Episode 126: Margaret Feilman
Margaret Feilman was born in Perth, Australia in 1921 to a schoolteacher father, Herbert, and mother Ethel. After a childhood spent in small towns and forests around Western Australia, Margaret earned a scholarship to the prestigious Perth College in 1934, where she became a prefect. Too young for university upon graduation, she began working as an architectural cadet at the Western Australia Department of Public Works, the first woman in that role. While working, she studied part-time at the University of Western Australia, earning a BA in History and Economics.
In 1941, she was promoted within the Workers’ Homes Board, and by 1945 she passed her final architecture exam, becoming the fifth female registered architect in the state. Her interest in town planning led her to seek a graduate degree, and after gaining further experience by assisting in WWII rebuilding efforts in Darwin and New Guinea, she received a British Council Scholarship in 1948. Margaret studied Town and Country Planning at the University of Durham, where she was the only female student and graduated with honors.
She returned to Australia in 1950, gave public lectures on planning, and opened her own architecture and planning firm in 1951—the first of its kind in Western Australia. Her major project came in 1952 when she was asked to plan the new industrial town of Kwinana. She incorporated environmental and social considerations, advocating for placing the town further from industrial sites to protect residents. She also focused on walkability and community infrastructure.
Margaret promoted public education on planning, consulted for the State Housing Commission, and held leadership roles in environmental and heritage efforts. She helped found the Tree Society and the WA branch of the National Trust, and was a key figure in national heritage preservation. She co-founded the Feilman Foundation in 1976 to support philanthropy in the arts and community.
Margaret was recognized with many honors, including an OBE, honorary fellowships, and an honorary doctorate. She retired in the 1980s but remained active in heritage and planning work. She passed away in 2013 at age 92, and in 2019, the National Trust created the Margaret Feilman Medal to honor her legacy.
Caryatid: Helle Søholt
Helle was born in Denmark and decided to study architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. While she was studying, she realized that she appreciated larger scale projects within architecture and switched her focus to urban planning where she studied under Jan Gehl. After she graduated, she went to the University of Washington in Seattle to get a Masters in Architecture. In 2000, she and her former professor Jan Gehl founded Gehl, a global urban strategy and design consultancy. Their mission was to cultivate robust methodologies anchoring urban research on solid ground, transcending political biases and subjective viewpoints. Over the years Gehl has won many awards for their work making cities more livable and sustainable. When talking about how she sees success for Gehl, Helle said: succeeding is about making cities for people. That has been our purpose all through these twenty years and that still remains our purpose today, even though we have shifted from focusing on delivering a paradigm shift within planning to now focusing on the outcome and making sure that cities are in fact more equitable, healthy, and sustainable places for all. If we can help make sure that more projects and more cities are delivering places where people thrive and can live a high quality of life, while having access to opportunities, protecting natural resources and balancing growth - that would define success as a company.
References
Cornish, Patrick. Feilman Foundation » Margaret Feilman – Obituary. feilmanfoundation.com.au/margaret-feilman-obituary.
Democritdaisy. “Margaret Feilman 1921-.” Australian Women’s History Forum, 24 Feb. 2012, awhf.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/margaret-feilman-1921.
Ethell, Jenny. “Margaret Feilman 22 June 1921 – 24 September 2013 – National Trust.” National Trust, 17 Oct. 2013, www.nationaltrust.org.au/news/margaret-feilman-22-june-1921-24-september-2013.
Feilman Foundation » About the Foundation. feilmanfoundation.com.au/about.
Gamolina, Julia. “Cities for People: Helle Søholt on Her Career With Gehl and Speeding up the Vehicle for Change — Madame Architect.” Madame Architect, 27 May 2020, www.madamearchitect.org/interviews/2020/4/17/helle-sholt.
“Helle Søholt: Driving Sustainable Urban Design and Global Innovation at Gehl.” Disrupt Mag, 7 June 2024, disruptmag.com/helle-soholt-driving-sustainable-urban-design-and-global-innovation-at-gehl.
“Margaret Feilman Medal.” National Trust Western Australia, www.ntwa.com.au/about/awards-and-honours/margaret-feilman-medal.
Ojeda, Gueni. “Margaret Anne Feilman 1921-2013.” Un Día | Una Arquitecta, 30 May 2015, undiaunaarquitecta-wordpress-com.translate.goog/2015/05/30/margaret-anne-feilman-1921-2013/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc.
Taylor, John and Margaret Feilman. Margaret Anne Feilman. Nov. 2019, www.taylorarchitects.com.au/Biographies/MA%20Feilman%20for%20AIA%20(WA).pdf.
Wikipedia contributors. “Margaret Feilman.” Wikipedia, 22 Jan. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Feilman.
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