Phyllis Birkby
Encyclopedia
Phyllis Birkby was an American
architect
, feminist, filmmaker and educator.
to Harold S. and Alice Green Birkby. As a child she began making drawings of cities and towns, proceeding to build miniature towns in her mother's garden
. With an early interest in architecture, she expressed interest in pursuing it by age 16. However, her career counselors told her that it was a study for men, and that women did not become architects. In 1950 she entered the Women's College of the University of North Carolina
to study fine art
. In college she was described as a rabble rouser and it was during this time when she began to identify as bisexual. Her senior year she was expelled for an incident stemming from beer
drinking, however, Birkby believed she was expelled due to publicly expressing her love for a classmate: "I wasn't hiding my love for another woman, didn't think there was anything wrong with it." Struggles with her sexuality would cause her a "numbing misery" and she would return to New Jersey briefly before moving to New York City
.
In New York she worked as a technical illustrator and hanging out in the bar scene. In 1955 she went to Mexico
with the American Friends Service Committee
to work on development projects with the Otomi people
. Within one year she had returned to New York. In 1958, she met a woman architect who encouraged her to pursue the profession. For five years Birkby took night classes in architecture at Cooper Union
and worked for architects Henry L. Horowitz and Seth Hiller. In 1963 she received her certificate
in architecture. Working primarily as a secretary
, she left New York to attend graduate school
at Yale University
. At Yale, Birkby was one of six women in a student body of about 200. This gender gap
forced Birkby to "rise above the female role" to prove her capability to succeed within her program and show herself as being as "good or better than the men." In 1966 she completed her Masters of Architecture
.
After graduating from Yale, Birkby went on to work as a designer for Davis Brody and Associates, from 1966 until 1972. During this time, she helped to design and oversee construction of Waterside Houses, a residental neighborhood on the Hudson River
, and the Long Island University Library Learning Center
. By 1972 she would have her own private practice, occasionally partnering with other firms. Her worked varied, often focusing on low-income housing and community residences for those with medical needs, as well as the occasional private residence or artist studio. In 1973, Birkby went to Bien Hoa
, Vietnam
with staff from the firm Dober, Paddock & Upton to plan the reconstruction of the Thu Duc Polytechnic University
. In the late 1970s, she worked in California
with Gary Scherquist and Roland Tso. Returning to New York in the early 1980s, she then worked with the Gruzen Partnership and Lloyd Goldfarb.
In the early 1970s she taught architectural design
classes at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture
and City College of New York
. While working in California in the late 1970s she taught architectural and environmental design
courses at the Southern California Institute of Architecture
, California State Polytechnic and the University of Southern California
. Upon returning to New York in the 1980s she taught building construction, fundamentals and architectural design at the New York Institute of Technology
. Birkby described her teaching as "environmental activism", bringing together theories and ideas behind environmentalism with architectural, as per a course she took with Serge Chermayeff
while at Yale. She utilized techniques such as "buglisting" in her teaching, a way of making lists about annoying aspects of environments, conceptual blockbusting, and fantasy
projection. She used these techniques to examine the "social implications of building form" and to encourage her students to focus specifically on those using the spaces they designed.
life as a bisexual. Following graduate school, she sunk into a deep depression
. During the late 1960s, she was introduced to feminism
, but ignored it, believing it was "mostly about housewives in the suburbs." In May 1970, her lover
returned from the Second Congress to United Women and shared her experience with Birkby. At this event, the lesbian feminist
group called Lavender Menace
, disrupted Congress
presenting on discrimination against lesbians within the women's movement. This story caused Birkby to embrace the feminist movement. She began identifying as a lesbian
and joined CR Group One, a lesbian group consisting of theorists and writers such as Kate Millett
, Sidney Abbott, Barbara Love and Alma Routsong
. By 1972 she decided to defy the male dominated world of architecture; she quit her job with David Brody, came out
as being gay, and began teaching and started her own private practice. She also started to explore ways to document the women's movement culture by creating films, photographs, oral histories, and an archive of posters, manifestos, clippings and memorabilia.
Birkby began incorporating feminist theory into her architectural work and teaching. In 1973 she began exploring ways to bring women's perspectives architecture. She began a series of environmental fantasy workshops with women from throughout the country, including Leslie Kanes Weisman. These workshops had women imagining "their ideal living environment by abandoning all constraints and preconceptions." Weisman and Birkby would eventually publish about their research on feminist fantasy architecture in the mid 1970s. After this project, Birkby researched women's vernacular architecture
. She visited communities and structures build by women who were not trained as architects or builders, researching the connection between women's fantasies and the actual forms they created.
