Acclaimed exhibition celebrating women in architecture makes North American debut at TMU

Earlier this September, as the school year officially kicked off, hundreds of people packed TMU’s architecture building for the North American opening of Buone Nuove/Good News – Women In Architecture – from MAXXI to MET. 

“The opening night was electric, empowering and joyful – with dozens of Toronto’s top architects and hundreds of professionals interacting with hundreds of students who had just started their first day of classes,” said professor Lisa Landrum, chair of TMU’s Department of Architectural Sciences. “One new first-year student told me that it was the most exciting night of her life and overwhelmingly confirmed her desire to become an architect.”

Buone Nuove is a research project that represents the history of women in architecture. Curated by Pippo Ciorra, Elena Motisi and Elena Tinacci, this travelling exhibition features works and words of dozens of Italian and global women architects who have changed the field of architecture and are empowering a new generation of inclusive city-builders. The exhibition offers a new and more comprehensive perspective of architecture by showing how women and women-led collectives have elevated the quality of modern and contemporary design.

“This exhibition project seeks to document, and in some way repay, the contribution made by women designers, couples, teams and collectives to the achievements and quality of modern and contemporary architecture,” said curators Ciorra, Motisi and Tinacci in a curatorial statement.

The exhibition’s narrative is presented in four different chapters:

1. Stories: Achievements of 21 Italian women architects from the first graduate in 1925 to present day
2. Practices: Works of six internationally acclaimed women architects impacting design and culture in Italy
3. Narratives: Interviews with 12 women transforming architecture through activism, scholarship, writing and curation
4. Visions: Experimental videos reimagining relations between gender and space

The exhibition debuted at the MAXXI Museum in Rome in 2022 and has been exhibited in major cities like Stockholm, Doha, New Delhi and Berlin, eventually arriving at TMU for the North American debut. 

“What an honour it is to host the North American debut of this critically acclaimed exhibition that celebrates women architects right here on our campus,” said Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, provost and vice-president, academic. “Buone Nuove shows that diverse voices lead to more innovative and inclusive designs. Our students and the entire university community will be inspired by the incredible history and work of the women featured.”

“What makes this exhibit unique is that it’s intersectional – highlighting not just women but diversity in the architectural profession and how the field is changing with new leadership – and it’s a living project – open and ongoing, encouraging everyone to continue working together to make better built environments for everyone,” said Landrum. “The Narratives are especially provocative – these are 12 interviews with international women who are transforming architecture through practices of activism, scholarship, critical writing, creative curation, academic leadership and philanthropy.”

The exhibition at TMU includes additional displays featuring women architects working in the Toronto region, including at TMU. This includes a timeline of milestones by women architects in Toronto, works from women impacting the architecture and community of Toronto, an amplification of Black women voices in architecture, manifestos for diversity in design and even a “good news cafe” to host conversations and micro-events.

Buone Nuove is free to attend and open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. until Thursday, October 10 at the Paul H. Cocker Gallery (325 Church St.). For more information, visit the Architectural Sciences website.