Monique Woodward on AGENCY

As an architect obsessed with entrepreneurs, marketing and ethical business, the politics of space and the machinations of power behind architecture, I see, advocacy and agency rolled in together

Political and social capital are key drivers in understanding one’s own sense of agency. To achieve an outcome, I first decide whether to leverage either my personal brand, as an emerging female architect, or WOWOWA’s might as a medium size practice capable of producing sexy colourful architecture. They are one in the same but are deployed with a degree of nuance

With over 1000 delegates, the Australian Institute of Architects National Conference called ‘Collective Agency’, that I co-curated with Stephen Choi, was an incredible platform for change. Contending aesthetics WITH ethics, we said beautiful work is the price of entry to broader discussions. For too long good architecture has been silently complicit in upholding the status quo – time for broader diversity, generosity, new kinds of leaders and louder voices.

Monique Woodward is a Director at WOWOWA , and a good friend to us. She was named the 2019 AIA National Emerging Architect. This was her contribution to our second journal.