News

He said, she said: Women in Design take on Pritzker

Although the response by the Pritzker jury to Women in Design’s petition – to acknowledge the work of Robert Venturi’s wife and creative partner Denise Scott Brown – was disappointing, the Harvard GSD group is not going to give up. And it’s expanding its efforts to keep a spotlight on the issue of equity in the design fields with a new website.

WID’s petition with 18 thousand-signatures prompted some deliberation by the Pritzker jury and a letter from chair Peter Palombo that said in part, “a later jury cannot re-open, or second guess the work of an earlier jury, and none has ever done so.” WID shot back a reply, also posted on its new website Design for Equality, which is aimed at mobilizing a network of designers interested in promoting equality in the field. The website is a container for the wider conversations that the petition has sparked about collaboration, diversity and inclusion.

In addition to the website, WID is planning lunchtime discussions with female GSD grads (co-hosted with Career Services) and “Partners in Crime” events featuring women who work in equal partnership with men in design. Planning is also underway to host a top secret guest: the unofficial “grandmother” of WID. More details to follow.

Read more about the Pritzker decision and the full text of Palombo’s letter in Architect. Read an editorial response to the Pritzker decision in Architizer.