SO–IL | Montiel | Mangera Yvars | 5468796 | Taller | XTU | Marks Barfield | Leers Weinzapfel | Typology: Public Square | Denise Scott Brown
In this issue, we look at public space, protest and women in architecture. In the context of the recent pussyhat protests and the political squeeze on human rights, how has our definition of open space changed and how can we fight to keep it public?
Fumihiko Maki and Matthew Beaumont look at the fast-disappearing joys of urban life found in even the most humble park, while Typology looks at the public square’s history as an accelerator of human interaction; a place of protest and possibility. Moving online, TF Tierney considers the spatial productions of the internet and social media, successful toolkits for mass organisation and freedom of expression, but by no means honest or democratic.
We also analyse the results of the global Women in Architecture Survey, revealing the widening pay gap, shocking sexism and harassment in the profession. Éva Álvarez and Carlos Gómez consider how this sexism has deleted female architects from history and Wikipedia, something the winner of this year’s Jane Drew Prize, Denise Scott Brown, has fought relentlessly to counteract, telling critics to ‘write about my work’.
From the dramatic Manetti Shrem museum in California by SO-IL to the play of light and shadow in Taller de Arquitectura Mauricio Rocha + Gabriella Carillo’s law courts in Mexico, we also visit projects by the eight architects shortlisted for this year’s Women in Architecture Awards.
Finally, we profile Rachel Whiteread, winner of the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize, who, in creating closed, sculptural words from those which once were open, offers a counterpoint to the idea of public space.