In 1972 Birkby was the founding member of the Alliance of Women in Architecture in New York and participated in the beginnings of the Archive of Women in Architecture. In 1974 she co-founded, with Katrin Adam, Ellen Perry Berkeley, Bobbie Sue Hood, Marie I. Kennedy, Joan Forrester Sprague and Leslie Kanes Weisman, the Women's School of Planning and Architecture. The school was a summer school for women involved in environmental design.
. During the last few months of her life, a group of friends from the early years of the women's movement formed the Sisters of Birkby, coming together to care for Birkby during her final days. On April 13, 1994, she died of cancer in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
.
In 1994 the Noel Phyllis Birkby Papers were gifted, from her estate, to the Sophia Smith Collection
at Smith College
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, feminist, filmmaker and educator.
Early life and education
Noel Phyllis Birkby was born in Nutley, New JerseyNutley, New Jersey
2010 Census Data:*TOTAL: 28,370 or 100%*White: 23,405 *African American: 628 *Asian: 2,824 *American Indian and Alaska Native: 36 *Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 4...
to Harold S. and Alice Green Birkby. As a child she began making drawings of cities and towns, proceeding to build miniature towns in her mother's garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
. With an early interest in architecture, she expressed interest in pursuing it by age 16. However, her career counselors told her that it was a study for men, and that women did not become architects. In 1950 she entered the Women's College of the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro , also known as UNC Greensboro, is a public university in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate, 61 master's and 26...
to study fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
. In college she was described as a rabble rouser and it was during this time when she began to identify as bisexual. Her senior year she was expelled for an incident stemming from beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
drinking, however, Birkby believed she was expelled due to publicly expressing her love for a classmate: "I wasn't hiding my love for another woman, didn't think there was anything wrong with it." Struggles with her sexuality would cause her a "numbing misery" and she would return to New Jersey briefly before moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
In New York she worked as a technical illustrator and hanging out in the bar scene. In 1955 she went to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
with the American Friends Service Committee
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
to work on development projects with the Otomi people
Otomi people
The Otomi people . Smaller Otomi populations exist in the states of Puebla, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Guanajuato. The Otomi language belonging to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family is spoken in many different varieties some of which are not mutually intelligible.One of...
. Within one year she had returned to New York. In 1958, she met a woman architect who encouraged her to pursue the profession. For five years Birkby took night classes in architecture at Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
and worked for architects Henry L. Horowitz and Seth Hiller. In 1963 she received her certificate
Professional certification
Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply certification or qualification, is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task...
in architecture. Working primarily as a secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
, she left New York to attend graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. At Yale, Birkby was one of six women in a student body of about 200. This gender gap
Gender gap
Gender gap may refer to:*Gender differences in a general psycho-social context*Gender pay gap*Income disparity by gender in a purely economic context*The Global Gender Gap Report*Father's rights in child custody determinations of family courts...
forced Birkby to "rise above the female role" to prove her capability to succeed within her program and show herself as being as "good or better than the men." In 1966 she completed her Masters of Architecture
Master of Architecture
The Master of Architecture is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation that result in receiving a license.-Overview:...
.
Professional career
"I have not by any means been a linear oriented professional person." --Phyllis Birkby
After graduating from Yale, Birkby went on to work as a designer for Davis Brody and Associates, from 1966 until 1972. During this time, she helped to design and oversee construction of Waterside Houses, a residental neighborhood on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
, and the Long Island University Library Learning Center
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
. By 1972 she would have her own private practice, occasionally partnering with other firms. Her worked varied, often focusing on low-income housing and community residences for those with medical needs, as well as the occasional private residence or artist studio. In 1973, Birkby went to Bien Hoa
Bien Hoa
Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
with staff from the firm Dober, Paddock & Upton to plan the reconstruction of the Thu Duc Polytechnic University
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology – a member of Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City - still referred to by many as Phu Tho, is the flagship university in technology teaching and research activities in Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City...
. In the late 1970s, she worked in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with Gary Scherquist and Roland Tso. Returning to New York in the early 1980s, she then worked with the Gruzen Partnership and Lloyd Goldfarb.
In the early 1970s she taught architectural design
Architectural Design
Architectural Design, also known as AD, is a UK-based architectural journal first launched in 1930.In its early days it was more concerned with the British scene, but gradually became more international. It also moved away from presenting mostly news towards theme-based issues...
classes at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture
Pratt Institute School of Architecture
The Pratt Institute School of Architecture is ranked in the top ten best Architecture schools in the nation. Alumni include Pritzker Prize Winner Peter Zumthor. Within the Brooklyn campus, the school of architecture is located a block from the main campus in Higgins Hall...
and City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
. While working in California in the late 1970s she taught architectural and environmental design
Environmental design
Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products...
courses at the Southern California Institute of Architecture
Southern California Institute of Architecture
The Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles , California, is an independent, nonprofit school offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture. It offers community design and outreach programs, and free public access to frequent exhibitions and lectures by leading...
