Celebrating Women in Design
It is about time we celebrate all of the boss-ladies killing the game in the design industry, and as March is National Women’s History Month we thought this might be the perfect opportunity to do so. I asked the office to call out some of their favorite female icons in the design industry and below is a compilation of the answers received. I was inspired just by researching their names and iconic projects, and I’d encourage you to do the same. From architecture and interior design to landscape, furniture, public art and web design, we thank all the female pioneers serving as role models for the future generations of aspiring female designers.
Maya Lin – Sculpturer & Architect
Maya Lin was a 21-year-old architecture student at Yale when she proposed what became one of American’s most moving monuments in our nation’s capital – the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Better known as “The Wall that Heals,” this memorial pushed the contemporary boundaries of traditional war memorials at the time: it was polished, V-shaped, made from granite, and measured 247 feet on each side of the “V”. Commonly, change brings controversy, but Maya challenged those in opposition to her design and indeed she succeeded.
Maya has dedicated her life’s work to using sculpture, art, and monuments that raise awareness on controversial topics and recreate historical impacts. More of her work includes The Civil Rights Memorial, Miami’s Flutter, Storm King Wavefield, and this pretty awesome interactive multi-media project focused on bringing awareness to habitat loss called, What is Missing?.
Frida Escobedo – Architect
Frida is an architect, public artist, and most recently became known as the youngest architect commissioned to design the Serpentine Pavilion in London. The pavilion project commissions some of the world’s greatest architects to design the pavilion every year, and in 2018, Frida was the top pick. Click on the link to view designs from previous years. A portfolio of some of Frida’s most renowned work can be found here.
Jeanne Gang – Principal of Studio Gang
Check out Studio Gang‘s portfolio of work and prepare to be wowed. Jeanne Gang serves as the lady-boss of the firm and focuses on the use of sustainable materials and natural elements to enhance urban design in some of America’s largest cities. It’s safe to say she isn’t afraid to “bend the curve” of contemporary design, and we admire that about her.
Gilder Center, New York
Aqua Tower, Chicago
Ray Kaiser Eames – Furniture Designer
Ray Eames was a graphic and textile designer, fine artist, and furniture designer who has exerted a profound and lasting impact on twentieth-century furniture design in America. Ray helped to define “modernism” in her simple, sleek, and sophisticated furniture designs. Next time you see an Eames chair like the ones in this photo, you can thank dear Ray.
Our Women-Owned Business Consultants
Cheers! to all the lady pioneers we have the pleasure of consulting with on our own projects:
Erin O’Brien, Principal of EOB Consulting
EOC Consulting offers WordPress website development for individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses of all sizes. Erin is the talented designer behind our new and improved website. Thank you Erin!
Sandy Weeks, Principal of Blue Spruce Construction
Sandy has worked in the construction industry for 30 years and has done it all, from building custom-made cabinetry to running her own successful general contracting company. Blue Spruce has been consistently one of the Top Women Owned Businesses in Colorado, a Top 25 Boulder County General Contractor, and one of the Top 250 Private Companies in the State of Colorado. Go ahead, girl!
Leslie Tyson, Principal of LT Engineering
Leslie is an all-powerful one-woman show. She is a business owner and structural engineer, and when she isn’t designing plans to knock down walls on projects tall and small, she is an avid whitewater kayaker. Keep on cruising, Leslie.
Heather Noyes, Principal of StudioCPG
Heather has over 20 years of extensive landscape architecture and planning experience. She and her team work hard to produce creative solutions to neighborhoods and rural communities seeking revitalization to improve public spaces for recreation. Let’s give a round of applause for her work in beautifying our communities and creating gorgeous scenery for us all to enjoy.
Elizabeth Gehring, Principal of Gehring & Associates
Since 1996, Liz has been the President and Principal Engineer of Gehring & Associates. She has special skills in HVAC and plumbing design with a strong broad base knowledge in fire protection, acoustics, illumination, daylighting, and electrical, civil, structural, and architectural design – so basically, everything. More power to you, Liz!
Margaret Brown, Principal of Brown Civil Engineering
Margaret is the Principal at Brown Civil and has so much to be proud of: Her company received the Biz West Mercury 100 Award as one of Boulder Valley’s fastest growing private companies in 2017/2018, AND she was honored as Colorado’s Woman Engineer of the Year Award in 2017/2018 by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Keep up the great work, Margaret!
WORKSHOP8 is a Woman-Owned Business
Brandy LeMae, Principal of WORKSHOP8
Our leading lady is a mother, a wife, an artist, an interior designer, and the owner of WORKSHOP8 with over 25 years of project management and design experience. Before WORKSHOP8, Brandy was the owner of Blink! Creative, a boutique graphic design firm, as well as VaST Architecture before it was rebranded to WORKSHOP8 in 2010. She is a mother at home and to us here in the office, and a fearless one at that!
Ladies in Hard Hats
We take great pride in being a woman-owned business and favoring diversity in the workplace. Just last week, two of our leading women, Brandy LeMae and Chelsea Semelka, were able to throw on their hard hats and head to the construction site for Fall River. Fashionable, fun, focused, and talented.
Thanks for reading!
Maris DuBois | Studio Manager
28 March 2019
