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5 of the most famous buildings in the world designed by women architects
When it comes to designers, we do not experience any internal contradictions – yes, this is a completely female profession. But an architect, and even a successful one? ..
Recently, the word “feminism” has acquired some ugly features. It is generally accepted that women fight for the right to lay sleepers and work as loaders, serve their own coats and open the door. Although there will never be physical equality of the sexes – men do not give birth. We are talking about equality of rights – to wages, to recognition. Discrimination in professions is still quite common. The stories of women working in the field of IT are just that: they are initially looked at with derision. And the history of the Victoria’s Secret model! She was laughed at and considered stupid by default, although she is a successful programmer.
Fortunately, they are trying to reverse this trend. In November in Moscow, at the Woman Who Matters forum, outstanding women from various professional fields will be awarded, in particular, the construction company Ingrad will present awards to women architects from around the world. How many successful lady architects do you know? That’s the same. We decided to fill this gap and recall the coolest buildings built by women.
Selfridges Department Store, Birmingham, UK
You have all seen this building. Yes, no kidding. The fact is that a photo of an English landmark was chosen as the screensaver of the old version of Windows. The building, built in 2003 by architects Amanda Livit and Jan Kaplitsky, amazes the imagination with its unusual flowing shape. The department store looks frameless and flexible like a wave of the sea, and the aluminum discs that cover the entire building play in the sun during the day and resemble fish scales. This alien structure rises against the backdrop of an urban landscape and looks like a real architectural monument of the future.
La Llotja Theater and Congress Center, Lleida, Spain
- Photo Shoot:
- teatredelallotja.cat
The large-scale cultural center La Llotja is two in one: a theater and a conference hall. The building was built in the Spanish city of Lleida in 2010 according to the idea of the architect Francina Huben. It is lined with natural stone and fits organically into a picturesque area with fruit plantations and a river flowing nearby. The building seems to grow out of the ground and resembles the outlines of the hills. To heighten the likeness, an orchard is laid out on its flat roof.
Rolex Training Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
This building belongs to the Federal Polytechnic School. It was designed by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. It consists of study spaces for students and a huge library with a collection of half a million volumes. There are no internal partitions in the building, as is customary in traditional Japanese architecture. Functional areas are separated by “hills” and “valleys”. The rectangular shape of the building seems to vibrate and pulsate due to the fact that the building either rises above ground level, then falls, but the distance from floor to ceiling remains the same everywhere.
Residential complex Ely Court, London, UK
- Photo Shoot:
- alisonbrooksarchitects.com
One of the largest sleeping areas in London has been redeveloped by Alison Brooks studio. Built in the early 1960s, by the end of the century, it began to resemble a ghetto, and taxi drivers refused to travel to this disadvantaged area. The new Ely Court development is a modern interpretation of the pre-war quarter and retains the austere modernist geometry of the time. The variable height of the buildings and the alternating arrangement of protruding balconies make the area visible and therefore safer for residents. The residential complex fits well into the same space with Victorian villas and with the neighboring areas of apartment buildings of the 1960s.
Museum of Contemporary Art MACRO, Rome, Italy
The building of the MACRO museum was designed by the shocking architect Odile Deck. The construction of the museum surprises with its dynamic forms and perfectly conveys the language spoken by the art of our time. When Odile was asked what is the purpose of modern architecture, her answer was: “That everyone gets shelter and that everyone appreciates the architect’s public project. Waking up in the morning, I sometimes remind myself that when the MACRO museum was being built, ordinary people came up to me and said: “Thank you for a wonderful museum!” It is important for me that people feel happy. It’s my goal”.