Tomorrow, finish out Women’s History Month strong.
AIA Peconic — a chapter of the American Institute of Architects serving Eastern Long Island — is collaborating with Southampton Arts Center for a special film screening and all-female panel discussion focusing on the work and legacy of women who helped build New York City, specifically late architect Beverly Willis.
Willis, who died in 2023, wrote and directed a 20-minute documentary showcasing 234 Manhattan projects designed, engineered or developed by women. Titled “Unknown New York: The City That Women Built,” the film features historical narrative, celebrating the often-overlooked role women have played in shaping New York City’s rich and complex urban fabric. Did you know a woman took over as head engineer of the construction for the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband died? Neither did we, but that’s the level of work up for discussion. Additionally, part of the film series “Beverly Willis: The Artist and the Architect” will screen, showcasing her work in both San Francisco and New York from 1958 to 1995. According to a statement from SAC, the film traces Willis’s evolution from a multimedia artist to a pioneering architectural designer whose work spans residential, commercial, institutional and civic projects across the United States.
After the screenings, an all-female panel of designers and architects will discuss Willis’s legacy and the history of women architects in general.
Screenings at SAC will be followed by an all-female panel discussion featuring professionals from the design and architecture world, including (from left) moderator Viola Rouhani, Becky Garnett and Graciela Carrillo. (Photo courtesy of R. Couri Hay Creative PR)
Moderated by AIA Peconic member Viola Rouhani — a partner at Bridgehampton-based design firm Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects — the panel includes three women representing advocacy, practice, and education of architecture. Graciela Carrillo, senior manager at Nassau BOCES facilities who oversees capital and operational projects that support school and administrative facilities throughout Nassau County. Becky Garnett is the co-founder of boutique, full-service architecture and design firm Garnett.DePasquale Projects which deals with high-end residential projects across the East End and Manhattan. The final panel member is historian, teacher and licensed architect Marta Gutman who is the current dean of the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture in New York City.
“People do say, ‘oh, women are more inclusive, they’re more collaborative’ and I do think that’s very true, Rouhani says, “but I think the result of that is sort of this stitching together a fabric that might otherwise not have the same cohesiveness, whether it’s a physical thing or an actual process.”
According to Rouhani, this is the fourth annual film event presented in collaboration with AIA Peconic, marking the continuing tradition of exploring architecture and design through film and conversation.
“All the work that women have done to help build New York City, it’s greatly unseen,” Rouhani says. “A lot of people just don’t recognize that, and things have certainly changed over the years. Women are more visible and celebrated, but it’s still just so interesting to go back and see how historically, women have been involved without us really even recognizing it.”
Film screenings start at 6 p.m. Tickets are available for $20 for nonmembers and $15 for SAC or AIA members. Southampton Arts Center is located at 25 Jobs Lane. Call 631-283-0967 or click here for more information.
