Why is it important to offer hands-on construction workshops or professional development classes to women in the profession of architecture? Why is having a safe place to experiment, problem solve and innovate matter?
Intuitively I know that these opportunities would be beneficial, and the response I’ve gotten from the design community defends this, but that’s not enough. Believing that these circumstances will promote equity, empower women and ultimately stem the attrition of talent caused by the “leaky pipeline” is a lofty goal. We are used to tackling messy design problems, creating solutions that inherently change the way people live and experience space, so this is no different. Our design education and professional experience has taught us processes and given us a language to better understand the problem, a design toolkit if you will. Providing opportunities to learn a new language, one describing construction and clarifying the components of materiality, imparts methods that can influence design and encourage innovation. A common construction language promotes empathy and connectivity, bridging industries and craft cultures.
What matters is opportunity, in whatever form it takes, and more opportunities for women to widen their process leads to empowered professionals. As I’ve said previously, the elements taught in a shop class translate into a variety of tangental wisdom. These teaching moments transcend the class and are useful in our every day profession. The necessary steps to introduce someone to a skill, the individual’s role in negotiating the tools, the collaborated efforts towards figuring out a roadblock or considering an innovative change. The route to success is knowing your strengths, by flexing these skill building muscles and leaning into the methods that led to a successful outcome, it allows you to call them up when you are challenged. So although the short-term goal of Designers Build_pdx may seem related to providing clarity around construction to women in the profession, it is only one step towards the larger goal of collectively shaping our built environment for a better future rooted in impact.
Photo courtesy of illustrator, Arnelle Woker