The Place of Female Architecture as a Design Language : A study into the progression of the female architect and the variables of the feminine architecture in Sweden

Sammanfattning: 100 years after the official acceptance of women into higher architectural education in Sweden’s technical institutions, I have tracked and summarized the progress of not just female students and female employees within the architecture industry, but also the extent of the creative space offered for women throughout the years to express their individual styles. This has been with the intention of detecting a female design language that can be read in the Swedish city, starting from Sweden’s earliest female pioneer in the late 1890s. The study relates the female design language to openness and fluidity, and the feminine sense of caring for the social experience taking place within urban spaces. This is naturally not the case for every woman and is just a common pattern detected throughout different architectural eras. Results show a rapid progression of women within statistical numbers of both educational institutions and architecture firms. This number is, however, one dimensional and does not accurately represent positions of power - which appear to be male dominated - and its impact on the Swedish urban city. The modern woman, as it turns out, does not face the struggles of the pioneers. She is, on the other hand, placed within the box of large architecture corporations, and in that way loses her personal touch and sense of style in her professional work.