Landmarks Illinois launched the Women Who Built Illinois project to address the fact that Chicago has yet to designate and protect a building designed by a woman as an official landmark. The initiative aims to create the first database of places in the state designed, engineered, and built by women between 1879 and 1979. This research will support advocacy work to recognize and protect these buildings—including the work of pioneering designers such as former SOM architect Gertrude Lempp Kerbis, who went on to found the first woman-owned firm in Chicago.
At a virtual event on Thursday, August 13, organizers from Landmarks Illinois will present the project, followed by a discussion with some of the women building Illinois today: leaders from AIA Illinois, AIA Chicago, Chicago Women in Architecture, and SOM Architectural Associate Ingedia Sanchez, president of Arquitectos Chicago.