Sophia Hayden
ARCHITECT (1868 - 1953)
Born in 1868 in Chile, Sophia Hayden was an
American architect and the first female
graduate of the famous Massachusetts'
Institute of Technology four-year architecture
degree. At the tender age of 21, after her
entry won first prize against other female
architects, she designed the Women's
Building of the 1893 World's Columbian
Exposition, fighting hard to maintain the
aesthetic integrity of her design. Her negative
experiences during the process, directed at
her gender, meant that she never worked as
an architect again. Instead, she spent the rest
of her life as an artist and activist member of
many women's societies. Sexism and the
belief that women were not suited to the field
of architecture prevented her being able to
show the true extent of her talents.
Marion Mahony Griffin
ARCHITECT AND ARTIST (1871 - 1961)
Born 1871, Marion Mahony Griffin was one of
the first licenced female architects in the
world. and is viewed as an original member of
the Prairie School, an architectural style which
came to prominence in the late 19th and early
20th century. In her early career Mahony
Griffin worked alongside the famous Frank
Lloyd Wright and produced many iconic
architectural drawings, many of which people
think of when they consider Lloyd Wright's
style. She moved to Australia and ran a
successful architectural practice, employed to
design the new capital of Canberra. While
Mahoney Griffin's male counterparts are more
well known, she played an instrumental part in
their success and her legacy is still very
present in several Australian buildings today.
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