Hatje Cantz Launches "She Was an Architect" Series with Laura Helena Wurth's Book on Astra Zarina
Hatje Cantz Verlag has introduced a new book series titled "She Was an Architect," with its inaugural volume focusing on architect Astra Zarina, authored by Laura Helena Wurth and released in Berlin in 2026 (ISBN 978-3-7757-6210-6). This 64-page book in English includes Wurth's storytelling alongside historical images of Zarina. An interview with architect Steven Holl shares his memories of working with Zarina in Rome. Born in Riga in 1929, Zarina escaped Latvia during World War II, studied at Technische Universität Karlsruhe, and relocated to Seattle in 1949. She received her master's from MIT in 1956, became the first female recipient of the Rome Prize in Architecture in 1960, and established the Northwest Institute for Architecture in 1981. Zarina passed away in August 2008 at the age of 79.
Key facts
- Hatje Cantz Verlag launched the "She Was an Architect" series with a book on Astra Zarina by Laura Helena Wurth
- The 64-page English-language volume was published in Berlin in 2026 with ISBN 978-3-7757-6210-6
- Astra Zarina was born in Riga in 1929 and emigrated via Austria to Germany during World War II
- In 1960 she became the first woman to receive the Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome
- She was the only woman on Werner Düttmann's 35-person team for Berlin's Märkisches Viertel, completed in 1974
- Her name was omitted from official Märkisches Viertel brochures and a 1967 Bauwelt report despite her leading the project
- She directed the University of Washington's Rome summer program from 1970 and restored Civita di Bagnoregio starting in 1961
- She founded the Civita Institute (NIAUS) with Anthony Costa Heywood in 1981 and died in Civita di Bagnoregio in August 2008 at 79
Entities
Artists
- Laura Helena Wurth
- Astra Zarina
- Steven Holl
- Egon Eiermann
- Minoru Yamasaki
- Douglas Philip Haner
- Werner Düttmann
- Hans Christian Müller
- Georg Heinrichs
- Balthazar Korab
- Anthony Costa Heywood
Institutions
- Hatje Cantz Verlag
- University of Washington
- Technische Universität Karlsruhe
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- American Academy in Rome
- Bauwelt
- Northwest Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies
- Civita Institute
- Kultur-port
Locations
- Riga
- Latvia
- Austria
- Germany
- Karlsruhe
- Seattle
- United States
- Rome
- Italy
- Berlin
- Berlin-Reinickendorf
- Manhattan
- New York
- Civita di Bagnoregio
- Palazzo Pio