Berta Rahm (October 4, 1910 in
St. Gallen; October 10, 1998 in
Neunkirch) was a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, writer, publisher, and feminist activist.
Life and career
With some influence from her uncle Arnold Meyer, who owned a successful firm in
Hallau,
Rahm studied architecture at the ETH Zürich (
Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich) from 1929 to 1934. After graduating she traveled through
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
with grant funding from
ETH
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
.
[Jakob, Evelyne Lang. "The Life and Work of Berta Rahm, 1910 - 1998," ''IAWA Newsletter'', Fall 1999, V. 11, p. 1. ] Following her travels, she worked in
Hallau,
Flims and
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, until she started her own firm in 1940. Rahm was strongly influenced by Scandinavian architecture and built various vacation houses, single-family residences and exhibition pavilions, most notably the 1959 pavilion for
SAFFA, in the Scandinavian style.
The relative social and personal freedom allowed women in Scandinavia also formed a lasting impression on Rahm.
In 1942 she put together a book on the subject illustrated with her own drawings.
Her position as a woman made it difficult for Rahm to secure building licenses and she was excluded from design competitions, especially for profitable public building projects, and she decided to close her firm and retire as an architect in 1966.
[Jakob, Evelyne Lang. "The Life and Work of Berta Rahm, 1910 - 1998," ''IAWA Newsletter'', Fall 1999, V. 11, p. 1. ] Following the closure of her office, she founded a publishing firm,
ALA-Verlag, specializing in feminist literature, which operated into the 1990s.
[Jakob, Evelyne Lang. "The Life and Work of Berta Rahm, 1910 - 1998," ''IAWA Newsletter'', Fall 1999, V. 11, p. 1. ] ALA-Verlag published a series of women's biographies and reissued classic works of feminism by
Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...
,
Flora Tristan
Flore Célestine Thérèse Henriette Tristán y Moscoso better known as Flora Tristan (7 April 1803 – 14 November 1844) was a French-Peruvian socialist writer and activist. She made important contributions to early feminist theory, and argued ...
and
Hedwig Dohm. For each book published under her tenure, she wrote an instructional fore- and afterword.
Rahm was a member of the Schweizerischen Ingenieur- und Architektenvereins (Swiss Engineers and Architects Union), the Union internationale des femmes architectes (UIFA), and the Bund Schweizerischer Frauenorganisationen (Federation of Swiss Women's Associations).
Projects
* Nägeliseehof farm,
Hallau, 1951
* Hohweri House,
Hallau, 1953–54
*
SAFFA exhibition pavilion,
Zurich, 1958
Bibliography
* Rahm, Berta. ''1939: Reise Nach Skandinavien Und Finnland''. Büchergilde Gutenberg, 1942.
* Rahm, Berta. ''Vom Möblierten Zimmer Bis Zur Wohnung: Anregungen Für Das Einrichten Von Einzelräumen Und Wohnungen''. Schweizer Spiegel Verl, 1947.
* Rahm, Berta, and Marie Goegg. ''Marie Goegg (Geb. Pouchoulin) : Mitbegründerin Der Internationalen Liga Für Frieden Und Freiheit : Gründerin Des Internationalen Frauenbundes, Des Journal Des Femmes Und Der Solidarité''. ALA-Verlag, 1993.
See also
*
List of women architects
The following is a list of women architects by nationality – notable women who are well known for their work in the field of architecture.
Africa Egypt
* Shahira Fahmy (born 1974), founded her own firm in 2005
Kenya
* Eugenie Dorothy Hug ...
* The
International Archive of Women in Architecture
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahm, Berta
1910 births
1998 deaths
People from St. Gallen (city)
Swiss women architects
Swiss women writers
Swiss publishers (people)
Swiss feminists