Womxn In Design

Join us today at 6:30 as we dive into the Harvard GSD Frances Loeb Library archives, surfacing artifacts afloat that delve deep into SIRENS—in their auditory, authoritative, and aquatic realms. [registration link in our story!]

We draw attention to the mythic lure of sirens, their presence in modern symbolism, and their metaphorical connection to voices that challenge, disrupt, and captivate—with plenty of unexpected tangents yet to be uncovered...

From Hosken’s 1942 ‘invasion of women’ flooding the GSD in their first year of admission—a tide that reshaped the profession’s shores—to the currents of trailblazing women in design today, we chart their impact across time. Like the mythic sirens who commanded the seas, these women have captivated, disrupted, and redefined their fields, sending shockwaves through architecture and design.

We dive into the archives and into the workforce with office materials from leading women in the field—Denise Scott Brown’s manifesto-like CV, Zaha Hadid’s defiant portfolio, and Louisa Vaughan Conrad’s business ledgers revealing the support of I. M. Pei, Gropius, and Eleanor Raymond for women in design.

Drifting further, we follow the currents of tidal wave maps and nautical memories, with Louisa Vaughan Conrad again, steering us along in her sailboat to Doris Cole’s Candid Reflections. We wade deeper into reflecting ponds and architectural blueprints of swimming pools, along with section drawings of aquariums.

SIREN explores and celebrates the multiplicity and complexity of women. Join us as we navigate the archives, steer the conversation, reclaim the call, and sound the sirens 🧜🏼‍♀️🚨🗃️

All students, faculty and staff are welcome. Registration is required, like in story!

It’s back!! *Womxn in Design* is back with a fire B&D in collaboration with Soundclub to bring you a banger all-women line-up, booze and our first official release of this year’s Merch! They’ll he gone fast so come get yours early.

Our theme for this year is *SIREN*—which we chose for its layered meanings as symbol of seduction, resistance, transmission and alert. To us it embodies the ways womxn’s voices disrupt, persist and subvert the status quo and continually push what’s possible.

COME DANCE WITH US TO CELEBRATE US (AND YOU AND YOU, OF COURSE)
🪩🧜🏽‍♀️🚨🌊🪩

A SIREN is an alert, and a lure. A warning, and a call—and as such, symbolically echoes how womxn’s voices have historically been simultaneously distorted and amplified.

This year, Womxn in Design reclaims the complex symbolism around SIRENs as a framework to interrogate power, amplify voices and ensure we are heard.

Throughout March, we’ll highlight the many ways womxn shape space, knowledge and forms of resistance.

🔊🧜🏼‍♀️🚨

International Womxn’s Month is here,
and so is our theme for the year:
SIREN—a signal, a seduction, a call to be alert.

All month long, we’re bringing together trailblazing womxn across architecture, art, and academia who continue to challenge, disrupt, and reimagine what’s possible.

🔊🧜🏼‍♀️🚨