Member Yasmin Shariff with Ghada Al-Mafdai

Yasmin Shariff travelled from Nairobi, Kenya to Britain in 1975 to train as an architect at the Architectural Association in Bedford Square. She had no misconceptions that she was entering a male dominated profession.Forty five years later, despite all the equal opportunities legislation women are an under paid minority in the profession. There are only 29% registered women architects in contrast with lawyers and medics who have almost an equal numbers on their registers.

In 2014, as a trustee of the Architectural Association, Yasmin devised the AA XX project to mark a centenary since the first woman was allowed to enrol at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. Yasmin’s talk will outline the success of the project and the key contribution of women architects. AA XX was a catalyst for change- the AA library and archive actively engaged in spotlighting the talent of women; there were lectures, seminars, an exhibition, book and Wikipedia set up workshops for students to showcase the work of women architects. The networks and friendships that were established because of the project continue to grow and thrive.

Ghada Al-Mafdai is an architect at Imperial College , working for Imperial Innovations, and was a key participant in the AA XX project