Memories of difference: architects' perceptions of professional regression and gender inequality in Pinochet's Chile

Abstract

Architecture, as practised in Western countries, is one of the professions that has amply incorporated women in the last century, gradually encouraging equality in the workplace. But, as is common in other occupations, women architects have been and still are susceptible to experiencing gender barriers such as the so-called ‘glass ceiling’ and ‘sticky floor’, as well as a gender pay gap and overexertion with respect to men. Moreover, when considering historical trajectories, the fragility of gender equality in architecture becomes apparent as it is highly reactive to social and economic crises, demonstrating that, although labour conditions can advance over time, they can also regress. Based on oral interviews, this article studies the case of Chilean architects who were students and young professionals in the 1960s and early 70s — the years preceding the military coup led by Augusto Pinochet in Chile in 1973 — showing how an enhanced attention to collective action during those years of political reform and social fervour motivated impressions of gender equality. In contrast, the social crisis and abrupt cultural transformation prompted by Pinochet's military regime deeply affected women architects' perception of professional agency — that is, their ability to feel integrated and find rewarding jobs.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Rudolf Wittkower and Margot Wittkower, Born Under Saturn: The Character and Conduct of Artists (New York, NY: The New York Review Books, 2006), first publ. in 1969.

2 See Judith R. Blau, Architects and Firms: A Sociological Perspective on Architectural Practice (Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 1984); Dana Cuff, Architects: The Story of Practice (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1991); and Thomas Yarrow, Architects: Portraits of a Practice (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019).

3 See Mary N. Woods, From Craft to Profession: The Practice of Architecture in Nineteenth-century America (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999); and Architecture School: Three Centuries of Educating Architects in North America, ed. by Joan Ockman (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2012).

4 Woods, From Craft to Profession, p. 144.

5 Blau, Architects and Firms, p. 27.

6 See ibid.; and Cuff, Architects, p. 145.

7 Anne Witz, Professions and Patriarchy (London: Routledge, 1992).

8 See Patricia Molina and Begoña Laquidáin, Arquitectura y género. Situación y perspectiva de las mujeres arquitectas en el ejercicio profesional [Architecture and Gender: Conditions and Perspectives of Women Architects in the Professional Practice] (Madrid: Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España, 2009); Yolanda Agudo and Inés Sánchez, ‘Construyendo un lugar en la profesión: trayectorias de las arquitectas españolas’ [‘Building a Place in the Profession: Trajectories of Spanish Women Architects’], Feminismo/s, 17 (2011), 155–81; and Ines Moisset, Natalia Czytajlo, Cayetana Mercé, Silvana Parentella, and Victoria Sancho, Encuesta Arquitectas Argentinas. Situación profesional e igualdad de género en la arquitectura. Documento de trabajo [Survey of Argentine Women Architects: Professional Status and Gender Equality in Architecture] (Buenos Aires: Soy Arquitecta UADFem CONICET – OFUT, 2021).

9 Bridget Fowler and Fiona Wilson, ‘Women Architects and Their Discontents’, Sociology, 38.1 (2004), 101–19.

10 Mary Shepard and Katarzyna Kosmala, ‘Identification through Disidentification: A life Course Perspective on Professional Belonging’, Architectural Theory Review, 17.2 (2012), 216–33 (p. 230).

11 Agudo and Sánchez, ‘Construyendo un lugar en la profesión’.

12 Considering the involvement of human subjects, the research protocol for this project was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Chile and duly signed by its President, Mr. Miguel Contreras Alonso, on 22 June 2020.

13 Two other architecture schools had been recently founded in Valparaiso and Concepcion: the Catholic University of Valparaiso (1952) and the University of Bio-Bio (1969).

14 Today, the proportion of women is around 51% of the total number of graduates. Data has been extracted and analysed statistically from Cien años de arquitectura en la Universidad Católica: 1894–1994 [One Hundred Years of Architecture at the Catholic University: 1894–1994], ed. by Wren Strabucchi (Santiago: Ediciones ARQ, 1994); and Ciento cincuenta años de enseñanza de la arquitectura en la Universidad de Chile, 1849–1999 [One Hundred and Fifty Years of Architectural Education at the University of Chile, 1849–1999], ed. by Patricio Basáez (Santiago: Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Universidad de Chile, 2001). Present day data can be found in the website Mi Futuro, Subsecretaría de Educación Superior, Buscador de estadísticas por Carrera, 2022 <https://www.mifuturo.cl/buscador-de-estadisticas-por-carrera> [accessed 15 May 2022].

15 Elizabeth Quay Hutchison and María Soledad Zárate Campos, ‘Clases medias en Chile: Estado, género y prácticas políticas, 1920–1970’ [‘Middle Classes in Chile: State, Gender and Political Practices, 1920–1970’], in Historia política de Chile, 1810–2010. Prácticas políticas, ed. by Iván Jaksic and Juan Luis Ossa (Santiago: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2017), pp. 271–300.

16 Chile: la búsqueda de la democracia (1960–2010), 5 vols, ed. by Joaquín Fermandois (Barcelona: Taurus, 2015), V.

17 See Fernando Pérez, ‘Arquitectura, cultura y práctica profesional en Chile, 1930–1980’ [‘Architecture, Culture and Professional Practice in Chile, 1930–1980’], in Portales del laberinto: arquitectura y ciudad en Chile, 1977–2009, ed. by Jorge Francisco Liernur (Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Andrés Bello, 2009), pp. 59–120; and Memorias de un arquitecto obstinado [Memoirs of an Obstinate Architect], ed. by Miguel Lawner and Pablo Fuentes (Concepción: Universidad del Bío-Bío, 2013).

18 Rodrigo Pérez de Arce, ‘El jardín de los senderos entrecruzados: la remodelación San Borja y las escuelas de arquitectura’ [‘The Garden of Intersected Paths: The Remodelación San Borja and the Schools of Architecture’], ARQ, 92 (2016), 50–67 <https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-69962016000100007>.

19 Ana Chatelier, ‘Les enseignants latino-américains dans le renouvellement de l’enseignement de l’architecture en France (1969–1990)’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, École doctorale Sciences Humaines et Sociales ED 514, Université de Strasbourg, 2023). The authors would like to thank Ms. Chatelier for sharing her work with them.

20 Chile: la búsqueda de la democracia, ed. by Fermandois.

21 See Memorias, ed. by Lawner and Fuentes, p. 194; and Pérez, ‘Arquitectura, cultura y práctica profesional en Chile’.

22 See Portales del laberinto. Arquitectura y ciudad en Chile, 1977–2009 [Portals of the Labyrinth: Architecture and City in Chile, 1977–2009], ed. by Jorge Francisco Liernur (Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Andrés Bello, 2009); Cristián Jara, Ciudad, sociedad y acción gremial. Los arquitectos del Chile en el siglo XX [City, Society and Union Action: The Architects of Chile in the 20th Century] (Santiago: Ediciones LOM, 2015); Fernando Portal, ‘Neoliberalismo, autoritarismo y exhibicionismo. La Bienal de Arquitectura y el desencuentro entre política y profesión, 1977–1983’ [‘Neoliberalism, Authoritarianism and Exhibitionism: The Biennial of Architecture and the Misunderstanding between Politics and Profession, 1977–1983’], in Santiago 1977–1990. Arquitectura, ciudad y política, ed. by Daniel Talesnik (Santiago: ARQ, 2021), pp. 74–89.

23 Amarí Peliowski, Thiare León, and Valentina Saavedra, ‘Arquitectura y cuidados: función pública e identidad asistencial en la primera generación de arquitectas chilenas’ [‘Architecture and Care: Public Function and Identities of Assistance in the First Generation of Chilean Women Architects’], ARQ, 109 (2021), 26–37.

24 María Eugenia, female, 70 years old, graduated from the University of Chile. Quotations from oral interviews have been translated to English by the authors. The ages of the interviewees correspond to what they informed at the time of the interview. Interviews took place across 2020 and 2021: María Eugenia Monreal on 10 August 2020; Olga Segovia on 11 August 2020; Ana María Ehijo on 13 August 2020; Myriam Beach on 20 August 2020; Alberto Montealegre on 20 August 2020; José Rosas on 9 September 2020; Cristina Latorre on 4 September 2020; María Luisa Aguado on 30 September 2020; Luis Eduardo Bresciani on 8 October 2020; Juan Sabbagh on 14 October 2020; Pilar Barba on 16 October 2020; Pilar Urrejola on 19 October 2020; Cecilia Puga on 26 October 2020; Sholem Peliowski on 11 November 2020; Amelia Orrego on 27 November 2020; Ana Sugranyes on 7 September 2021; and Joan MacDonald on 8 September 2021.

25 José, male, 68 years old, graduated from the Catholic University of Chile.

26 María Cristina, female, 69 years old, graduated from the University of Chile.

27 Ana María, female, 70 years old, graduated from the University of Chile

28 Joan, female, 80 years old, graduated from the Catholic University of Chile.

29 Vamos p’arriba. La remodelación San Borja y la vivienda vertical en Chile [Let's Go Upwards: The San Borja Remodeling and Vertical Housing in Chile], ed. by Francisco Díaz, Gonzalo Carrasco, and Amarí Peliowski (Santiago: ARQ, 2022).

30 Pilar, female, 68 years old, graduated from the University of Chile.

31 Juan, male, 71 years old, graduated from the University of Chile.

32 Sholem, male, 67 years old, graduated from the University of Chile.

33 Alberto, male, 86 years old, graduated from the Catholic University of Chile.

34 See note 14.

35 Olga, female, 66 years old, graduated from the University of Chile.

36 María Luisa, female, 68 years old, graduated from the Catholic University of Chile.

37 Wordplay referring to ‘Marxism-Leninism’, in Spanish ‘Marxismo-Leninismo’.

38 Margaret Power, ‘La unidad popular y la masculinidad’ [‘The Popular Unity and Masculinity’], La ventana, 6 (1997), 250–70 (p. 251) <https://doi.org/10.32870/lv.v1i7.416>.

39 Power; Alfonso Salgado, ‘The Rearguard of the Vanguard: Women, Home and Communist Activism in Chile, 1930–73’, Gender & History, 32.2 (2020), 393–410 <https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0424.12482>.

40 Spanish has gendered nouns, so ‘worker’ is the translation of ‘male worker’ [trabajador]. The phrase is ‘Mujer, con fuego y valor, ya estás aquí junto al trabajador.’

41 Alfonso Salgado, ‘A Small Revolution: Family, Sex and the Communist Youth of Chile during the Allende Years (1970–1973)’, Twentieth Century Communism, 8 (2015), 62–88.

42 Amelia, female, 71 years old, graduated from the Catholic University of Chile.

43 See Ocho arquitectos en la memoria [Eight Architects in Memory], ed. by Ana María Barrenechea (Santiago: Comité de Derechos Humanos y Ciudadanos Colegio de Arquitectos, 2005); and Chile: la búsqueda de la democracia, ed. by Fermandois.

44 Luis Eduardo, male, 55 years old, graduated from the Catholic University of Chile.

45 Pilar B., female, 59 years old, graduated from the University of Chile.

46 PEM (Programa de Empleo Mínimo) and POHJ (Programa de Ocupación para Jefes de Hogar) were employment programs that were created posterior to the 1982 economic crisis.

47 Luz María De la Vega, ‘Papel de la Mujer en la Arquitectura Chilena’ [‘The Role of Women in Chilean Architecture’], El Mercurio, 31 August 1981, D22.

48 Witz, Professions and Patriarchy.

49 Patricia Castañeda and Ana María Salamé, ‘Memoria profesional y Trabajo Social chileno. Reforma agraria y dictadura militar’ [‘Professional Memory and Social Work in Chile: Agrarian Reform and Military Dictatorship’], Revista Katálysis, 18.2 (2015), 258–66.

50 Joan Tronto, Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care (New York, NY: Routledge, 1993), p. 103.

51 Kathya Araujo, ‘Sujeto y neoliberalismo en Chile: rechazos y apegos’ [‘Subject and Neoliberalism in Chile: Rejections and Attachments’], Nuevo mundo mundos nuevos, (2017) <http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/70649> [accessed 10 January 2024].

52 Heidi Tinsman, ‘Reviving Feminist Materialism: Gender and Neoliberalism in Pinochet's Chile’, Signs, 26.1 (2000), 145–88 (p. 147).

53 Ibid.

54 Steve J. Stern, Reckoning with Pinochet: The Memory Question in Democratic Chile, 1989–2006 (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010), p. 113.

55 See MATRIX, Making Space: Women and the Man-Made Environment (London: Verso Books, 2022 [1984]); and Joan Tronto, ‘Caring Architecture’, in Critical Care: Architecture and Urbanism for a Broken Planet, ed. by Angelika Fitz, Elke Krasny, and Architekturzentrum Wien (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2019).

 

Additional information

Funding

This article shows some of the results of the research project Fondecyt n^o 11190292 (2019–2023), funded by the National Agency of Research and Development (ANID) of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation of Chile.