Collecting & Linking Creative Cultures of Women. Women Designers and Women Clients for another history

Women's traces in the architectural archives are as faint as they are scarce, and, with a few famous exceptions, women's contributions in the modern era appear too vague when we consider the radical changes in society and the roles played therein by women. While female protagonists were becoming more common in certain fields, the field of architecture seemingly had no equivalent to, say, Maria Skłodowska Curie. What we should rather say is that there is no evidence of an analogous female contribution to the history of architecture and design. Moreover, this presumed lack of input into the field of design might be misinterpreted as a failure to participate in building common ground. It might ultimately appear to be a failure - a culpability even - to conceive of a new modern environment for their own new life in a modern society. This nonsensical vision of a lack or, at best, of a discontinuous range of initiatives made by women within this framework highlights the importance of the role played by archives and source material in making history, and this necessitates some preliminary considerations. Were women really disinterested in shaping, in terms of design, a way of life tied up with their emancipation, or, rather, are sources providing evidence of their involvement really just not accessible? Some examples of overlooked female creativity may help to underline this lack of information and the consequent need to reformulate crucial links between sources and history in order to gain a new understanding of women's contributions. It is our belief that there is a need to put female creative culture in the spotlight, and a digital approach offers a new perspective by making it possible to create a new kind of digital archive. In any event, what is certain is that a new critical approach to collecting sources and making history is overdue. Institutional records offices are essential for the collection and spreading of cultural heritage as well as for the fostering of research. Digital platforms can create links capable of shaping a new cultural context since they provide an overview of the broad networks operating in design processes. From the point of view of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage, as well as of the built environment, there exists no single author-demiurge but rather a collective of collaborative workers. In this perspective we aim to introduce a couple of case studies of women's creative work as demonstrations of possible new critical approaches to architectural and design culture and its history. The first focuses on the little known designers Margaret and Frances Macdonald and the entrepreneur Kate Cranston, the second on the almost unknown landscape designer Norah Geddes. In this context they aim to articulate some aspects of this cultural perspective. Case studies takes into account the period just preceding the Modern Movement as a turn of important changes. Lastly we discuss how it is possible to create a digital archive is which makes known the historical, creative culture of women as this comes to light.