Women in Danish Architecture 1925-1975
A research project on overlooked women in Danish architecture history
Svava Riesto and Henriette Steiner
(project leaders)
Project
During the period 1925–1975, Danish architects were faced with a new challenge: to give shape to the daily lives of citizens in modern Denmark. But something else happened too.
The first generations of women completed their educations within the design disciplines.
Architectural historians have mainly described this period by focusing on the building work of a small group of male architects. In our preliminary research, however, we found that many women contributed to Danish architecture and design. During 1925–1975, women helped to shape the everyday environment by designing kitchens, public buildings, housing, landscapes, and urban areas, among other things. Yet the greater part of their contribution has been forgotten by architectural historians.
Our project aims to contribute to a more complete understanding of Danish architecture history, and to do so in new, more engaging, and more inclusive ways.
We want to write a history where architecture was not created by great individuals but through mutual and creative collaborations.
The project is anchored in the Section for Landscape Architecture and Planningat the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen. Visit the English or Danish project pages on the University of Copenhagen website.
Publications
We publish our findings on an ongoing basis.
Please feel free to follow our research.
Podcast
New podcast series focuses on overlooked women in Danish architecture
about us
The project group is made up of individuals with shared ambitions but different research skills. Bringing together historians, cultural researchers, writers, and designers, our goal is to recount the unheard stories of women architects in the 20th century.
By uniting our different ways of working, we contribute to the rewriting of Danish architecture history. Our teamwork mirrors our project’s goal, moving beyond the idea of the individual creator. Instead, we focus on creative collaboration—in our team, and in Danish architecture history.
- Svava Riesto, architectural historian and project leader
- Henriette Steiner, architectural historian and project leader
- Jannie Rosenberg Bendsen, architectural historian and project postdoctoral researcher
- Mathilde Merolli, communications and media manager
- Liv Løvetand, visual communications specialist
- Frida Irving Søltoft, project employee
- Mathilde Lundt Larsen, project employee