A Barbie dollhouse and a field trip led me to become an architect − now I lead a program that teaches architecture to mostly young women in South Central Los Angeles
Share This
March 07, 2024
Lauren Matchison, Associate Professor of Practice, University of Southern California -
The Conversation
As a kid growing up in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, in the ’80s, my sister and I spent a lot of time playing with Barbie in the basement of our single-family home. I loved dressing her and imagining her life. But the best part about Barbie was her house.
I learned recently that the Barbie house I had was the Dreamhouse A-frame designed in 1979. The house takes its name from the fact that the front view of the steep roof looks like the capital letter “A.”
I clearly remember the distinctive yellow, orange and white color scheme and the sloping roof. But the best part was that the house could be configured in different ways. The house opened and closed, and walls and rooms could switch places. I could change Barbie’s whole world by changing her space. That was a powerful discovery.
Perhaps for many girls who grew up playing with a Barbie doll, it was doing her hair that might be the most memorable. But for me looking back – and as Barbie enthusiasts celebrate National Barbie Day on March 9, 2024, the iconic doll’s 65th year – it was playing with Barbie’s house that stands out. It was probably the first time I realized that the places where we live, work and play all serve to shape who we are.
Today, I am an architect and professor. I lead a program for high school students in South Central Los Angeles at the University of Southern California School of Architecture. The program, called the A-LAB Architecture Development Program, provides a pathway for young people – and especially for young women – into architecture as a field.
Only 25% of people working as architects in the U.S. are women. For comparison, 36% of lawyers are women and 41% of physicians and surgeons are women. This figure, and other facts about women in architecture, can be found in “Where are the Women? Measuring Progress on Gender in Architecture,” written by Kendall A. Nicholson, director of research, equity and education at Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
Having fun at work
A few years after my Barbie house experience, I took a school field trip to visit an architecture office in St. Louis. There I saw people who seemed like they were having fun at work.
Everywhere I looked, I saw pencils, markers, scissors, glue, cardboard and plenty of other tools I had never seen before. The office was full of creative people making drawings and models of new buildings and landscapes. The energy I felt there was exciting and palpable. These people had purpose. I decided that day that I would become an architect.
The prime minister of Thailand says he wants to outlaw the cannabis over concerns the lack of regulation had made it available to children and increased crimes
By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Stormy Daniels took the witness stand on Tuesday at Donald Trump’s criminal trial and described in lurid detail her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with the former U.S.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Pro-Palestinian protesters built barricades at the University of Amsterdam on Wednesday, using desks and railings to block off the canalside entrance in the heart of the city as
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points to help the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Dallas Mavericks 117-95 in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series