Angela Brady, famous female architect loves being an architect. She travels around the world, as a STEMnet ambassador, to tell schoolchildren her story.
Today we celebrate the impact of women in architecture with a profile on Angela Brady. See our profile of Maya Lin, the first article in the ‘A Firm of Her Own' series.
All of us, men and women both, can learn from Brady's sheer resourcefulness as an architect.
Positioning Herself As An Advocate For Every Female Architect
Angela Brady didn't let anything stop her. A native of Ireland, she knew she wanted to be an architect since she was a little girl, but the problem was the low percentage of women in the field.
Overcoming the odds, she graduated from Dublin DIT school of architecture, with a postgraduate scholarship at Kunstakademiet in Copenhagen. She then lived in Toronto for a year, before starting an award-winning private practice Brady Mallalieu Architects Ltd in London.
In 2011, Brady became the first non-British person and the second woman to be elected a two-year term as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
In 2012, she won The Lifetime Achievement for ‘Women In Construction.’ In 2013, she won the ‘WISE women of outstanding achievement’ for leadership and inspiration.
Her first priority is advocating for more women in architecture. Her core belief is that women are desperately needed in this profession. Importantly, she used this belief to position herself as an leader for other female architects.
Brady founded RIBA’s Architects for Change Group in 2000. For the past seven years, she has painstakingly worked to welcome women into the industry. To increase the percentage of female architects, she has amplified their exposure in the media … sound familiar?
While hosting workshops in schools, she inspires girls at a young age. She notes that girls love to hear a successful woman say, ‘I love my job!’
About the ‘A Firm of Her Own’ article series
The Architect Marketing Institute recognizes the particular challenges that women face in establishing their own practices.
This is a subject near and dear, so much so that we want to highlight role models, through our A Firm of Her Own designation. (Yes, inspired by Virginia Woolf’s ‘A Room of One’s Own.’)
Through this series of articles, we analyze how female architects and designers have shaped our world through persistence and determination.
Each article in this series takes a look at a woman-owned firm in which the female principal has ‘leaned in' (as Sheryl Sandberg says) and impacted this world through projects that matter.
The percentage of female architects is growing, but we still have a long way to go. Did you know that 31 percent of architects in the United States are women, yet only 20 percent of architecture firm principals or partners in the U.S. are women?
At the Architect Marketing Institute, we work with many female architects, landscape architects, and interior designers to empower them to build robust, competitive practices that align with their personal values and aspirations, while allowing them to live the life they design. We exist to empower every architect and designer through tools, training and resources so that no architect or designer will be at a disadvantage because of gender, race or any other factor.
Tell Us Your Story …
If you are a female architect and have a Firm of Your Own, we'd love to hear your story. Leave it in the comments below or share on our Facebook page and private Facebook group!