Bridging the Cold War Divide: Hungarian Women Architects in the UIFA

• In Event: Art and Architecture: Made by Women

Abstract

The International Union of Women Architects (UIFA), founded in Paris in 1963, had participants from the Eastern Block from the first congress. What is more, a Hungarian architect was elected as a vice-president, and a small Hungarian delegation attended most of the other conventions. However, Hungarian women architects’ participation on the UIFA congresses was tolerated but certainly not promoted by the state and professional organizations. Is this merely a contradiction between the ideology and practice of socialist gender equality, or is it inherent to the feminine ideal under socialism? The paper explores this ambivalent situation.

Author

• Mariann Simon, Szent Istvan U (Hungary)