Brick manufacturers’ competition by Mary Dorothy Edwards. (Edwards Collection ME2, Architecture Archive, University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.)
Mary Dorothy Edwards’ (1909-1995) drawing for the Brick Manufacturers’ competition dates from the 1930s when she was an Architecture student at Auckland University College, as the University of Auckland was then known. Edwards graduated with a degree in Architecture in 1938, one of the first women to do so, and went on to have a long career as an architect. The Architecture Archive holds more than 40 of her drawings in its collection.
Hagia Sophia by Mary Dorothy Edwards. (Edwards Collection ME2, Architecture Archive, University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.)
Typical carpentry joints by Mary Dorothy Edwards. (Edwards Collection ME2, Architecture Archive, University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.)
Other examples of her student work, along with 100+ more items from the Architecture Archive and Architecture and Planning Library, will be on display at the Gus Fisher Gallery from 8 September until 4 November 2017. The exhibition, The Auckland School: 100 Years of Architecture and Planning, curated by Michael Milojevic, Lucy Treep, Andrew Barrie and Julia Gatley, forms part of the celebrations taking place this year to mark the School of Architecture and Planning’s centenary.
A book of the same name, edited by Julia Gatley and Lucy Treep, will be launched at the exhibition opening. It documents the development of the School from its humble beginnings, through to the vibrant and busy environment we have today. Copies of the book will be added to the Architecture and Planning Library as soon as possible after its launch.
Treep, who holds a Postdoctoral Fellowship to research and co-write the book, names burrowing in the Architecture Archive at the Architecture and Planning Library as one of the highlights of the project.1 Anyone wishing to delve into the Architecture Archive’s collections for their own research should contact Sarah Cox, Architecture Archivist, to arrange an appointment.
More information about the centenary events.
Sarah Cox, Architecture Archivist
References
1 Lucy Treep, “History: The dignified and the beautiful.” Ingenio: The University of Auckland Alumni Magazine, Autumn, (2017): 37
The Auckland School: 100 years of Architecture and Planning.
One Comment
“She went on to have a long career as an Architect”…..this was well before the days of equal pay for women, and the acceptence of Architecture as a career “suitable” for a woman. She must have encountered many struggles, not to mention some aggrevation from a few men on the building sites, not liking to have a woman architect telling them what to do! What a great and formidable woman, having the strength of purpose to pursue Architecture in those tiimes.
Comments are closed