For years, architectural feminist scholars had lobbied Mattel to consider promoting the architectural profession to little girls through the Barbie line. At the same time, conversations in the profession about gender equity had stagnated, despite the fact that only 17% of AIA members were women. In 2010, to reignite the conversation and promote architecture to little girls, Kelly Hayes McAlonie and her colleague, Despina Stratigakos, an architectural historian and professor at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo, accepted an off er from Mattel to collaborate on the i can be...Architect Barbie® as the 2011 career of the year.

Advisors to Mattel

In January-February 2010, Mattel held a vote for Barbie’s next career campaign. Architect was one of the five professions on the vote list. Despite the loss, in 2010 Mattel decided to create the doll as the Career of the Year for 2011 and invited Kelly and Despina, who had worked on the campaign for Architect Barbie during the 2010 vote, to collaborate on the project. Kelly and Despina offered advice on the profession to ensure the doll was an authentic representation of the career and to build a program surrounding architecture for the project launch.

Liaison between AIA and Mattel and Project Ambassador

Kelly engaged the AIA National Board of Directors, who agreed to partner with Mattel on the launch of the doll at the AIA National Convention in New Orleans. Kelly developed the workshop format and materials. She led many of the workshop sessions, where more than 400 girls, ages 7-9 years from New Orleans, participated in groups of 25. The girls learned what architects do, were introduced to the work of important women architects and then participated in a design exercise, developed by Kelly. All participants were given an Architect Barbie as a parting gift. Kelly also assisted in recruiting volunteers for the workshops. Kelly and Despina acted as spokespeople for the doll at the launch and in media kits produced by Mattel and the AIA.

Competition Jury

Kelly served on the jury for the AIA-sponsored Barbie Dream House Design Competition open to AIA and Associate AIA members. Th e competition received more than 30 submissions and the jury selected fi ve for the public to vote on. Approximately 8,500 votes were cast and the winning design team was Ting Li, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, and Maja Paklar, Assoc. AIA, both graduates of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. The competition was profi led in the Christian Science Monitor blog, Traditional Building and Period Homes blog, Architect Magazine and other media outlets.

Inspiring Future Architects

Kelly was profiled in the Winter 2012 issue of Barbie Magazine, which has a circulation of 35,000. In the article, entitled I can be…an architect! Kelly answered questions about how she became an architect, what architects do and how to prepare to become an architect.

Legacy

Subsequent to the launch of the doll, Architect Barbie workshops were held in Chapters throughout the US, in particular Chicago and New York. AIA San Francisco held a symposium entitled Architect Barbie, which led to the creation of the Missing 32% Project (now Equity By Design), which seeks to understand gender inequity in the profession and identify opportunities to combat this problem. Architect Barbie garnered tremendous publicity, highlighting the role of the architect in the built environment to the public. Kelly continues to speak publicly about her experience with the Architect Barbie project and the subsequent stories involving women in architecture.