Women you should know who are pioneers in architecture today

Women in Architecture
The W awards

British-Iranian architect Farshid Moussavi (pic 1) has been named the winner of the 2022 Jane Drew Prize for elevating the profile of women in architecture. The Jane Drew prize (which is named after modernist pioneer Jane Drew) is awarded annually by The Architectural Review and Architects’ Journal as part of its W awards series (previously known as the Women in Architecture awards). Born in 1965, Moussavi studied to become an architect at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (GSD), University College London and University of Dundee, and, while practicing as an architect, she teaches at Harvard’s GSD and is a board member of New Architecture Writers. Among her key projects is the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, a four-story building with faceted walls clad in mirrored black stainless steel. (pic 2) She is currently designing the first Ismaili Center in the USA in Houston.

Moussavi joins Denise Scott Brown (2017) (pic 3), Yasmeen Lari (2020) (pic 4) and  Kate Macintosh (2021) (pic 5) on the illustrious list of architects to have won the prize

Coinciding with the Jane Drew Prize, British-Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum (pic 6) has been named by the W awards as the recipient of its Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for 2022. The award (named after American architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable) honors women contributing to the wider architectural industry. Hatoum was selected in recognition of her explorations of gender through the lens of the domestic world.

To mark International Women’s Day in 2021, dezeen magazine asked 22 of the world’s most inspirational women architects and designers to nominate another woman who should be better known for their work. Here is their list: 22 Women Architects and Designers You Should Know