Automation and Identity: Threats for Women in Architecture in Japan

Presented at the joint Summer Research Workshop between B'AI Global Forum and laboratory of Prof. Hiromi Yokoyama. My talk examined the intersection of gender, identity, and automation in the architectural profession in Japan. Drawing on labor statistics, surveys, and case studies, I highlighted structural barriers facing women architects—ranging from childcare and workplace discrimination to the lack of female role models—and how these challenges shape professional identity.

The presentation further considered how generative AI and automation may intensify existing inequalities, with women disproportionately at risk as routine and background tasks in architecture become automated. Situating this within broader debates on gender, labor, and design, I asked what it means for architecture’s future when creative authority and technological mediation remain unevenly distributed.