Matilde Ucelay: Women and the Architectural Vocation

Abstract

Matilde Ucelay (Madrid, 1912-2007) was the first woman to become an architect in Spain. For over four decades, from before 1940 to 1979, she developed a long career as a solo professional, specializing in domestic architecture.[1] After a brief biographical note on her life and professional career, this article addresses a number of issues of general relevance to the professional work of women architects. These general issues are addressed through the concrete personal experience of Ucelay.

The concentration of the activity of female architects in the residential sector raises numerous questions that only recently are being addressed by the literature. Is it the result of active decisions sought by the architects themselves? Is it rather the result of specific circumstances, arising from the historical moment lived by each one of them and not so much of their desire or inclination? Or is it the result of more structural and permanent factors over time, which in each period and case acquire specific features, limiting their performance in the public sphere and in the large commission?

One second set of issues has to do with the way architecture is practiced. Do women architects contribute a different vision to the residential project? If that was the case, could this be related to their own personal lived experience as women in the home?

Finally, a third set of questions relate to the material, spatial and temporal conditions in which such work is carried out. How is an absorbing profession such as architecture compatible with private, family and personal life? 

This article proposes to contribute to the incipient literature on women in architecture by providing some answers to these questions based on the specific case of Matilde Ucelay. The article builds on previous work published by the author both on women in architecture generally, and on Matilde Ucelay particularly. The original data used in this previous work involves original research from a variety of sources, including multiple archives, interviews, data from national level surveys, and government literature, as well as secondary sources.

This article is a first essay at crossing these two strands of previous work by the author. By looking at general issues that arise from the study of the current situation of women in architecture, from on the one hand the point of view of policy and the quantitative analysis of data, and, on the other hand, the concrete, biographical, and detailed account, historically and geographically situated, of the lived experience of our first woman architect.

The intersections between these two approaches to the study of women in architecture provides, I think, illuminating insights that can help us better understand the current situation and prospects of women in the architectural profession.

[1] On Matilde Ucelay’s life and work, see: Sánchez de Madariaga (2010a; 2012a). Sánchez de Madariaga (2012a) was published as a book commemorating the National Prize Award the Ministry of Public Works bestowed on Matilde Ucelay in 2006, the first woman ever to receive it. It draws on archival material from the Historical Archive of Defense, from the architect’s own personal archive, and on information obtained through about a dozen interviews made by the author in 2009 and 2010 to relatives, friends and colleagues, many of whom are not alive today. Among them are particularly relevant for this article the interviews with her two sons Javier and José Enrique, who was also an architect; her nephew Enric Ucelay; and her childhood friend Angela Barnés. Enric Ucelay, a professional historian, has also provided some detailed historical data, particularly on the participation of Pura Maortua in the women’s association La Cívica. Other persons interviewed were: Margarita Ucelay Maortua, sister; Carlos Boyer, building engineer; Aurelio Botella Clarella, friend and colleague; Carmen Ruiz-Castillo, niece; Juan Capdevilla, friend and colleague; Teresa Bermejo, friend.