Dina Stancheva


Dina Stancheva is a Bulgarian architect who has received multiple awards for her designs. She was honored with the Koliu Ficheto award in 1968, the Red Banner of Labor Award in 1977, and received the Gold Badge of the Bulgarian Union of Architects in 1985.

Biography

Dina Nikolva Stancheva was born on 18 November, 1925 in Nova Zagora, Bulgaria. She grew up in Sofia, studying at the Sofia Art Academy and went on for her university studies in Paris. She studied at both the École Spéciale d'Architecture and the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, before returning to Bulgaria and completing her degree in architecture in 1952 from the Sofia Polytechnic.
From 1952 to 1972 she worked at the firm Sofproekt before becoming head of its design studio. In 1968, she was awarded the Koliu Ficheto award for her design of a day care center. In 1969, she built the "Ho Chi Minh Kindergarten", which at the time, it was considered "revolutionary" to design a settling for children in which even the furniture was specifically selected. Prior to that time, most daycare buildings had donated furnishings, but mirroring a small hall of the United Nations Building in Geneva, the design called for beds, tables and chairs to fit the space and the children's needs. Due to some financing problems, the school was not completed until 1969. Her design of the Cultural Center in Pancharevo was honored with the Red Banner of Labor Award in 1977. Stancheva left the employ of Sofproekt in 1982, but continued working with them on a consulting basis until opening her own practice. In 1985, she received the Gold Badge of the Bulgarian Union of Architects for her contributions to the architectural heritage. Stancheva retired in 1994 and in 1997 donated her architectural library to the International Archive of Women in Architecture at Virginia Tech.

Works