The Architect: Reconstructing Her Practice

At a moment when the architectural profession is beginning to shift from its traditionally male domination, "The Architect: Reconstructing Her Practice" examines how the introduction of women to the main body of architecture might bring about a reconstruction of the orders that pervade architectural production and consumption. In a collection of autobiographical essays in which practice is both the site and the vehicle for change, 12 American and European architects reflect on the nature of critical practice and its relation to architecture. The contributors were chosen not only for their work, but also for the range of architectural practices they collectively encompass - from the intersection of theory and industry. Together, they present a critique of architectural culture. All show a willingness to transgress the various mediums and territories of architecture, to recover and reopen certain discussions lost in the architectural discourse they have inherited. "The Architect: Reconstructing Her Practice" argues that women architects - insiders by their education and their adoption by and of certain professional institutions, and outsiders by their difference, their gender-related experience - are ideally placed to critique the body of architecture and to challenge certain accepted aspects of our built and unbuilt environment. Furthermore, it is the woman architect's ability to be simultaneously marginal and mainstream that provides an opportunity for the critical reconstruction of architectural practice.