By Ar. Shajiya Naveed
IAP-RIC puts women at the forefront of the architecture community, highlighting their achievements and impact within Pakistan. IAP’s Rawalpindi-Islamabad Chapter convened to celebrate these very women, who, in a male-dominated profession, have become the bedrock of innovation and progress. The event took place Friday, March 10′ 2023 from 7 pm to 9.30 pm at the IAP Secretariat, Podium of Sir Syed Memorial Complex, G-5/1 Islamabad. The event began with some opening speeches by the organizers, chapter leads and the sponsors, all of whom highlighted the importance of collaboration between both genders within the profession. These themes were echoed throughout the night.
After the introductions were made, the conveners presented a panel of eight women architects to the audience; 4 of whom were from academia, while the other 4 were related to practice in the field. The panel discussion was opened by Dr. Uzma Noreen Zain, who shed light on the topic of gender ratios within architecture schools that do not translate to women in the workforce. While the majority of architecture students are female, the majority of professionals are not. She was followed by Dr. Samra Mohsin Khan, an associate professor at COMSATS University, who continued the discussion by highlighting issues such as bullying and harassment in the workplace and how policies can be made to cater to the retention of female architects. The evening was punctuated by 6 guest appearances by International architects from various organizations including ARCASIA, UIA, CAA & EAROPH member countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Bangladesh who insisted upon the resilience of women architects during the pandemic and the role of technology in making access to the profession easier. After the video messages, Ar. Seema Andaleeb was given the roster, who insisted upon the importance of good support systems for working women, especially within the domain of friends and family. Finally with Ar. Rabia Tanveer Alam, the women from academia panel was concluded.
Next up, the conveners introduced the audience to the panel of architects practicing in the field. The discussion was opened by Ar. Wajiha Rehan who discussed corporate culture and the incongruence in the division of labor and gender roles in Pakistani society. She also discussed how this struggle is an ongoing one, as corporate cultures usually take longer to change and companies are not willing to invest in employee retention. Subsequently, Ar. Anila Jahanzaib from ARCOP Associates discussed how the lack of incentives for architects with children, and how the load of childcare and professionalism both fall on the female gender, leading to high stress environment for women in the field. She urged institutions to work on policies that can assist women/make the workplace more comfortable for them. Then Ar. Nimra Qazi discussed the importance of creating platforms where women can get access to information only usually available to men, such as info on tax submission, firm registration etc. Finally, Ar. Sana Hussain Sabri re-emphasized the importance of workplace and site safety for women and how the uncertain safety measures/provisions can lead to female architects forgoing site based work altogether. Also on the importance of reaching out to female students and creating more awareness on the female role models/mentors that exist in the industry. Videos from the international architects encouraged students and young professionals to not be held back by the struggle/limited, instead to go out and make change.
The star studded event brought together eminent senior & junior architects and students from 04 different universities and created a discourse around the issues of women in the profession-breaking some taboos and creating a safe space for people to brainstorm how to better the industry and make it more equitable. The panel discussions were concluded with a vow to encourage collaboration between both gender for change within the industry. The conveners then called for the distribution of mementos to our panelists, with some of Islamabad’s senior architects coming forward to honor the guests. Mementos were also then given to the event sponsors and students volunteers.
