise Sandhaus, who is animate on a book about California design, was afflicted by how abundant she got out of the day. "There was this accumulation animate calm proactively to get this affluent history of women architects and designers included and accessible," she said. "But there was aswell the 'live feed' of accolade out about designers I didn't apperceive about." Kavanaugh showed up at the accident just as MAK Centermost administrator Kimberli Meyer was alteration her entry.
Thanks to the efforts of this group, Kavanaugh now has a Wikipedia page. So does Sussman. So do abounding added changeable architects, like Brenda Levin and Dana Cuff.
Once aloft a time, like Bestor said, humans apparent designers and artists and architects and added artistic types through books, and maybe the odd annual or newspaper. Discovery is altered now. Now, unless a designer's plan happens to be appear on a architectonics blog, or affianced to a Pinterest page, or acquaint in an affecting Instagram account, it doesn't accept a arresting ballast in abreast culture. It doesn't break top of mind. And it never gets alien to a new generation. In today's search-optimized world, if the aboriginal page of hits doesn't accord a complete account of who the artisan is, the searcher is acceptable to move on.
Which brings us aback to Julia Morgan
Morgan—who does accept a Wikipedia page, by the way—absolutely adapted the Gold Medal. She adapted it abundant sooner, but it is a acceptable aboriginal footfall by the AIA to try to actual this oversight. The botheration now becomes that there are so abounding added aces women to honor, and the AIA can alone accolade one badge per year (technically two, if to a duo).
So here's what the AIA needs to do, which will crave at atomic two added amendments to their rules:
The AIA should accolade at atomic two medals per year, to two individuals, one alone and one duo, or two duos. The AIA should actively try to alter their awardees. This doesn't just beggarly women. It aswell agency searching at diversifying the AIA's account in added ways, like Paul Williams, the aboriginal African American artisan to be certified west of the Mississippi.
If these things don't happen, the AIA is traveling to absorb the next decade or so attempting to about aperture all the "overlooked" women afore they alpha anniversary abreast ones. This will take always and will aswell advance to a aeon of anniversary asleep women and active men, which sends a very, actual bad message. (Morgan had a bigger post-mortem win amount than alone one added honoree: Thomas Jefferson, who accustomed the accolade in 1993).
The point of these awards is to annual these practitioners while they're still alive, to point out that what these architects are accomplishing affairs appropriate now, not a half-century ago. (If abiding bequest was the point, they'd accept statues of limitations like the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.) But addition by-product of awards like the AIA Gold Badge and the Pritzker Cost is to basement these winners into the accomplished echelons of the abreast media conversation—back into aggregate online consciousness.
These awards and sharable links of legitimacy—including that all-important Wikipedia page—will advice accumulate these practitioners animate continued afterwards they've larboard us. But these things accept to alpha accident while these designers are still here.
