The AEC industry suffers from a disproportionate number of male over female professionals. A large number of female architects leave the profession early on in their careers, with unequal pay and the tendency to be overlooked in for senior positions cited alongside many other reasons.

Given these issues, why should women consider archipreneurship? Wouldn’t all the obstacles that come with being an entrepreneur simply add to the prevailing obstacles for women working in the field of architecture? Although running an enterprise will naturally involve a certain level of stress, being one’s own boss in archipreneurship enables women to compete with their male counterparts on a more equal playing field. Archipreneurship, then, presents an interesting alternative for women who don’t want to climb a male dominated hierarchy of conventionally run architecture practices.

This hypothesis – that archipreneurship opens up opportunities for women and levels the playing field – is supported by the last two Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) surveys, which showed that female-led startups were more resilient during the 2008 recession, and that there has been a 40 percent increase of women (compared to 20 percent of men) going into self-employment since 2000. “An estimated 7 million female entrepreneurs and 5 million female business owners worldwide plan to grow their businesses by at least six employees over the next five years.”

The following 7 female archipreneurs prove that they can practice architecture with autonomy and passion by taking alternative approaches that add value for clients and communities.

Gunita Kulikovska

Designer and entrepreneur Gunita Kuļikovska works at the intersection between architecture and technology. She made it onto Forbes Latvia’s 2016 “30 under 30” list, and co-founded GO VR Studio, a company developing professional applications of virtual reality for the AEC industry. Their flagship product, Vividly, allows architects, real estate developers, construction companies and clients to experience and modify projects before they’re built. In 2015, Kulikovska initiated the project and exhibition World without Architect? for the third Tallinn Architecture Biennale in 2015 that allowed visitors to participate in designing a house in VR, customize the designs, and 3D print their creations.

“I refused to believe that the only mission of a young architect in this world was to design forms and structures according to building regulations, and being beholden to a constant, competitive environment – all for tiny fees,” she explained in an interview for Archipreneur, “so Go VR Studio answered the question of how to unleash the potential of an architectural mindset and create real value.”

Anupama Kundoo

Indian architect Anupama Kundoo designs low-cost modular homes across India. She started her practice in 1990 where she was engaged as a researcher and teacher at several prestigious schools, including the AA School of Architecture in London and Parsons School of Design in New York. As a female architect, she has been at the forefront of the trend to build easily maintained and sustainable homes using modular elements. Her practice has enabled communities to build affordable, quality modular homes that have a low environmental footprint.

For the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, Kundoo brought together a team of Indian craftsmen and students from the University of Queensland and the Università Iuav di Venezia to build a full-sized model of her already completed 2000 project in India. The team used ferrocement for the model, which allowed them to build the house just as one would do with Lego blocks. Kundoo is a great example of how architects can combine research, teaching and practice to address a specific issue.

Courtney Brett Bridges

Courtney Brett Bridges went to college at 14, got into Auburn University’s architecture program at 16, worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) at 20, and at 24 became the youngest licensed architect in the history of the American Institute of Architects. Instead of climbing the ranks at SOM, she decided to create her own firm, Casburn Brett Architects, in 2012 in Alabama, away from big urban centers where most architecture practices set up shop. Around this time, she caught the eye of lean urbanism evangelist Andrés Duany, with whom she collaborated on a new master plan for High Point, North Carolina.

Brett Bridges focused her efforts on keeping her business approach lean and bettering small communities instead of opening several offices across the country. “In some small communities we come in and talk about lessening parking requirements and doing natural drainage, with buildings that are right on the road and walkable,” Brett Bridges told Curbed. She continues to work as an architect while she acts as a mediator between local government and developers.

Rocio Romero

Rocio Romero is a 35-year-old Chilean-American architect and entrepreneur. Her line of prefab houses, LV Homes, come as flexible designs that clients can purchase for under $50,000. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Southern California Institute of Architecture. She designed her first house for her parents in Chile, which later evolved into the LV Home and became the basis of her business.

Romero works with individual manufacturers to acquire trusses, wall panels and exterior cladding materials, and has the units transported via flatbed semi-trailers. By productizing her services, Romero has created a sustainable enterprise that allows for the streamlined production of beautifully designed living units. With Romero’s approach, clients know the value they get for their money as they can experiment with all the aspects of their house before it’s created, from layouts to sizes and finishes.

Tracy Young

Tracy Young is the founder of PlanGrid, an extremely popular mobile construction app that digitizes documentation such as reports, field notes, change orders and any type of document used during construction processes that would otherwise come in paper form. The app combines cloud-based storage with portable devices like the iPad.

