The journey of Women in Design began two decades ago when Professor Brinda Somaya reached out to women across India and South Asia, requesting them to come together on a single stage as women professionals. This led to the conference ‘Women in Architecture — 2000 Plus’, the first of its kind, that celebrated the work of women architects from countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia and Pakistan. The Hecar Foundation, a non-profit organisation which seeks to educate the public about architecture, heritage and urban issues, hosted this seminal conference and brought out the publication ‘An Emancipated Place — Women in Architecture 2000 Plus’ to ensure documentation of the event, the projects and practices of the women speakers and participants at the time.
Twenty years on, the Women in Design 2020+ extends to the 2000 conference. A lot has changed in the last 20 years. Many more women have ventured out and established successful and independent practices in India. Many have also found robust partnerships. The three-day Women in Design 2020 conference, which is underway in Mumbai till January 10, will see 37 women sharing their amazing work, their histories and their lives.
Somaya, an Indian architect and urban conservationist, the principal architect at Somaya and Kalappa (SNK) Consultants and the chairperson of The Hecar Foundation, says that they wanted to extend that idea to a global scale to include women not just in architecture but various other professions that are closely interlinked with it. “Our list of speakers and panelists comprise incredibly talented women from around the world who have excelled in their respective fields, including many who were part of the inaugural conference held 20 years ago,” she says.
The idea of WID 2020 + grew when her architect daughter Nandini and she had put together a book on the works of SNK. “While we were looking through all the archival pictures, photographs and articles, we began to feel more and more interested in discussing what had happened in WIA 2000 + conference and exhibition 20 years ago and over the last two decades. Many young people had come up to me and said, ‘Ma’am, when are you organising your next conference?’ So now here we are,” she says.
Women have also contributed significantly to pedagogy and discourse in the past two decades. “With the 2020 conference, I want to celebrate the diversity and richness of women-driven practices. The conference will chronicle the broader cultural preoccupations that encompass authoring, pedagogy, conservation and restoration, politics, design, urbanism and activism,” she explains.
Talking about WID, Somaya says that the international conference aims to curate stories of women from around the world who have excelled and have created a global impact in the field of architecture, construction and other creative fields that are directly or indirectly associated. “To push the boundaries of architecture and design, the conference delves into discussions on a wide spectrum of disciplines such as photography, art, film and literature that relate to the architectural profession,” she says, adding, “With this conference and exhibition, we hope to achieve the public exposure that all women richly deserve. We will now become more aware of our own achievements and, even more importantly, the work of each other.”
Conferences are a great way of coming together to not only celebrate successes and ideas but also to connect with like-minded people. “Back in the day there was no internet or email, so there were very few opportunities for women professionals to network. I felt the need to connect with fellow women professionals with a desire to understand their work, struggles and challenges in their respective discipline,” she says.
Somaya was also curious to know the state of the profession for women architects, so in 1990, she wrote to fellow women architects she knew about a possibility of a conference that would reflect on their individual work — work done without collaboration and in independent capacity.
Recalling her initial days in the industry, she points out that it was an uphill task to make it in a man’s world. “People seemed unable to associate women with more than interior design and found it hard to believe that a woman could be a serious and competent professional and perform as effectively as their male counterpart,” she says, adding, “We were only 10 per cent of our class and now it is 50 per cent or more. I did not start a big organisation overnight. I built it up slowly with my work, built a relationship with clients, then had a lot of repeat clients and proved my capability. Maybe if I had followed the more conventional route I would have convinced myself that it would be impossible for a saree clad young woman to work in the ’70s and set up her own practice,” says Somya.
The confidence to follow her own path came from her parents who thought gender discrimination did not exist or certainly was not an excuse. “Thirty years ago, women workers would come to the site in sarees. Today, I see them dressed smartly in sarees but with sneakers, jackets and helmets,” she concludes on a happy note.
