Memoirs of a female architect

16 Jan, 2022 - 00:01 0 Views
Memoirs of a female architect

The Sunday Mail

Enacy Mapakame

According to the great Italian painter, draughtsman and theorist, Leonardo da Vinci, beauty perishes in life, but it is immortal in art. Timeless man-made architectural forms that grace the earth complement words from the savant.

“Architecture, our art, with its splendour and beauty inspired me and now a team to bring to life the birth, rise and growth of Up North Architect, a full service architectural firm based in Harare, Zimbabwe,” said Ratidzo Gumbo, Up North Architect (UNA) founder and principal architect.

“Architecture at its rudimentary core is story sharing. The combination of conceptualisation and the building form is meant to move our souls to reiterating our client’s desires. Our complementary service in making an idea come to physical existence,” she said.

Established in 2019, UNA has already worked on big projects such as the renovation of the Chitepo School of Ideology, Howera Resort in Nyanga and King Solomon Hotel in Hwange among others.

The firm focuses on innovative interior and exterior human space designs. Gumbo said it is at the forefront of design by exploring new forms, pushing boundaries and evolving with technology without compromising the authenticity of the design, materials aesthetics and originality.

According to the Washington DC headquartered Women in Architect, the number of female students has increased progressively since the 1970s. However, the number of women that become registered, achieve upper management levels, become partners and own architectural firms has not increased at the same rate or in the same proportion as their male architectural counterparts.

Currently only 17 percent of registered architects are women globally. For Gumbo, being part of the 17 percent is inspiring and has pushed her to make a mark in this male dominated sector.

“The stereotype of an architect is of a man, thus competitively participating in a male dominated sector is not only humbling, but simultaneously inspiring. There is strength in the feminine touch we add to the sector and we focus on our creative strength and resilience to remain competitive.

“Also thanks to the increasing empowerment of women there is a significant increase in female entrepreneurs, potential and established home owners and construction businesses that are comfortable working with a female-led company,” she said, adding she also drew inspiration from one of the greatest female architects in history — Dame Zaha Hadid from Iraq. The Iraq designer is listed as one of the best 10 female architects of all time and was the first woman architect to win the Pritzker Prize, a prestigious symbol of recognition among living architects for their vision, talent, and commitment, despite the challenging and patriarchal environment of Iraq.

Although architecture remains a tough profession for women to break into, Gumbo said it is imperative for both males and females to invest in their careers and businesses by learning as much as they can on their own and through interacting with other established professionals that can become mentors and partners in their firms.

This is in addition to persistence, patience and discipline required to achieve long term goals, integrity and professionalism to progressively steer the firm onto the international playing field.

She said: “These traits open doors never before fathomed as more people, local and international firms recognise and appreciate such work completed.”

Being a holder of a Bachelor in Architectural Studies Honours degree herself from the National University of Science and Technology, she added her family played a critical role in her career by instilling values built on respect, honour and upon God.

For UNA, the journey was also aided by prayer, the willingness to work long hours, having a balanced work-rest lifestyle as well as networking with progressive individuals.

Arc Gumbo, however, acknowledges the sector comes with its challenges just like other economic sectors of the economy, key among them being limited access to funding for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) due to lack of collateral.

The sector also battles unavailability and overpricing of construction materials locally.

“A lot of construction inputs are purchased from China, South Africa and Botswana, a situation that subtly erodes confidence in our manufacturing and construction sector.

“Some tenders are awarded to foreign firms and some to firms that employ foreign individuals who then leave the country with money and knowledge that is supposed to be added to our nation,” she said adding there is also rampant brain drain in the sector as skilled manpower migrates to other countries for better remuneration.

“The migration also leads to unfinished projects. Thus more regulation and vetting should be done by the individuals, the private and public sector before awarding tenders and or projects to architectural firms. Also growth of individual firms should be supported by strong policing and finance from the public and private sector.

“More specific architectural institutes and licensing bodies should be established that assess the suitability and or adequacy of plant and equipment, supervisory qualifications of architects and firms before they are engaged for a project, a move that will aid the growth, international recognition and calibre of projects both our national architectural and construction companies can participate in,” she said.

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