Dr Liz Walder is launching her brand new book, “Going For Gold”, available through wordcatcher.com, Amazon, and other retailers aimed at women in world of architecture.
Architecture insider Dr Liz Walder is launching her brand new book, "Going For Gold”. The book is set to go live in August 2018, and is available from wordcatcher.com, Amazon, and other good retailers and is expected to become a big hit with readers interested in women in architecture world.
More information on the book can be found here: https://www.wordcatcher.com/going-for-gold---looking-at-the-gender-imbalance-of--recipients-of-major-architectural-awards-and-pr-862-p.asp
This is the first of many books that Dr Walder has to release with Wordcatcher Publishing. The book was written with the aim of showing a wide audience how imbalanced the architectural elite are when giving out awards and prizes. There's also particular excitement about this launch because it's ground-breaking in taking the lid off the scandal of this male-dominated industry.
Going For Gold sets its main focus on examining gender inequality in the award of major architecture prizes around the world. In 2014, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded their annual gold medal to architect Julia Morgan, the first woman to receive the honour in 107 years. At the time, Morgan, whilst prolific during her lifetime, had been dead for 57 years.
In the UK, the first female architect to win the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Royal Gold Medal in her own right was Zaha Hadid in 2016. Prior to that, their gold medal had only been awarded to women in architectural partnerships with their husbands: Ray (and Charles) Eames in 1979, and Patricia (and Michael) Hopkins in 1994.
Female names do not feature frequently enough in the nomination papers and lists of winners of major architectural awards and prizes. History shows winners to be white, middle-aged, and male.
In the changing landscape of 21st century society, women have suddenly understood that equality does not necessarily equal a level playing field. The BBC's China Editor, Carrie Gracie, resigned from her post, citing pay inequality with male colleagues. Over half of the attendees at the 2018 Golden Globes Awards wore black, and TimesUp badges. Almost overnight, sexual harassment allegations were being taken seriously with international reaction.
This new publication, authored by Dr Liz Walder, an authority in the field of architectural awards, will discuss where the women are and who should be winning such prizes. The paper, delivered at a recent conference in Turin, Italy, will also offer a solution as to how women working in the profession can change the future face of architecture.
Dr Liz Walder has a background in architectural history gleaned from over 13 years of employment at the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and said, "My seven years of research for my PhD on the RIBA Royal Gold Medal has helped shaped this work”. Dr Walder’s PhD was granted from the School of Architecture at the University of Liverpool.
When asked about why they wrote the book, Walder said: ”There is so much written which celebrates medal winners who are male. It is time to turn the focus on to women and question, and then understand why women have not hitherto, won the top architectural prizes and medals”.
Walder has hopes that the book will encourage more women working in the architectural profession to nominate their peers for the top architectural prizes. This positive outlook from the author is certainly testament to their optimism considering some of the mishaps during its creation.
Those interested in learning more about the book can visit here: https://www.wordcatcher.com
