The South African Council for the Architecture Profession (Sacap) has appointed a task team to increase the participation of women in the architectural profession and deal with the gender imbalance of registered professionals.
The new Women in Architecture South Africa (WiASA) task team aimed to provide overall support to women in the industry, while enabling access and opportunity for women into the profession; support the development of women-owned practices; and promote architecture as an attractive career choice for young women, besides others.
WiASA was headed up by chairperson Karuni Naidoo, and supported by Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection secretary and human resources manager Sedica Davids; TCN Architects professional architect Carika Anel Gouws; University of Cape Town School of Architecture academic development lecturer Simone le Grange; University of Johannesburg Department of Architecture junior lecturer and candidate architect Onthatile Makgalemela; and Sophia Gray Laureate Mira Fassler Kamstra, who was nominated as patron.
With transformation a key strategic objective of the fourth-term Sacap council, nominations for the newly developed WiASA programme opened in October, with 45 applications received.
“One of the main objectives of WiASA is to transform and change the culture within the profession. It is progressive, broad and far-reaching and provides a structure within which women in architecture can begin to address their needs,” the organisation said.
Further details of the programme would be announced following the first meeting of the task team.