Before starting her own company, Young worked as a construction field engineer on several civil projects. After experiencing the cumbersome nature of working with documents on construction sites, she recognized the need for a tool that would save construction companies money, reduce paper waste and maximize efficiency.

To establish PlanGrid, Young and her friend Ryan Sutton-Gee quit their jobs, brought on board two more co-founders, and put all their effort into building the company. The business has since seen a surge in users and has become the number one app for the construction industry.

Catherine Johnson and Rebecca Rudolph

Catherine Johnson and Rebecca Rudolph of Design, Bitches built their design firm by addressing a specific, growing niche in the architecture of Los Angeles. Their designs are closely connected to the food scene in LA and are infused with references to popular culture, movies, art and fashion. So far, they have designed several restaurants and food-related venues.

Both Johnson and Rudolph made the AR Women in Architecture Awards 2016 shortlist as a power duo that’s taking Los Angeles by storm. The humor and playfulness with which they approach design is embodied in their name. In an interview for LA Weekly Johnson said, “When we take our drawings to get building permits, our name makes the ladies at the building department smile.”

The post 7 Inspiring Female Archipreneurs Show How It’s Done appeared first on Archipreneur.

Architecture startups are often at the forefront of new trends, teaching their seasoned peers how to incorporate new technologies into their workflows, and utilize new media tools to bring their stories to audiences and clients. The state and diversity of the startup community shows the vitality of the architectural profession in general.

We’ve compiled a list of 10 most noteworthy architecture firms that have emerged over the last few years and managed to captivate the attention of both the AEC community and the public. Many among them are studios with interdisciplinary design approaches and strong social aspects to their work. Most exhibit a readiness to experiment with non-hierarchical organizational models, and build their own designs.

PENDA

Chris Precht and Dayong Sun, founders of Beijing-based design studio PENDA, seem to have their finger on the pulse of the profession. Their understanding of the architectural zeitgeist reflects in their office organization as well as their designs. They use new technologies and see architecture as a discipline that extends beyond physical space.

Despite accolades from the AEC community – the studio won the Emerging Firm of the Year Award at Architizer’s 2016 A+Awards – they are still a small team of only 11 people. This is a conscious decision by the founders who prefer to form long-term relationships with their employees and stay compact.

In an interview with Architizer, PENDA’s co-founder Chris Precht announced a new project currently under construction – a drone race track in London – and expanded on the studio’s philosophy: “The field of architecture, through new technology, is actually opening up so wide that [anything is possible]. This one combines so many things; it combines virtual reality with the real world. The audience can sit in front of their computer or with their virtual reality headsets and watch the drone race, and see exactly what the racer is able to see. This one is really a sport for the future, I think.”

Assemble

British design collective Assemble has received a huge amount of attention thanks to their entrepreneurial attitude to architecture. They are the first non-artists and the youngest people to win the famous Turner Prize with their Granby Four Streets project, an urban regeneration initiative to preserve and revive a cluster of Victorian-era terraced houses in Toxteth, Liverpool. They teamed up with local residents to refurbish the houses and create new job opportunities in the neighborhood.

For their first project, the collective transformed a dilapidating gas station in London into a temporary cinema. The project had no clients and was built by over a hundred volunteers. Continuing their guerrilla tactics, the collective transformed a disused motorway undercroft into an arts venue and public space, built and curated in collaboration with local residents and organizations as well as the Create Festival and the Barbican Centre. Social engagement allows the team to practice architecture with autonomy and make a palpable change in their community and beyond.

SILO AR+D

Design studio SILO AR+D has won The Architectural League’s 2016 Emerging Voices Award, awarded annually to leading talents in architecture and design in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.  The practice was founded in 2009 and has since been operating out of Ohio and Arkansas. As a studio based outside of major design centers, they straddle the line between different trends dominating the East and West coast.

Studio co-founder Frank Jacobus built his first project while studying at Cooper Union. He and his friend pitched the idea of building a large booth and a raised seating structure in the Hewitt Building’s pool hall on The Cooper Union campus to Dean Baker and got to realize their design.

Today, SILO AR+D produces many projects that are design-builds. One of them is Reflects-a tree house located in the Cleveland Botanical Garden – which cost $10,000 and took only ten weeks to build.

Taller KEN

New York and Guatemala City based studio Taller Ken was recognized as of this year’s emerging architecture firms by AIA New York’s New Practices Committee. The founders, Ines Guzman Mendez and Gregory Kahn, met at Renzo Piano Building Workshop while working on the new Whitney Museum of American Art in 2010. They launched their studio in 2013 and now count 10 employees who all earn the same salary.

