Parlour, a fascinating new Australian site with the tagline above, has a dual objective: first, creating a forum for discussion of and opportunities for women in architecture, and second, reporting on research, scholarship and the history of same. The name is a play on both
parler (from the French) and
parlor (from the American): a place to speak about and advocate for better representation of women in architecture. (It also has a terrific identity, designed by Catherine Griffiths, of
Studio Catherine Griffiths.) The site is curated and edited by Justine Clark, with co-editors Naomi Stead, Karen Burns, Sandra Kaji-O’Grady, Julie Willis, Amanda Roan and Gill Matthewson. While the site has an Australian focus, the issues it covers are international: recently, Andrew Maynard has written about "
Work/Life/Work Balance" and how ingrained, exploitative work patterns for architecture firms hurt both women and men, while in her essay "
I Count" Neph Wake, describes why the feminist project is not complete for architecture.
Discussing the role for women in architecture is a necessary first step to change. The next step will be setting up parlors for frank talk in other countries.