Hi everyone!! Finally starting to work on the background section of my prospectus. Over the past week, I have been furthering my research in hopes of solidifying two case studies for my question: How did political context affect the evolution of modernism through female architects in the post war era? This is just a rough draft of my background, but I’m hoping to grow it and edit it more this week!!

In the decades following World War II, architecture as a profession underwent rapid transformation as societies rebuilt, economies expanded, and modernist ideals became dominant across the Western countries. At the same time, gender norms continued to shape access to education and professional networks within the field. Women who pursued architecture during this period often encountered systemic barriers such as limited opportunities for leadership. After already working their way through a system built against them to attend architecture school, women often found once graduating that there were no true opportunities for their work. Despite these challenges, many female architects carved their own influential careers by responding to the social, cultural, political, and institutional conditions that defined the postwar era. 

At the same time, Modernism was a major architectural movement spreading across the world. Modernism was a driven functionalism emphasized through breaking away from historical styles. Rooted in earlier European movements, such as the Bauhaus, modernism became closely associated with the ideals of social progress. Post WWII, these principles were widely adopted in reconstruction efforts to reimagine the future of architecture. However, globally the movement’s claims of neutrality often became skewed by political context. Modernism often obscured the social hierarchies ingrained in architectural practice, while it positioned itself as egalitarian, it often enhanced the exclusions already present in society.

The societal context of the postwar period played a significant role in shaping the trajectories of female modernist architects. The return to domestic ideals in the midcentury, reinforced expectations of women to prioritize the home over professional ambitions. Even with increased opportunities for women to enter architectural education, their career advancement was constrained by limited networking opportunities, unequal pay, and a lack of visibility. The lack of visibility was a large factor in the historical data on female architects, with many women being overshadowed by their male counterpart, they were unable to make a name for explicitly themselves.