The Role Models We Need: Architect Barbie & Despina Stratigakos

Join us with guest Despina Stratigakos, who participated in a fascinating effort to get the Mattel Corporation to give Barbie a career in architecture. We like to keep things of topical interest here on PreserveCast and with the new Barbie movie out this week, it seemed fitting to revisit this conversation about representation and the future of the field. 

We all need role models – and we need to see ourselves represented – whether in film, print . . . or in Mattel’s iconic Barbie. Today’s guest, Despina Stratigakos, Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence at the University at Buffalo, is a writer, historian, and professor. She is the author of three books that explore the intersections of power and architecture. Her most recent book, Where Are the Women Architects? confronts the challenges women face in the architectural profession.