Sophia Hayden Bennett

Sophia was the first woman to be accepted in the course of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She graduated in 1890, but ended up working as a technical drawing teacher due to the machism pressures that prevented her from being hired as an architect. However, in 1891 she saw an ad that summoned female architects to sign up for the project of the Women's Building, which would be part of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Hayden’s propose, based on her work of course conclusion, was a three-story building in the Italian Renaissance style. Among the thirteen proposals, the jury chose hers. With only 21 years, Hayden received a thousand dollars for her project, a tenth of what many men architects received by equivalent work. The building was marked by constant struggle against the architect, imposed by the building committee. Under rumors that she would have freaked out, she was placed in a sanatorium for some time, preventing her from attending the opening ceremony of the building. The fact was used by many people at the time as a proof that women could not be architects.

 

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Country of origin: Chile

Born: 1868

Died: 1953

Education: MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Places of professional performance: United States of America

Selects Projects:

• Women's Pavilion, Chicago – USA

 

Curiosities: Sophia Gregoria Hayden Bennett was born in Chile in 1868 and lived until 1953. She moved very young to the United States, where she graduated and built her entire professional career.

 

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