Episode 98: Denise Scott Brown
Denise Lakofski was born on October 3, 1931 in Nkana, Zambia. Her parents were Shim Lakofski and Phyllis Hepker. Her mother had gone to architecture school, but hadn’t been able to finish. Phyllis’ classmates designed the family a modern house in Johannesburg, South Africa where Denise grew up. This helped influence her path towards architecture. Denise enrolled at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg to study architecture in 1949. While there she met Robert Scott Brown, a fellow classmate, who she found shared her ideals and hopes for South African architecture. In the final year at Wits, students are encouraged to do an internship. Denise decided to go to London to complete hers. While she was there, she opted to enroll at the Architectural Association. She completed her degree in 1955. Robert came and joined her in London and they were married on July 21, 1955. A year later she received her registration as an architect. She and Robert attended the CIAM summer school at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice in 1956 before working in Giuseppe Vaccaro’s Rome office. They returned to South Africa in 1957. They always wanted to return and ‘work in Africa as Africans’. However, they decided they wanted to get more urban planning experience so they both enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Architecture in 1958 to study under Louis Kahn and Herbert Gans. After their first year at school, they were out for a drive and were hit by another car. Robert died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Denise returned to South Africa to bury her husband, and eventually decided to return to Philadelphia and finish her studies. She graduated with her Masters in City Planning in 1960.
Caryatid: Majora Carter
Majora is an urban revitalization strategist who was born the South Bronx in 1966. Initially, the Bronx was mostly populated by working class white families, then in the mid-20th century, black families began moving into the neighborhood, and ‘white flight’ happened. This meant that the neighborhood lost resources from banks and landlords. Growing up in this atmosphere inspired Majora to work to change it. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and went to Wesleyan University in 1984 for her Bachelors of Arts, and then NYU for a Masters in Arts in 1997. She then returned to the Bronx and worked at The POINT Community Development Corporation. She helped spearhead the Hunts Point Riverside park project. She went on to found Sustainable South Bronx, a non-profit organization that works to improve the environmental and economic state of the South Bronx. She also co-produced the radio show The Promised Land from 2008-2011 which won a Peabody Award. After leaving SSBx, she formed the Majora Carter Group LLC which is a consulting firm that looks at technology, environment, and business and how they come together.
References
Bernstein, Fred A. “Denise Scott Brown, the Woman Who Taught the Design World to Take Las Vegas Seriously.” Architectural Digest, 12 Jan. 2018, www.architecturaldigest.com/story/denise-scott-brown-taught-the-design-world-to-take-las-vegas-seriously.
Czarnecki, John E. “Filmmaker Son of Scott Brown and Venturi to Set Record Straight?” Architectural Record, 2 June 2008, www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/4422-filmmaker-son-of-scott-brown-and-venturi-to-set-record-straight.
De Gomez & Alvarez. “Denise Scott Brown 1931.” Un Día | Una Arquitecta, 24 June 2015, undiaunaarquitecta.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/denise-scott-brown-1931.
Gillick, Ambrose. Denise Scott Brown: Becoming Denise. season 3, episode 1, Sept. 2023. Spotify, open.spotify.com/episode/7JYe7RxBQBNtwhRFV3HxxU.
Grahn, Frida, editor. Denise Scott Brown in Other Eyes. Birkhauser, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783035626254.
Lewis, Anna M. “Denise Scott Brown” Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers. 60-70. United States: Chicago Review Press, 2017.
Mars, Roman. Lessons From Las Vegas. episode 302, 9 Apr. 2018. Spotify, 99percentinvisible.org/episode/lessons-from-las-vegas.
Pogrebin, Robin. “Partner Without the Prize.” The New York Times, 17 Apr. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/arts/design/bid-for-pritzker-prize-to-acknowledge-denise-scott-brown.html.
Scott Brown, Denise. “Oral History Interview with Denise Scott Brown” by Peter Reed. Smithsonian Archives of American Art, 25 October 1990-9 November 1990, https://www.aaa.si.edu/download_pdf_transcript/ajax?record_id=edanmdm-AAADCD_oh_215692
Scott Brown, Denise. “Room at the Top? — Sexism and the Star System in Architecture.” R / D, www.readingdesign.org/room-at-the-top.
Wagle, Shalmali, and Alen Žunić. “Denise Scott Brown on the Past, Present and Future of VSBA’s Groundbreaking Theories.” ArchDaily, 7 Oct. 2016, www.archdaily.com/796821/denise-scott-brown-on-the-past-present-and-future-of-vsbas-groundbreaking-theories.
Wainwright, Oliver. “Snubbed, Cheated, Erased: The Scandal of Architecture’s Invisible Women.” The Guardian, 16 Oct. 2018, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/16/the-scandal-of-architecture-invisible-women-denise-scott-brown.
Wikipedia contributors. “Denise Scott Brown.” Wikipedia, 9 Feb. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Scott_Brown.
She Builds Podcast is a proud member of the Gābl Media network. Come join us!
Introducing the Gābl Media AEC Community Memberships. An interactive community platform for you, our audience! Ready to Start? JOIN NOW. Already a member? Login, gain instant access to the community, resources, and the most convenient way to get your continuing education credits.
Be sure to check out: https://gablemedia.com/shebuilds
We wanna hear from you!!
Hey listeners! We're planning something special and we need your help. Please go to THIS LINK and leave us a 10-30 second voice note about your favorite episode, caryatid, or any lady in the AEC profession who inspires your career and life. You might hear yourself on a future episode. Stay tuned!