, California State Polytechnic and the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. Upon returning to New York in the 1980s she taught building construction, fundamentals and architectural design at the New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology is a private, non-sectarian, co-educational research university in New York City. NYIT has five schools and two colleges, all with a strong emphasis on technology and applied scientific research...
. Birkby described her teaching as "environmental activism", bringing together theories and ideas behind environmentalism with architectural, as per a course she took with Serge Chermayeff
Serge Chermayeff
Serge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
while at Yale. She utilized techniques such as "buglisting" in her teaching, a way of making lists about annoying aspects of environments, conceptual blockbusting, and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
projection. She used these techniques to examine the "social implications of building form" and to encourage her students to focus specifically on those using the spaces they designed.
Sexuality and feminism
With professional success came Birkby's struggles with living a closetedCloseted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
life as a bisexual. Following graduate school, she sunk into a deep depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
. During the late 1960s, she was introduced to feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, but ignored it, believing it was "mostly about housewives in the suburbs." In May 1970, her lover
Lover
Lover may refer to:* A person who loves* A sexual partner outside of a committed relationship-Music:* "Lover" , by Rodgers and Hart* "Lover" * "Lovers" , by The Tears* Lovers...
returned from the Second Congress to United Women and shared her experience with Birkby. At this event, the lesbian feminist
Lesbian feminism
Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective, most popular in the 1970s and early 1980s , that questions the position of lesbians and women in society. It particularly refutes heteronormativity, the assumption that everyone is "straight" and society should be structured to serve...
group called Lavender Menace
Lavender Menace
The Lavender Menace was an informal group of lesbian radical feminists formed to protest the exclusion of lesbians and lesbian issues from the feminist movement at the Second Congress to Unite Women in New York City on May 1, 1970...
, disrupted Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
presenting on discrimination against lesbians within the women's movement. This story caused Birkby to embrace the feminist movement. She began identifying as a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and joined CR Group One, a lesbian group consisting of theorists and writers such as Kate Millett
Kate Millett
Kate Millett is an American lesbian feminist writer and activist. A seminal influence on second-wave feminism, Millet is best known for her 1970 book Sexual Politics.-Career:...
, Sidney Abbott, Barbara Love and Alma Routsong
Alma Routsong
Alma Routsong was an American novelist best known for her lesbian fiction, published under the pen name Isabel Miller.-Biography:...
. By 1972 she decided to defy the male dominated world of architecture; she quit her job with David Brody, came out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
as being gay, and began teaching and started her own private practice. She also started to explore ways to document the women's movement culture by creating films, photographs, oral histories, and an archive of posters, manifestos, clippings and memorabilia.
Birkby began incorporating feminist theory into her architectural work and teaching. In 1973 she began exploring ways to bring women's perspectives architecture. She began a series of environmental fantasy workshops with women from throughout the country, including Leslie Kanes Weisman. These workshops had women imagining "their ideal living environment by abandoning all constraints and preconceptions." Weisman and Birkby would eventually publish about their research on feminist fantasy architecture in the mid 1970s. After this project, Birkby researched women's vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
. She visited communities and structures build by women who were not trained as architects or builders, researching the connection between women's fantasies and the actual forms they created.
In 1972 Birkby was the founding member of the Alliance of Women in Architecture in New York and participated in the beginnings of the Archive of Women in Architecture. In 1974 she co-founded, with Katrin Adam, Ellen Perry Berkeley, Bobbie Sue Hood, Marie I. Kennedy, Joan Forrester Sprague and Leslie Kanes Weisman, the Women's School of Planning and Architecture. The school was a summer school for women involved in environmental design.
Later life and legacy
As the movement began to slowdown in the late 1970s, Birkby became worn out from her participation. She began to struggle economically in the 1980s economic and political realities, and had to move her energy from feminism to work, wearing herself out in the process. Her teaching positions lessened, the Women's School of Planning and Architecture ended, her research remained unpublished, and her private practice work lessened and became personally unsatisfying. During this time she would also be diagnosed with breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. During the last few months of her life, a group of friends from the early years of the women's movement formed the Sisters of Birkby, coming together to care for Birkby during her final days. On April 13, 1994, she died of cancer in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
.
In 1994 the Noel Phyllis Birkby Papers were gifted, from her estate, to the Sophia Smith Collection
Sophia Smith Collection
The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. It was founded by Margaret Storrs Grierson in 1942 to be the library's distinctive contribution to the college's mission...
at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
.
Further reading
- Birkby, Phyllis. Amazon Expedition: Lesbian Feminist Anthology. Sebastopol: Times Change Press (1978). ISBN 0878105263.