Letter: Building equality

Sebastian Tombs
Tuesday 03 August 1999 18:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sir: I was horrified to read the view of Richard Todd, a civil engineer, (Letter, 30 July) that his granddaughter had "no chance" in architecture because she was female.

Bastions of the architectural profession have been crumbling, fortunately, in recent years. As role models appear (Eva Jiricna, Zaha Hadid and others), the student intake is about 50/50 across the sexes. As children, girls are as able as boys to take up design challenges.

The Aberdeen-based "Designing the Future" programme, run jointly between the Urban Studies Centre, the schools and local architects, produced some amazing results: the top prize went to a young woman for a fantastic conference centre in a disused quarry.

The Construction Industry Board is busy campaigning to change the industry's image and attract a broader spectrum of society - including women. It may be things aren't changing fast enough for Richard Todd - but I doubt many women architects would recognise the "poseur" tag. They're all too busy.

SEBASTIAN TOMBS

Secretary & Treasurer

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland

Edinburgh

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in