Denisa Dolanská

Denisa Dolanská is an architect and researcher. She graduated in architecture at the FA CTU in Prague. Afterwards she completed the Theory and History of Modern and Contemporary Art master degree with a diploma thesis dedicated to the first women architects in interwar Czechoslovakia. She expands the topic further in her postgraduate project, where she focuses mainly on working conditions, professional organizations and activities of architectural associations.

Working conditions of female architects during the period of the First Czechoslovak Republic

For a long time, women were overshadowed in the architectural profession. And despite the fact that immediately after the establishment of the First Czechoslovak Republic, i.e. after the establishment of formal equality of men and women, they began to achieve their first successes in the field of architecture. However their work often fell into oblivion. In order to understand the phenomenon of the disappearance of women from the architectural profession, it is necessary to comprehend how architecture was practiced. Therefore, the project will first try to map the legislative framework of the Czechoslovak Republic, especially the social policy concept, labor and family law. During the First Republic, there was a whole spectrum of associations and unions. The aim of this work is to uncover the organizational structure and practical functioning of these associations, focusing mainly on entry conditions, benefits and obligations arising from membership with an emphasis on the position of women in this system, uncovering potential obstacles to career advancement and their proportional representation. Besides architectural and artistic associations, female architects were also active in women's associations.