Western Australian Women in Landscape Architecture
Western Australian Women in Landscape Architecture
2014 National Landscape Architecture Award: National President’s Award
2014 National President's Award WA Women in Landscape Architecture Greg Grabasch UDLA
Jury comment: This short film by Greg Grabasch is based on informal interviews with West Australian women working in landscape architecture. The idea arose from a debate at a National Council meeting over whether there should be an Institute award specifically for women. This morphed into the question of whether there are other ways the profession could better support women and address potential gender imbalances, prompting the questioning of women themselves about these topics. The film is a passionate portrayal of women in the profession and their sense of shared responsibility and empathy for their community of practice. It challenges the profession to develop engagement and practice models that are more inclusive and nurturing of women while providing an historical record of their views in an era of growth and change. This award recognises Greg’s generosity of spirit in initiating and funding the film and also his deep commitment to understanding some of the preconceptions and therefore untangling some of the issues facing women in contemporary practice. We commend the film and its insights to the profession as a whole.
Summary: Let’s have an AILA ‘Women in Landscape Architecture Award’?
This question was initially posed mid 2011 at an AILA National Council in Canberra. From the outset all Councillors seemed to agree that such an award at national level was unquestionably the ‘right thing to do’, then one by one the Councillors began to question...
Hence the WA Women in Landscape Architecture interviews were realised as part of an initial casual and fun investigation into the topic. Although the interviews were informal and allowed for a time of sharing and fellowship, the discussion focused around four topics:
1. Do you believe Women's role in the Landscape Architecture profession has changed over time?
2. Who is your inspiration?
3. Is there evidence of a glass ceiling within the Landscape Architecture profession?, and
4. Your thoughts on the proposed ‘AILA Women in Landscape Architecture Award'?
...there was laughing, crying and polarisation of ideas, all bound together with a strong feeling of shared responsibility and empathy, particularly towards our design community. The outcome could be seen as a contemporary WA Women’s perspective, a snapshot in time that includes strong historical context due to the depth of participants.
There is real strength in how women approach creativity from a position of shared empathy, even while disagreeing. There is so much for us to learn from Women’s collaborative approach to life and its positive influence on our profession. We would be so much poorer if gender disparity ruled the design industry ranks and the profession did not have the unbiased chance to be influenced equally by all.
INTERVIEWEES:
Sarah May
Vanessa Margetts
Fiona Hurse
Helen Whitbread
Barbara Kletnieks
Marion Blackwell
Sara Kjaersgaard
Emily Parsons
Anna Chauvel
Jean Brodie-Hall
Ailsa Grieve
Eve Mclachlan
Bindi House
Rhian Thomas
Jessica Ledger
Christie Stewart
Rosemary Halsmith
Susan Stevens
Karen Lancaster