The Gendered Order in the Subject Culture of the Contemporary Architectural Profession

This dissertation project, located in subproject D2, investigates the gendered order of subject formations in contemporary architecture. Despite an increasing proportion of women in education, architecture is still a male-dominated profession, as the high proportion of female graduates is not reflected in professional practice. Although the research literature identifies architecture as a “male profession” and notes the exclusion of women, a more in-depth specification of the professional cultural gendering taking place has been lacking. The research interest therefore consists, first of all, in investigating what significance the gendered concepts of the artist figure anchored in the genius discourse of Romanticism and the economic-technically oriented doer still have for the contemporary architectural profession, and what, possibly also new, content-related shaping they experience, possibly also with regard to different sub-areas of architecture. Secondly, it is of analytical interest what implications this has for the professional orientations of architects. From a practical point of view, the prevailing professional narratives and the associated modes of gendering will be gathered in an empirical inquiry by means of qualitative in-depth interviews with architects working primarily in architectural offices. These will be examined from the perspective of a sociology of knowledge, which will provide a deeper understanding of the research complex.