The Women Who Changed Architecture
Julia Morgan, Lina Bo Bardi, Kazuyo Sejima and Zaha Hadid broke into a profession that told them to stay out. Their stories and the buildings that prove them right.
Luxom Studio · LUXOM Developments
· 2 min read · Last reviewed
Key takeaways
- Julia Morgan was the first woman admitted to the architecture program at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris and became the first woman licensed as an architect in California, in 1904. She designed Hearst Castle.
- Lina Bo Bardi designed the São Paulo Museum of Art, completed in 1968, lifting the galleries on red concrete frames to leave a free public plaza underneath.
- Kazuyo Sejima, with Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, won the Pritzker Prize in 2010.
- Zaha Hadid became the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, in 2004.
Editor's note
Architecture spent most of its history telling women to stay out. This is the guide we send to anyone who comments PIONEERS on our reel: four women who did not listen, and the buildings that proved them right.
Julia Morgan Was the First Licensed Woman Architect in California
Julia Morgan studied engineering in California, then became the first woman admitted to the architecture program at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1904 she became the first woman licensed as an architect in California.
Over her career she designed hundreds of buildings. The most famous is Hearst Castle in San Simeon, built for William Randolph Hearst over nearly three decades.
Lina Bo Bardi Lifted a Museum Over a Plaza
Lina Bo Bardi was born in Italy and built her career in Brazil. Her São Paulo Museum of Art on Avenida Paulista, completed in 1968, lifts the galleries on two red concrete frames, leaving a large open plaza underneath where the city gathers.
It is a building that gives its ground floor back to the public, a radical idea on one of the busiest avenues in South America.
Kazuyo Sejima Won the Pritzker Prize in 2010
Kazuyo Sejima founded SANAA with Ryue Nishizawa, and together they won the Pritzker Prize in 2010. Their work is known for lightness: thin structures, glass, and buildings that seem to float.
The Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, a single floor that rises and falls like a landscape, is one of their best known projects.
Zaha Hadid Was the First Woman to Win the Pritzker
Zaha Hadid became the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, in 2004, after years in which her designs were called unbuildable. Miami has her One Thousand Museum tower downtown. Our article on Zaha Hadid and Miami tells her story in full.
Refusing the Rules Is How Architecture Moves Forward
Each of these architects worked in a profession that did not make room for them, and each one changed what buildings could be. The lesson goes beyond any single style: the best work comes from people who question what they were handed.
That is the spirit we bring to every residence we design and build in Coconut Grove, Miami. For more stories like these, read what famous architects did before they were famous.
Pull quote
The best buildings come from people who refused to accept the rules as they were handed to them.
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Questions about women architects who changed the profession
01Who was the first woman architect licensed in California?
Julia Morgan, licensed in 1904. She had already become the first woman admitted to the architecture program at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, and went on to design Hearst Castle in San Simeon.
02What did Lina Bo Bardi design?
Her best known building is the São Paulo Museum of Art on Avenida Paulista, completed in 1968. The gallery box is suspended on two red concrete frames, leaving an open plaza underneath for the public.
03Which women have won the Pritzker Prize?
Zaha Hadid was the first, in 2004. Kazuyo Sejima won in 2010 with her partner Ryue Nishizawa. Other women have won since, as the profession has slowly opened up.
04Where can I see Zaha Hadid's work in Miami?
One Thousand Museum, on Biscayne Boulevard facing Museum Park. Our guide to buildings by famous architects in Miami includes it.
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Written by Luxom Studio · LUXOM Developments
The design and development studio behind LUXOM residences in Coconut Grove, Miami
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