Edith Ingpen

Ingpen was a naturally shy person, which was not helped by a slight deafness and poor sense of smell.

She continued to work in the office of C.L Ruck during her study, and graduated from the Melbourne University Atelier in 1933.

After a little while in business Ingpen had enough time and money to enroll in the National Gallery of Victoria Art School and began taking classes.

In 1936, Ingpen was described by Nora Cooper in the Australian Home Beautiful as "one of the best known women architects practicing solo in Melbourne.

[11] After the beginning of World War II Ingpen found it more difficult to get commissions, and this in combination with the retirement of her father meant she could not longer afford to keep her office open.

Ingpen was told that notwithstanding the fact that she was the best and most qualified person for the job, it was inappropriate and beneath the VPWD to hire a woman for the position.

Nina introduced Ingpen to her father who appointed Edith to be his architect for a competition to design for layout and setting of a new statue for the King George V memorial in Canberra .

The circular form was quite unusual at that time in Australian architecture, though it was made popular by later modernists such as Roy Grounds.

She also worked on designs for migrant accommodation[3] and wrote the specifications for the first building to be erected at Monash University.