Women in Architecture & Film

Perth Design Week celebrates remarkable women in architecture and film in a panel discussion and award-winning film screening. 

Urban planning and design define how cities function and people live. 

When dealing with poverty, industry, social justice, and positive and creative communities, a move in one direction can have a multi-generational effect that may never be repaired or reconciled. On the other hand, visionary thinking goes beyond simply thinking about the function, making a lasting difference in the lives, communities, and economies of suburbs, cities and countries. 

These two films take us into two worlds - one explores the visionary approach, the other, a symphonically chaotic race toward unbridled materialism in a developing economy. 

We invite you to a very special pre-screening panel discussion with Australia's Government Architects - who are all women.

Who will you hear from? 

Presented in association with the Revelation Perth International Film Festival and curated by Richard Sowada. The panel will discuss the role of women in architecture, then stay on for the double feature screening of award-winning films; City Dreamers and Ascension curated to celebrate remarkable women working in architecture and film. 

Facilitated by Sandy Anghie WA President of the Australian Institute of Architects, see who you will be hearing from; 

• ACT Government Architect – Catherine Townsend FFRAIA
• NSW Government Architect – Abbie Galvin
• QLD Government Architect – Leah Lang
• VIC  Government Architect – Jill Garner
• WA Government Architect – Rebecca Moore

Discussions will commence at 6.30pm, followed by back-to-back double bill film screenings. Light food and drinks are available for purchase. BYO snacks permitted.  

Screening: CITY DREAMERS

Dir: Joseph Hillel

Year: 2018

Country: Canada

Duration: 80mins

City Dreamers is a film about our changing urban environment and four trailblazing women architects who have been working, observing and thinking about the transformations shaping the cities of today and tomorrow for over 70 years.

Phyllis Lambert, Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and Denise Scott Brown may not be household names, but architecture and urban planning aficionados likely know that these women have worked with some of the greatest architects of our time, including the likes of Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn and Robert Venturi. In the course of their inspiring careers, they have left an indelible mark on several cities across North America and Europe.

These women, who are for the most part still active, hold the titles of architect, urban planner, landscape architect, curator, educator and/or activist and have amassed a long list of illustrious accomplishments, publications, honorary degrees and other distinctions over their respective careers. But while the credentials and achievements of these great women deserve to be more widely known and celebrated, they are not the only focus of this feature documentary. City Dreamers is above all inspired by what has united these four women throughout their careers: the “dream” of a fundamentally human and inclusive city.

Screening: ASCENSION

Dir: Jessica Kingdon

Year: 2021

Country: USA

Duration: 97mins

Nominated for an Academy Award in 2022, this stunning symphonic documentary takes us on a journey into contemporary China’s race for an intangible capitalist and consumer-driven future. Through beautifully filmed and absorbing vignettes, this sparkling ands surprising work has something of the documentary classic Koyaanisqatsi about it as we traverse the industrial and urban world of China’s new economy and perception of itself and along the journey provides insights and connections to our own levels of consumerist behaviour and hunger for stuff and social acceptance.