Work of 100 women architects showcased in demountable "mini libraries"

Designer Steve Jensen has led a team of RCA graduates to create an exhibition showcasing the practitioners in RIBA's 100 Women: Architects in Practice book at the Roca Gallery in London.

Curated by the authors of 100 Women: Architects in Practice – academics Harriet Harriss, Naomi House, Monika Parrinder and Dezeen editor Tom Ravenscroft – the exhibition at the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed gallery aims to translate the book into an engaging display.

"The challenge was to take a book, which is essentially 2D and flat, and make it an intriguing and interesting exhibition that would showcase the 100 exceptional women," the curators told Dezeen.

"We were determined that this be more than foam boards on walls," they continued. "Steve's idea was to create a series of demountable mini libraries that would contain images of the women and their work, along with a book and a pair of physical dioramas."

Jensen and his team of graduates from the Royal College of Art (RCA) – Yadan Guo, Emily Marzocchi, Josephine Menut and Clare Walsh – wanted to create an exhibition that could easily travel.

As the book features architects from 78 countries, the team hoped this would continue its ethos by ensuring it can either be demounted and shipped to other locations or easily replicated.

"Our primary creative strategy was travel," Jensen told Dezeen.

"The global reach of the book was unique and so exciting, we decided to focus on the exhibition having the potential to pack away and travel to the places it was needed, the diverse communities where the women came from, not just typical Western galleries spaces, but perhaps smaller remote places where architecture is seen as utilitarian and essential rather than glamorous and elite," he continued.

"The exhibition can be either flat packed and physically sent, or files can be shared, and structures, maps and models can be printed or cut locally."

Each of the 10 plinths was cut from half a standard sheet of plywood. These pieces were then slotted together without any permanent fixtures.

"The plinths are low cost with zero fixings and zero waste," said Jensen.

The design team was keen to include architectural models for the exhibition, but with the featured architects being from around the world, borrowing these was not possible.

Instead, RCA interior design alumni Ruby Kinnear-Jones designed and created dioramas based on the work of 19 of the architects.

"For the models, it was decided that we would utilise the fragments of information we had and think about the layers of context rather than just the architecture – place and atmosphere became essential," said Jensen. "A more analogue handmade approach was adopted."

"Ruby developed the model idea and has created a unique series of dioramas, abstracting the architecture and location, a fairy tale, a story of women, places, not just buildings," he continued.

Overall, Jensen believes it was important to create the exhibition and that this has propelled the project forward.

"Sometimes a project is meant to be, through momentum, it gains a power that removes all obstacles," he said. "100 Women managed to do this, even with so many factors against it, a tiny budget, a hugely complex brief, and difficult site with many restrictions."

"Somehow the project freed itself from all the constraints and against the odds came together in a poetic yet practical way, proving that a strong brief, a clear narrative and smart design, can achieve something from nothing, and be meaningful to so many people," he continued.

Published by RIBA, 100 Women Architects in Practice features interviews with some of the world's best-known architects – Liz Diller, Frida Escobedo, Tatiana Bilbao, Mariam Issoufou Kamara, Sofia Von Ellrichshausen, Tosin Oshinowo, Lina Ghotmeh, Francine Houben, Rossana Hu and Dorte Mandrup – alongside numerous women that have not yet received extensive global attention.

The photography is by Photography London.

100 Women Architects: The Exhibition takes place until 28 March 2025 at Roca London Gallery. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Project credits:

Exhibition design, graphics and curation: Stories and Spaces
Design lead: Steve Jensen
Design team: Yadan Guo, Emily Marzocchi, Josephine Menut, Clare Walsh
Model diorama design: Ruby Kinnear-Jones
Project coordinator: Devan Skuban
Curators: Harriet Harriss, Naomi House, Monika Parrinder and Tom Ravenscroft

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