publications
We share all our findings.
ESSAY | HOMES FOR WOMEN – WOMEN’S SPACES IN THE HOMES
Svava Riesto, Henriette Steiner and Jannie Rosenberg Bendsen study houses owned by the philantropic association Realdania’s collection of historical buildings to see how the spatial disposition of the home and especially the kitchen reflects the possibilities and constraints of women’s lives in society.
This text was published in the anniversary book ”Realdania By & Bygs historiske ejendomme 2003 – 2023” in 2023 and you can read it here: Realdania-essay.
ARTICLE | THE CLIMATE CRISIS REQUESTS US TO COMBINE PRESERVATION AND SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT…LUCKILY WE CAN LEARN FROM THE IDEAS AND METHODS OF PLANNERS IN THE PAST
In this article, Svava Riesto, Henriette Steiner og Jannie Rosenberg Bendsen and Marie Kiersgaard Espersen show how urban planner and architect Anne Marie Rubin combined the preservation and development of landscapes in her work during the 1960s. This combination seems more pertinent than ever in light of the escalating crises of climate and biodiversity.
Article (in Danish) from the Danish urban planning magazine, Byplan Nyt, 3 i september 2023 and you can find it here.
BOOK | Untold Stories. Women, Gender, and Architecture in Denmark
The book Untold Stories. Women, Gender, and Architecture in Denmark by Jannie Rosenberg Bendsen, Svava Riesto and Henriette Steiner is published by Strandberg Publishing.
This book tells a new story about twentieth-century architecture in Denmark. For the first time ever, readers get an overall picture of the key contribution made by women to the architecture of Danish welfare society in the period 1930–1980. The book’s five chapters present hitherto untold stories about how architecture comes into being through creative collaborations that cut across genders and professional disciplines. Women have contributed to all aspects of architecture, from kitchens and buildings to landscape architecture and urban planning, and their stories highlight the hidden diversity that has shaped Denmark’s buildings, cities and landscapes. The importance of this diversity must be understood and appreciated in the present if we are to create new ways of living and building in the future – a pressing need in light of the many crises we face as a society today.
The book is available in selected bookshops and online here.
research article | Creating alternatives: stories about participation, collaboration and gender in architecture, the 1960s and 70s
New research article by Svava Riesto on feminist architectural collaborations and alternative visions of modernism published in The Journal of Architecture. The article is available online here.
research article | Between passion and possession: women architects and the houses they built for family, love and work
New research article by Henriette Steiner on women architects and the work they did with their partner both in life and work published by the Journal of Architecture. The article is available online here.
BOOK | BYWOMEN - A Guidebook to Everyday Architecture in Greater Copenhagen
As an outcome of Women in Danish Architecture, we have released a guide book in Danish and English. ByWomen reveals 50 buildings and everyday environments, known and unknown, from the Greater Copenhagen region – all designed by women. In addition to its introduction, photos and anecdotes, the book works as a guide, with a map, addresses and registers.
The book is available in selected bookshops and online here.
Interview | LOOKING AT THE OTHER SIDE OF HISTORY: ‘WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE’
Looking at the other side of history – WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE 2 (PDF)
SPACE Magazine journalist Youn Yaelim has interviewed Svava Riesto about our project. The interview was published in the printed September issue of SPACE 2022 (No. 658). The article is a continuation of Youn Yaelim’s interview med DAC (Danish Architecture Center)’s curator Sara Hatla, which can be read here (PDF).
ARTICLE (DANISH) | Architecture history suffers from amnesia regarding women, but you can thank the women for more than expected
Arkitekturhistorien lider af kvindeglemsel (PDF)
Project leaders Svava Riesto and Henriette Steiner talk about kitchens, Danish architect Ulla Tafdrup, childrens’ rooms, and the lack of Wikipedia articles on female (and) male contributors to everyday architecture in Denmark. The article was published in VIDENSKAB.DK in July 2022.
ESSAY | WOMEN IN DANISH ARCHITECTURE: A NEW RESEARCH PROJECT ON GENDER AND PRACTICE
Women in Danish Architecture – A New Research Project on Gender and Practice (PDF)
In an essay published on the website of the Society of Architecture Historians of Great Britain, Svava Riesto and Henriette Steinerpresent the research project and discuss how it recovers contributions of women in shaping the Danish welfare state. By bringing to light collaborative work practices in architecture and design, the essay highlights our hope to inspire more equitable spatial practices for the future.
ARTICLE (DANISH) | Towards A More Inclusive Architecture History
På vej mod en mere inkluderende arkitekturhistorie (PDF)
What can we as architecture historians do when the official archives do not offer sufficient knowledge of the past? Project leaders Svava Riesto and Henriette Steiner discuss why we need to fill in the gaps of Danish 20th century architecture history. The article was published in the Danish journal Landskab (Landscape) in February 2021.
ARTICLE (DANISH) | GenderED Plant Names
Plantenavne med køn (PDF)
Project employee Frida Irving Søltoft has examined how Danish plant names are related to gender. As it turns out, plant names can be surprisingly gender specific. The article was published in January 2021 in the Danish journal Grønt Miljø (Green Environment).
ARTICLE (DANISH) | ADVANCING WOMEN IN DANISH ARCHITECTURE HISTORY
Kvinderne skal frem i arkitekturhistorien (PDF)
Editor in chief Søren Holgersen sheds light on a few of the female pioners in landscape architecture and gardening currently undergoing research by Svava Riesto, Henriette Steiner, and Jannie Rosenberg Bendsen. The article was published in January 2021 in the Danish journal Grønt Miljø (Green Environment).
ESSAY (DANISH) | WHERE ARE THE WOMEN IN DANISH ARCHITECTURE HISTORY?
Hvor er kvinderne i dansk arkitekturhistorie (PDF)
Historians and design researchers have paid remarkably little attention to women in Danish architecture. Our researchers, architectural historians Jannie Rosenberg Bendsen, Svava Riesto, and Henriette Steiner explain why this is the case. The essay was published in Arkitekten (The Architect) in June 2020.