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At an early age, Susan Maxman knew that she wanted to become an architect. Her father was a businessman that was supportive of her dreams and her mother encouraged her drawing skills. She went to the Columbus School for Girls and was raised in a society that assumed women would take a traditional role and stay at home. In 1956, she enrolled at Smith College, which was also an all-women school, but there she realized that women were capable of succeeding in many disciplines.
Her parents thought she would be a housewife, but as she would later prove, she was determined to become much more than that. Though Maxwell was not nearly as oppressed as de Blois, she did face several challenges on her path to success.
She was raised in the 20th century where dramatic changes were being made for women, but she still encountered a few men like Gordon Bunshaft. One example would be when she went to Penn with her then-husband, Leonard Frankel.
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“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”
She tried to enter their undergraduate architecture program, but the University told her that it was “no place for women.” She returned to the University of Pennsylvania at thirty years old and after having six children. Life got very stressful, and despite discouraging comments from her calculus and physics professors, she excelled and was finally able to enroll in architecture school. She pushed through and graduated with her master’s degree in architecture in 1977. Like de Blois, Maxman knew she was involved in a male-dominated field.
There were only eleven women in her graduating class, which was actually a large number. There were usually only three women per sixty students.Unlike de Blois, however, Maxwell was able to take credit for her own work and even start her own firm in 1980 with Ann Sutphin, a former classmate. Eventually, “she became the sole proprietor of a growing company, now called “Susan Maxman Architects.”” (“Susan”, 2018)
The discrimination never stopped for Maxman. Shortly after starting this firm, one client refused “to believe she was an architect until he saw the registration credentials in [her] office.” (“Susan”, 2018)Maxman does feel like a role model to other women in the field. Later in life, she wrote “I saw how women felt about the profession at the time, how hostile it was for them, and how downtrodden they were, I thought the best way to show them that you can do whatever you want if you want to do it hard enough is by example. You can get beyond the barriers and go forward and not think about being a woman, just about being the best you can be at something.” (“Susan”, 2018)For her, discrimination was best overcome when she took on positions in professional organizations. This position would show men that she was serious, and her work was among the best. She did have some male supporters in her life, like her father and ex-husband. She also recalled some male mentors who encouraged her to run for president, and she became the first female president of AIA.
One of her works is the Germantown Friends School Science Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Susan Maxman & Partners designed a building that “integrates with the school's science curriculum to create a building that teaches,” (“Germantown”). The building encourages the children in the school to study and research while giving them the chance to participate in hands-on learning in the field of science. For example, the central courtyard provides an active outdoor classroom where kids can get apply their studies. There are six labs in the building, two for each type of science taught. Either Chemistry, Biology, or Physics, each room is specifically designed to teach the subject. For example, biology is on the ground floor with access to the courtyard raingarden areas. Chemistry is on the second floor so that the exhaust from the fume hoods can exit safely. The floor is also laser cut with the Periodic Table of Elements as integrated educational tool.The building is also very environmentally friendly because Maxman actively advocated for sustainability and an ecological consciousness throughout her career as well. For example, there are systems for stormwater management. The rooftop gardens use the water and there are also two aboveground cisterns that use the rainwater for flushing toilets. The building also promotes day lighting and natural ventilation. The classrooms have a replaceable floor surface in case of chemical spills, and rubber tiles provide a green alternative to traditional vinyl flooring.
After researching Maxman, I have found that I feel the same way in my experience in life so far. I have taken part in many things in my life that are male-dominated. I was on co-ed soccer teams, in the math club, and in robotics club. I do not let this stop me though. I feel like working hard and succeeding will only prove that I belong in those fields.
The Biography Of an Architect Susan Maxman. (2024, Feb 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-biography-of-an-architect-susan-maxman-essay
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