The Early Women of Architecture in Maryland travelling exhibit is now on display through May 30 at the University of Maryland’s Kibel Gallery. Researched and created by the Women in Architecture Committee of AIA Baltimore, the exhibition celebrates the women who contributed to Maryland architecture from the 1920s to the ’60s, including DC modernist Chloethiel Woodard Smith and Poldi Hirsch, who brought her European-influenced modernism to more traditional Havre de Grace.

On Wednesday, Feb 17 at 5 pm, the gallery will host a panel discussion featuring the exhibit’s curator, Jillian Storms, AIA.  The other panelists are Anne E. Bruder, Senior Architectural Historian, Maryland State Highway Administration, and Dr. Isabelle Gournay, University of Maryland Associate Professor and author of Modern Movement in Maryland.

The Hirsch House in Havre de Grace by Poldi Hirsch.

This past October on the national  Docomomo US Tour Day,  Women in Architecture and the Historic Resources Committees of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Baltimore Architecture Foundation hosted a tour of modernist projects by Hirsch in Havre de Grace, including her own house. Hirsch, who immigrated from Germany in 1953 was heavily influenced by Le Corbusier , was the first woman corporate member of the AIABaltimore Chapter.

Sketches by Hirsch of rental units she designed and built.