Women in design & architecture
Organized by Women in Design and Architecture (WDA), a graduate student group formed in 2014 at Princeton University School of Architecture, this annual conference celebrates the work and legacy of a pivotal female architect or designer with contributions from international historians and scholars, in addition to artists, curators, and practitioners.
About WDAMarch 2, 2021 - March 7, 2021
Minnette De Silva: Additional Title
Connected to a network of global figures, Minnette De Silva remains tied to the specific culture and climate of Sri Lanka while her architecture traces the complex and multi-directional vectors of modernity.
The material realities of her built work, a dedication to archiving and practiced nontraditional forms of labor, form a dialogue, presenting De Silva as a leader in pedagogy and design.
Her methodology reveals collaborative and community-based design work: disrupting eurocentric, patriarchal conceptions of architectural practice.
Dean Monica Ponce de León
Mónica Ponce de León, AIA, is dean of the School of Architecture. She is a pioneering educator and award-winning architect who is deeply committed to architectural education. Ponce de León builds bridges between academia and practice, underscoring the interdisciplinary nature of architecture by encouraging experimentation and critical thinking in the curriculum.
`As a dean and an educator, Ponce de León has emphasized the connections between scholarship, research and creative practice. Ponce de León served as dean of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor from 2008 through 2015, where she was also the Eliel Saarinen Collegiate Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning.
Before her appointment at the University of Michigan, Ponce de León was a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she served on the faculty for 12 years. Ponce de León also has held teaching appointments at Northeastern University, the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design and Georgia Institute of Technology. She is widely recognized as a leader in the application of robotic technology to building fabrication. Building upon her work as director of the Digital Lab at Harvard, she developed a state of the art student-run digital fabrication lab at the University of Michigan, integrating digital fabrication into the curriculum of the school. In large part because of her pioneering work, the use of digital tools is now commonplace in architecture schools across the country.“
As a dean and an educator, Ponce de León has emphasized the connections between scholarship, research and creative practice. Ponce de León served as dean of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor from 2008 through 2015, where she was also the Eliel Saarinen Collegiate Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning.
Before her appointment at the University of Michigan, Ponce de León was a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she served on the faculty for 12 years. Ponce de León also has held teaching appointments at Northeastern University, the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design and Georgia Institute of Technology. She is widely recognized as a leader in the application of robotic technology to building fabrication. Building upon her work as director of the Digital Lab at Harvard, she developed a state of the art student-run digital fabrication lab at the University of Michigan, integrating digital fabrication into the curriculum of the school. In large part because of her pioneering work, the use of digital tools is now commonplace in architecture schools across the country.“
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