Braunschweig for everyone? Women in Architecture Festival with TU Braunschweig: city tour, exhibition and discussion
From 19 to 29 June, the Women in Architecture Festival will send a strong signal for equality and diversity in architecture, urban and open space planning, and construction – including at Technische Universität Braunschweig. On 24 June, the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences invites you to take part in a city walk entitled ‘Braunschweig for everyone?’. On 26 June, an exhibition and panel discussion will explore whether study and career opportunities for women have improved. Organised by the Berlin Chamber of Architects, the festival aims to raise awareness of the contribution made by women and previously underrepresented groups throughout Germany, thereby providing impetus for a more equitable building culture. A total of around 260 events will take place across Germany.
The feminist walk also takes a look at public toilets, such as the historic urinal at the Staatstheater. Photo credits: Henriette Bertram/TU Braunschweig
The festival programme in Braunschweig kicks off on 24 June with the feminist city walk ‘Braunschweig for everyone?’ Led by Professor Henriette Bertram, students explored places in the city from a female perspective, also taking into account other social categories such as disability, age, origin and education. In the process, they developed ideas and suggestions for a more equitable use and distribution of the city.
From places of remembrance to underpasses
“The design and use of places provides insight into social values and conventions and shows what ideas planners have about people’s everyday lives,” says Professor Bertram. “We look at very different places in Braunschweig, from places of remembrance to public toilets to underpasses. We ask what we can learn there, for example, about gender relations, but also about body norms or how disability and poverty are dealt with.”
The approximately 90-minute walk starts at 4 p.m. at the Jasperallee bus stop and ends at the Science Showcase on Waisenhausdamm. Participants can chat with the organisers over light refreshments. There will also be an opportunity to view the Thünen Institute’s photo exhibition ‘Women. Life. Agriculture’ featuring photographs of female farmers. Anyone who misses the walk can listen to the content free of charge at any time on the storytelling platform izi.Travel as an audio guide.
Equal opportunities and diversity: have we achieved everything we set out to do?
The festival also aims to highlight equal opportunities in professional competition, the promotion of the next generation and the recognition of achievement. More than half of architecture students are now female, many have a migrant background or are first-generation academics. But have studies, practice and career opportunities become equally more female, diverse and fair? “This is about equal pay, for example. But diversity of perspectives is still not sufficiently represented in management positions, in the awarding of prizes and other forms of recognition,” emphasises Professor Bertram.
This is the subject of the exhibition ‘Equal Opportunities and Diversity in Architecture – Have We Already Achieved Everything?’, which opens on 26 June at 4 p.m. in the Architecture Pavilion at TU Braunschweig. It takes a critical and self-critical look at the reality of studying and working in the field and also incorporates the experiences of current students.
Multi-generational discussion in the Architecture Pavilion
Immediately afterwards, at 5 p.m., there will be a panel discussion entitled ‘How’s it going? Female architects of the Braunschweig School, a multi-generational discussion.’ Female architects who studied architecture at TU Braunschweig at different times will take part in the discussion. What paths did they take to become architects, why, and what was important? Where did they find support? Where were there hurdles, bias or limitations? The various stories will serve as a starting point for a conversation on equal terms with current students and architects at the university and in practice. The aim is not only to provide insight into individual life paths, but also into the respective social and gender-political context. In the exchange, which also involves the audience, the question ‘Wie geht es?’ is asked in two senses: ‘How are you?’ but also ‘How does it work?’
The panel discussion is a collaboration between the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture and the City (GTAS) and the Collection for Architecture and Civil Engineering at Technische Universität Braunschweig (SAIB). The participants in the discussion are Annegret Droste (University of Applied Sciences and Arts HAWK Holzminden/Hildesheim), Ulrike Steven (University of the Arts London/Central Saint Martins) and Ayat Tarik (TU Braunschweig).
TU Braunschweig’s contribution to the festival is organised by the Junior Professorship Gender.Ing at the Institute for Building Climate Control and Energy in Architecture (IBEA) and the Institute for History and Theory of Architecture and the City (GTAS).
Further information and the complete programme: