Migration.Women.Architecture

Migration . Women . Architecture Words: Marika Neustupny, Mirjana Lozanovska, Maryam Gusheh This special issue of AV evolved out of an understanding that things are difficult for women, and can be very difficult for first generation migrant women from non-English speaking backgrounds. Those new to Australia find it difficult to secure local professional networks, to have their experience recognised and sometimes to secure jobs. This special issue also comes from the understanding that migrants bring insights to distinct architectural and urban traditions; and that the process of migration, of moving and adjusting from one place to another, can be harsh and alienating, but also creative, sometimes both, at the same time. We wanted to acknowledge and bring attention and care to these relatively silent issues in the architectural community. We wanted to advocate for migrants’ knowledge and capacities; to highlight the diversity of architects that are educated in or out of Australia and to introduce significant architects from the broad range of places that Australian immigrants come from. Perhaps most importantly, we wanted to use architecture and architectural design as a medium through which to build awareness, curiosity; to demystify cultural difference and foster acceptance and exchange. The early meetings of the yet-to-be editorial team of Marika Neustupny, with Mirjana Lozanovska and Maryam Gusheh, were warm and lively! We were connected by a shared drive to recalibrate the value of cultural diversity to the discipline of architecture, architectural education and the profession. Our work, research and engagements with Australian architecture, our reflections on migration and positions of arrival, all informed our early conversations. We spoke of experiences spanning across many decades.