THE FEMININE TOUCH

Understanding the power of design through the narratives of visionary women

- OME ITUM

The prerequisites in obtaining the required information are rather mundane—an electronic device that can connect to the Internet and a working Internet connection would expose a very important piece of information not just for the sake of knowing, but also for the sake of discussion. In 2017, design and architecture website published the results of a survey that proved what most people probably knew in the first place—architecture is a profession that revels in the dominance of men. The study also revealed that there were only three firms headed by women out of the world’s top 100 architecture firms, and less than that number have more females than males in the management teams. Even alarming was the fact that showed 16% of the top firms have no women at all appointed to senior roles. My firm is always in a competitive environment with men, says Cathy Saldaña, principal architect of PDP. High-rise structures, developments with renewable energy, new ideas, and technologies for buildings seem to attract mostly men and only a few women like me, she continues.