AIA SA ENEWS
ADELAIDE WOMEN IN DESIGN
2019
Written for a profile series in ENews highlighting the diversity of women practicing Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Architecture in Adelaide
I’ve been practicing for… around seven and a half years. This sometimes comes as a bit of a surprise, particularly when meeting someone face to face, but I was 42 when I started architecture school at the University of Adelaide, and I graduated in 2011. I began work with Brown Falconer in October of that year and registered in July 2015.
I knew I wanted to become an architect when… I took some time to think about what I might like to be when I grew up! By the time I got around to this, I was a young mum of two toddlers living in regional South Australia. The idea took hold though and became a constant companion that followed me around the country and through a few other career and business and life changing moves, until I couldn’t put it off any longer.
I have never had a mentor … but the idea is delicious. To have a more experienced and connected person willing and available to discuss career possibilities and challenges on a regular or as-needs basis, someone that will promote you and your potential where appropriate, would offer a weighty boost and confidence to any person.
What I love most about being an architect is… it’s potential. As architects, we are presented with the opportunity to massage space for living and learning and working and playing; for being and doing. Whatever those spaces are for, there is potential to lift a mood, bring about joy, provide comfort and inspire thoughts, great and small. Of course, the potential is also there for the opposite effect.
What I find most challenging and satisfying about my job is… the satisfaction in the meeting the challenges. Every project is different, every site has its particular parameters and there are many stages and steps in the coming together of a building. Melding a client’s objectives with regulatory imperatives and the wellbeing of the users of the space has its own special sweetness.
Three women I really admire are… Jane Jacobs, for her clarity in defining what a city is and should be and for advocating for it; Amy Cuddy for her practical advice on confidence and being present; Rosa Parkes, for helping to bring about positive change and for showing us what a “quiet woman of principle” can achieve; Maya Angelou for her words. Yes, I know that’s four.
If I had to list 5 things that described me (without using the word “architect”) I would say… dancer, kayaker, yogi, humanist, optimist.
If I could give some advice to my 18 year old student self it would be… think about the things you like to do, that interest you, that get you excited. Begin with a career that lets you practice and explore these things and see where that leads …