Distributed Presses

Architectural Record recently published a lengthy feature on Gwendolyn Wright's October 25th lecture at the Museum of Modern Art's "Women in Modernism" colloquium. An excerpt from the article:

If you didn't know better, you might think that the history of women practicing architecture and design began with women's lib during the 1960s. Earlier figures including Lilly Reich or Catherine Bauer are virtually unknown despite their central role in high-profile projects: Reich co-designed the famous Barcelona chair, usually attributed solely to Mies van der Rohe, and Bauer was as an early hero of social housing who co-authored the Housing Act of 1937, establishing public housing in the U.S.

Who better to help uncover these forgotten stories than Gwendolyn Wright, a host on the popular PBS series History Detectives and professor of architecture at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. . . .

Wright outlined certain myths that have perpetuated incomplete versions of history, offering as an example the idea that many 20th century arbiters overvalued an ideal type of architect who was hyper-rational, uncompromisingly idealistic, and invariably male. As a result, important figures falling outside that standard were either unnoticed or, if they did achieve recognition, soon forgotten. For example, even with today's booming interest in sustainability it's a rather obscure fact that architect Eleanor Raymond, who worked in Boston for more than 50 years, and chemist Dr. Maria Telkes, from M.I.T., built what was arguably the first solar-powered house, the Dover Sun House, in 1948. Wright challenged the audience to resist "myths that are clearer and more convenient than real history."

Read the full Architectural Record article
Learn more about Gwendolyn Wright's USA: Modern Architectures in History