Women architects in Spain join forces to create their own association, AMAE

On November 24, 2016, the Superior Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE) awarded the Gold Medal of Spanish Architecture to architects Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra and Víctor López Cotelo. This would have been routine, were it not for the complete absence of women architects among the winners, nominees, finalists, jury members, and the presenting panel.

This discrepancy was highlighted in a petition on Change.org addressed to Jordi Ludevid, then-president of the CSCAE, in which the signing architects called for greater active participation of women at all stages of the process, seeking equal representation with their male colleagues.

The same group of Spanish women architects—who have spent years incorporating gender perspectives into architecture and urban planning, and promoting the valuable work of women in the field—has officially registered the bylaws and board of directors for the Association of Women Architects of Spain (AMAE).

AMAE's inaugural president is Inés Sánchez de Madariaga, Director of the UNESCO Chair on Gender at the Technical University of Madrid's School of Architecture (ETSAM-UPM). The vice president is Martha Thorne, Executive Director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and Dean of the IE School of Architecture and Design. Ariadna Cantis, an architect and architectural communication expert, serves as secretary, with Aurora Adalid as treasurer and Inés Novella as board member.

According to its founders, the association was established to increase public and professional recognition of the often-overlooked work of women architects and urban planners. Speaking with the CSCAE, Sánchez de Madariaga explained:

Several stark statistics motivated this group of architects to act: of Spain's 33 architecture schools, only two have a female director or dean. Nationwide, there are only three female full professors of architectural design out of 150, and only one female full professor of urban planning. Furthermore, according to the latest national survey of the profession, women are concentrated in the most precarious and lowest-paying jobs, leading to a very high attrition rate.

Among its objectives, AMAE aims to "promote effective equality between women and men in all public and private spheres of architecture" and "serve as a representative to public administrations in Spain on all matters affecting the professional development of women in architecture."

Via CSCAE