The recognition from the AIA provided them with the necessary exposure to attract a large number of resumes from job candidates, but the firm still hasn’t acquired new commissions. Instead of going through the conventional process of employing team members and getting new clients, they decided to invite all the candidates to Guatemala City to participate in a design-build workshop, where they would select nine candidates.

They will also use the money from the award, as well as Indiegogo donations to fund the construction work on other local projects. Taller KEN continues to pursue projects in New York as well as Guatemala, the latter of which is more receptive to experimental design and entrepreneurial innovation.

MODU

MODU has won a number of renowned prizes this year, including a commendation for The WAN 21 for 21 Awards, which recognizes innovative architecture firms across the world. MODU uses an interdisciplinary, multi-scalar approach to design and produces work that bridges several disciplines.

Their projects are adaptable to different environmental conditions, a philosophy exemplified in the Cloud Seeding Pavilion. This 230sqm (2,500-square-foot) structure is located outside the Design Museum Holon in Israel and functions as a multi-use plaza pavilion. Its “seeds” are made of PET plastic and are recycled content from plastic water bottles. The ceiling supports 30,000 balls that move freely with the wind across its surface. The overhead movement changes the occupancy of different areas of the pavilion and connects the project cultural aspects to the invisible forces of weather.

La SHED Architecture

La SHED Architecture, a nine-person office based in Montreal, Canada, started as a brainchild of Renée Mailhot, MRAIC, Sébastien Parent and Yannick Laurin who graduated together in 2008 from the University of Montreal. They first worked out of their shared triplex, obtained licenses and decided to dedicate their full attention to building La SHED Architecture.

Their work is rooted in the local community and includes home renovations and commercial projects. The studio’s first project was a renovation of an existing duplex in Montreal, which they bought and redesigned. They invited friends, families, colleagues and members of the press to the opening of the project, sold it and landed new contracts.

Design, Bitches

Catherine Johnson and Rebecca Rudolph of Design, Bitches have built their design firm by addressing a specific, growing niche in the architecture of Los Angeles. Their designs are closely connected to the food scene in L.A. and are infused with references to popular culture, movies, art, and fashion. So far, they have designed several restaurants and food-related venues.

Both Johnson and Rudolph made the AR Women in Architecture Awards 2016 shortlist as a power duo that’s taking Los Angeles by storm. The humor and playfulness, with which they approach design, is embodied in their name. In an interview for LA Weekly, Johnson said, “When we take our drawings to get building permits, our name makes the ladies at the building department smile.”

Muir Mendes

Amy Muir, sole director of Australian firm Muir Mendes, launched her practice with the renovation of the Law Street House in South Melbourne. Together with her partner, Muir transformed the 1880s one-bedroom workman’s cottage into their own home over a period of 5 years.

After working for Carr Design for seven years as director of architecture, Muir founded her practice and has since become a member of the Victorian Chapter Council and the co-chair of the Victorian Small Practice Forum. She received the National Emerging Architect Prize for 2016 as one of the most exceptional architects and educators in the country.

Escobedo Soliz Studio

This Mexico City-based Escobedo Soliz Studio attracted the attention of the architectural community with their Weaving the Courtyard project which won the MoMA PS1’s 2016 Young Architects Program (YAP) in New York.

Their design addresses environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling, as well as the temporality of architectural imagery today. Despite having zero built projects, Escobedo Soliz Studio has a pragmatic approach to design and an appreciation of context and materials. Their preference of reused, recycled and locally sourced materials over technologically complex and expensive solutions are being recognized by competition juries, and it’s only a matter of time before the duo starts building.

Taller S-AR

Cesar Guerrero, Ana Cecilia Garza, and Carlos Flores founded S-AR in 2006, after years of working in architecture firms around the world. Combing their knowledge and experiences with new manufacturing techniques and construction processes, the principals amassed a body of work that takes advantage of available materials and resources. One of their most lauded projects is Casa Madera in San Pedro, Mexico – the first residential project in the city to be completely made of wood.

The team has also created a non-profit organization, Comunidad Vivex, which focuses on collaborating with low-income residents on social housing, community centers, and other types of socially aware projects. Local companies donate materials, and future tenants often partake in the construction of the buildings. One structure that has emerged from this concept is Casa Caja, or Box House, in Zuazua, Mexico.

All four founders won the Emerging Voices Award by the Architectural League of New York, which spotlights designers with the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design.

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What other architecture startups do you think will make an impact on the profession in the coming years?

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