Pogi

A building does not have to be tall or phallic to suggest masculinity.

Some architecture critics believe that "male" architecture is architecture that expresses heaviness, strength, or power. Something about its shape, proportions, or sheer mass shouts out, "Uh! Me Tarzan!" Or, perhaps, "Uh! Me Bill Gates!"

Architect I.M. Pei seemed to express masculine ideas when he designed the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University. The building is composed of heavy angular shapes.

Some architecture critics believe that "female" architecture is architecture that seems to express femininity. There is something womanly about the building's shape, size, proportions, color, or texture.

Curved shapes may suggest the womb. Perhaps you long to crawl inside the building and curl into a fetal position.

The dumpling-shaped Esplanade in Singapore has a round shape that might be called feminine.

A "female" building doesn't have to be delicate. Perhaps the building is bold and brassy - not the sort of girl you'd bring home to your mother. The "femininity" of the building is expressed in its curving forms.

Architecture critics might say that Jorn Utzon's Sydney Opera House expresses a bold "female" energy.

Androgynous Architecture? The Taj Mahal

Many buildings have both male and female qualities. Perhaps the texture is male, and the shape female. Or, the color is female, but the proportions... Well, you get the point.

A building that has both male and female characteristics might be called androgynous.

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India combines rounded shapes with masculine forms.

Does the gender of the architect affect the gender of the building?

Apparently not.

Julia Morgan's many buildings at Hearst Castle can be viewed as male, female, or both. Hearst Castle showcases the painstaking craftsmanship of Julia Morgan. The lavish structure was designed for William Randolph Hearst, the publishing mogul.

Whether you think of architecture as "male" or "female,"...