Award for engagement with the public

Mar 10, 2023

In January 2023, Women in Danish Architecture received the award as best IGN communicator, and 2022 has also been busy on the communication front. The prize is awarded by IGN, which is the institute we are based at at the University of Copenhagen, and is given for extraordinary effort, innovative thinking and originality in communication. In the past year, we have communicated to a wide range of target groups – from elementary school children to university students, cultural associations, radio listeners, and to 100 women in leadership. Here we collect some of our most important outward-facing activities from the past year, as inspiration for anyone who wants to strengthen the dialogue between research and other activities in society.

 

 

Celebrating 100 women in leadership

 

On the occasion of the exhibition Women in Architecture, we contributed to the event 100 Women in Leadership, which was held at the Danish Architecture Center on October 6, 2022. The event brought together women in leadership – from ambassadors to business leaders, leaders from cultural institutions, entrepreneurs, research leaders and many more to networks. Project leaders Henriette Steiner and Svava Riesto gave a presentation about their leadership in the project, where the ambition of the working procedure has been solidarity and promoting community and inclusion. The workshops we contributed to were:

 

    • Leadership beyond the hero. Presentation by Svava Riesto and Lori Brown, moderated by Tanja Lindkvist

 

    • Including expertise. Presentation by Henriette Steiner and Despina Stratigakos, moderated by Pernille Berg.

 

100 women in leadership was organized by BLOX v/ global ambassador Mette Laursen

 

 

Teaching material for elementary schools

 

 

Picture of elementary school children being taught with the teaching material we have made in collaboration with DAC. Photo by Hanne Fuglbjerg

In order to anchor the extended history of architecture that we are creating in the project, we have, in collaboration with the Danish Architecture Center, made teaching material for Danish elementary schools, so that school classes now and in the years to come can learn about this important subject. In the teaching material, which is designed for design and architecture as well as history, the students are presented with new ways of approaching the history of architecture.

 

Via articles and archive material, students gain an insight into the role of women in architecture historically. The students must also update, analyze and reflect on the stories and their aftermath through exercises.

 

 

To the ear

 

 

The picture is from September 2022 and the photo shows Henriette Steiner and Frederik Westergaard

The project group has participated in a number of podcasts and radio broadcasts, such as in September 2022, when Henriette Steiner participated in the radio broadcast Frederiks Værk on 24syv. This broadcast deals with, among other things, what the research project originated from and why it is important to rewrite our architectural history.

 

Stream also the episode Women in Danish Architecture by Dorthe Chakravarty

 

 

Teaching material about gender, architecture and history

 

 

The picture is from the documentary “De glemte arkitekter.” Photo from a common bachelor’s and master’s supervision to projects on gender, architecture and history. We held a series of supervisions where the students helped and inspired each other to move forward in the process. In the photo, students Henrik Færgemann Hansen, Maja Styve, Helena Maria Berggren, Esther Rothe Urioste, Alida Helene Buch Hansen and Ida Linea Odds Holmstrup and Svava Riesto are seen in the background.

We have also actively used research in the teaching of several courses at bachelor’s and master’s level, as well as in the PhD course Landscape, Architecture and Gender: Rethinking Theory, Methodology and Practice. In addition, several bachelor’s and master’s students have worked on topics associated with the project and thus had the opportunity to work in a research-related manner, as well as contribute with perspectives.

 

 

The picture is from the documentary “De glemte arkitekter.” The photo was taken in Lolland, where the Danish architect and urban planner Anne-Marie Rubin has designed and planned a summer house area. The photo is from spring 2022, when former master’s students in landscape architecture Henrik Færgemann Hansen and Svava Riesto visited the area in connection with Henrik’s thesis project.

Podcast

 

The project also made a unique podcast series, “De glemte arkitekter”, which is about the most important findings in our research. The podcast was launched in the spring of 2022 and is available on all the platforms where you normally download your podcasts and is produced by the podcast journalists Niels Bjørn and Ane Skak, following an additional grant from Realdania. The podcast has reached a large number of listeners.

 

 

The picture is from the documentary film ” De glemte arkitekter”, which can be seen here. The photo shows Svava Riesto, Henriette Steiner and Jannie Rosenberg Bendsen.