Tzavta #39

DESPINA STRATIGAKOS

Her new book — “Where Are the Women Architects?” — was published by Princeton University Press in April 2016. It examines the past, current and potential future roles of women in architecture, exploring why so few women enter the profession despite the fact that their enrollment in architecture schools has soared in the past 20 years.

Stratigakos was co-creator of Architect Barbie, released by Mattel in 2011 to inspire young girls to make their mark on a profession in which women remain vastly underrepresented. The project helped shape the current debate on gender equity in architecture.

Stratigakos is the author of two other acclaimed books: “Hitler at Home,” published in 2015, which explores Hitler’s residences and their powerful role in shaping his public image; and “A Women’s Berlin: Building the Modern City,” released in 2008, which revealed a previously unknown metropolis created by and for women.  She is currently editing “A Cultural History of the Home in the Modern Age,” forthcoming with Bloomsbury Academic Press.

MODERATOR: DAMON HAYES COUTURE

Damon Hayes Couture is a designer, builder, researcher, and writer based in Calgary, Canada. As Creative Director and Design Manager at Studio North, Damon oversees projects of a range of scales, from flat pack furniture and public art installations to laneway housing and landscape design. The firm’s work has been published in a growing number of local and international publications such as Canadian Architect, archdaily, and Dwell. Prior to his career in architecture, Damon studied political philosophy and aesthetics while working with a contractor restoring heritage homes. In a way, he sees architecture as a synthesis of construction and philosophy, knowing not only how to build, but considering why and what we build.

Damon recently wrote the introduction to “Cabins: Escape to Nature,” a book which recounts the rustic and romantic history of cabins and explores some exceptional examples of contemporary cabin design. Two of Studio North’s experimental cabin constructions, Bird Hut and Dream/Dive, were featured projects in the publication. Damon is currently collaborating with Images Publishing on a book tentatively titled, “Solaria,” about lush and light-filled spaces such as the Sidewalk Citizen solarium. Most evenings and weekends, Damon can be found happily puttering around his house, greenhouse, and garden: experimenting, building, growing, and enjoying.