November 4, 2024
Over the summer, Victoria Ikede, from A49’s Toronto office, was asked to participate in a project called “Taking Stock: Voices of Women in Architecture in Canada”. The request came as part of an ongoing research project by Jennifer Esposito and Saskia Scarce from Toronto Metropolitan University, engaging storytelling as a means to amplify the voices of the next generation of designers. The idea was to look at five key themes in relation to women in architecture in Canada, both historically and contemporary.
Victoria’s participation came during the research’s focus in the second theme: underrepresented voices. The rationale behind the project was to engage in discussions addressing the disparity between the number of women in accredited architecture schools versus the number of licensed women in professional practices. More concerning to the researchers, was that only about 0.3% of female architects who identify as Black are licensed across North America. Victoria went on to participate in an interview which was included as part of the “Buone Nuove/Good News – Women in Architecture” exhibition at TMU from September 05 - October 10, 2024, under the category “Beyond Gender: Sharing Voices of Black Women in Architecture + Design”.
The internationally acclaimed traveling architecture exhibition, first opened at the MAXXI museum in Rome in 2022. After traveling to Stockholm, Doha, New Delhi and Berlin, it opened at TMU’s Paul H. Cocker Gallery in the Department of Architectural Science for its inaugural North American showing, with Montreal as its next destination. Curated by Pippo Ciorra, Elena Motisi and Elena Tinacci, the exhibition features works and words of dozens of female architects both home and abroad, who have changed the field of architecture and are empowering a new generation of inclusive city-builders. The exhibition aimed to offer a new and more comprehensive perspective of architecture by showing how women and women-led collectives have elevated the quality and experience of modern and contemporary architectural design.
While there are many interesting topics that came about from the experience, we spoke with Victoria about her involvement in the exhibition, and how she has been impacted by the experience:
“I think that before this exhibition,” she says, “I hadn’t met any other black female licensed architects, other than Camille Mitchell (founding member of BAIDA - Black Architects and Interior Designers Association) with their own practices and impressive portfolios in Canada. From a standpoint of psychological safety, it was a very good exhibition that showcased a larger community behind being a black woman in architecture.”
The exhibit included stories, practices, narrations and visions from women across the world. Victoria remarked that by simple observation, it was easy to identify subtle nuances and a distinctive design sensibility in the work done by her black colleagues. Their projects featured colours, patterns and vibrancy that contrasted with often understated Western standards. These displays sparked inspiring conversations around the ways we experience buildings and spaces, when designed by architects of underrepresented groups.
More importantly, it was inspirational to see black women as directors of their practices or holding positions within regulatory bodies in architecture. “I think that just seeing that as a possibility, especially as an immigrant, was very inspiring,” she says.
In moving forward in her own work, Victoria says she learned the importance of seeking out other women in the field, “Just because they are less visible, does not mean they aren’t out there”.
The exhibit gave her an opportunity to see that there is no one way to succeed, and that the limits of human potential are not finite, regardless of race or gender.
The visibility of an exhibit such as this one, brings to light how important it is for not only those new to the workforce, but also veterans of the industry to interact and connect with their peers, and for underrepresented voices to be heard and shared throughout the profession. For women and more specifically women of colour, we hope to see more opportunities like Buone Nuove (Good News) to unite, teach and celebrate what it means to be a woman in architecture.