Part W are a British collective of women working in architecture, design, infrastructure and construction working to challenge the systems that disadvantage women and calling for gender mainstreaming in the built environment.[1] The collective was founded by Zoë Berman in 2018[2] and is co-chaired by Alice Brownfield.[3] The group are multidisciplinary team including architects, journalists, academics, clients. There are around 12 core members and all projects feature an element of crowd sourcing.[3]

Part W were awarded the inaugural Prize for Research into Gender and Architecture at the 2023 W Awards for their work on 'Women's Work'- a map highlighting the work of women across London.[4][5][6]

Projects

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The Alternative List (2019)[7] was the collectives first project and aimed to highlight how at the time The Royal Institute of British Architects Royal Gold Medal had 165 male winners, but only one woman, Zaha Hadid and three male-female partnerships. The collective crowd sourced[8] names to create an 'Alternative List' of women who could have been nominated.[9][10][11][12] The Royal Gold Medal for Architecture was subsequently granted to Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara in 2020.[13]

Wiki edit-a-thon (2020)[14] was a one-day wiki edit at the Design Museum, London with Professor Mel Dodd and was inspired by the work of Parlour. The workshop supported people to develop the digital profiles of women architects and designers who are missing online, or whose articles do not reflect their achievements.[15][16]

Women's Work (2023)[17] was a project aiming to highlight systematic erasure of women's contributions to the built environment by mapping projects built or significantly contributed to by women.[3] An initial map of 20 projects was created and featured in the Barbican exhibition How We Live Now: Reimagining Spaces with the Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative.[18][5] The 2023 map was designed to encourage individuals, school groups and higher education groups to explore the city and discuss its architecture.[19] The map was designed by EDIT and captured 30 projects, selected from a list of 150 crowd sourced projects.[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ "Part W Collective". London Architecture Diary. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  2. ^ Barrett, Helen (2022-03-08). "Wanted: more architectural careers designed for women". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  3. ^ a b c Rapacki, Kristina (2023-03-08). "Interview with Part W: Women's Work". Architectural Review. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  4. ^ Metropolis. "W Programme 2023". w-programme.architectural-review.com. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  5. ^ a b Williams, Fran (2023-02-24). "Part W collective wins the inaugural W Awards research prize". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  6. ^ "Part W announced the winners of the inaugural Prize for Research in Gender and Architecture". Architectural Review. 2023-02-24. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  7. ^ Ravenscroft, Tom (2019-02-15). "Part W invites architects to create alternative all-female Royal Gold Medal winners list". Dezeen. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  8. ^ Youde, Kate (2019-08-08). "Campaigners nominate leading women for RIBA Royal Gold Medal". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  9. ^ "Part W invites architects to create alternative all-female Royal Gold Medal winners list". Dezeen. 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  10. ^ Waite, Richard (2019-02-14). "Women's action group launches protest at men-only RIBA Royal Gold Medal". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  11. ^ "Part W at Work #4. Change is here – KoozArch". koozarch.com. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  12. ^ Ravenscroft, Tom (2020-05-28). "Six women architects that deserve to win the RIBA Royal Gold Medal". Dezeen. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  13. ^ Wainwright, Oliver (2019-10-02). "Grafton Architects wins 2020 RIBA gold medal, UK's highest honour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  14. ^ Ravenscroft, Tom (2021-03-08). "Five "undervalued" women architects Part W is creating Wikipedia pages for". Dezeen. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  15. ^ "International Women's Day: Wikipedia edit-a-thon". Design Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  16. ^ "Q&A with Zoë Berman". Design Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  17. ^ Spocchia, Gino (2023-03-08). "New map of 'missed off' buildings by women in London launched". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  18. ^ Hopkirk, Elizabeth. "Part W project puts women on the map". Building Design. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  19. ^ Ravenscroft, Tom (2022-03-08). "Part W creating map "to draw attention to built projects by women" in London". Dezeen. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  20. ^ Stathaki, Ellie (2023-03-08). "'Women's Work: London' celebrates architecture and International Women's Day". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  21. ^ Stathaki, Ellie (2022-03-08). "International Women's Day 2022: Part W plans London map centred on women in architecture". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
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