Nobuko Nakahara, Japan, 1929-2008. Nakahara's career started with a visit to a 10-person architectural firm to inquire about a job. She was told that if she could redesign the office space to fit eleven desks she would be hired and, in the end, Nakahara became the firm's eleventh employee. By founding the women's architecture association PODOKO in 1953, which grew to 28 members, Nakahara created a forum for women to discuss design. A decade later in Paris, she cofounded the Congress of the International Union of Women Architects (UIFA) and became its first president.