Signe Ida Katarina Hornborg (8 November 1862,

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

– 6 December 1916,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

) was a Finnish

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 ...

. Upon her reception of her architectural diploma in 1890, she became the first official female architect in the world.

Biography

A bishop's daughter, she attended the Helsinki Polytechnic Institute from the spring of 1888. Hornborg graduated as an architect in 1890 by special permission, as female students were not admitted to the school. After first embarking on active collaboration with Elia Heikel, she joined the agency of

Lars Sonck Lars Eliel Sonck (10 August 1870 – 14 March 1956) was a Finnish architect. He graduated from Helsinki Polytechnic Institute in 1894 and immediately won a major design competition for a church in Turku, St Michael's Church, ahead of many esta ...

. One of her most notable works is the ''Signelinna'' (also known as ''Nerwanderin talo'' or Nerwander House) in Pori (1892). She also designed the outside of the Sepänkatu Apartment Building (1897) in Helsinki, as it was not considered right for women to design entire buildings at a time when architecture was a man's profession. Working in the national romanticism style, Hornborg also contributed to the design for the fire department building in Hamina, requiring no fee. She also worked on municipal buildings for poor children in Helsinki.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hornborg, Signe 1862 births 1916 deaths People from Turku People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish women architects

Biography

See also

References