Over 50 people attended the launch of Nottingham and Derby’s RIBA Women in Architecture network on Wednesday 25 September at Nottingham's Urban Room. The group was established over the summer with members meeting to plan the event in partnership with RIBA East Midlands.
The evening started with a complimentary buffet and networking before a series of Pecha Kucha style presentations from locally-based female practitioners, students and lecturers, as well as guest speaker, Ana Moldavsky, Associate at Award-winning Walters & Cohen Architects.
Ana’s presentation explored Herman Hertzberger’s premise of The School as City, in relation to both her own practice and that of Walters & Cohen which has a well-established reputation for its education buildings. Other presentations included a case study into post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of primary school expansions from one of the University of Nottingham’s Collaborative Practice Part 2 students, Kaitlin Allen; 100 years of Council Housing, Alison Davies, Urban Fabric Architects; and the personal and professional journeys of Marisela Mendoza, Nottingham Trent University; Cinzia Russo, Derbyshire County Council and Ayesha Batool, Nottingham and Derby Society of Architects and the University of Nottingham.
The presentations were followed by questions to the speakers and a wider discussion about some of the challenges faced by women in the industry and the future aims and ambitions of the group.
Further women in architecture events are planned across the region. For more information or to get involved, please contact Lucy Grierson.
