Open House Lecture: Jeanne Gang, “Thinking Through Practice and Research”

American architect and MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang, FAIA, FRIBA, is the founding principal of Studio Gang, an architecture and urban design practice with offices in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, Jeanne is internationally renowned for a design process that foregrounds the relationships between individuals, communities, and environments. Her diverse body of work spans scales and typologies, expanding beyond architecture’s conventional boundaries to pursuits ranging from the development of stronger materials to fostering stronger communities. Her approach has resulted in some of today’s most compelling architecture, including Aqua Tower, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, and Writers Theatre. She is currently designing major projects throughout the Americas and Europe, including the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York; a unified campus for California College of the Arts in San Francisco; and the new United States Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil. A recipient of the 2013 National Design Award (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum), Jeanne was named the 2016 Architect of the Year by the Architectural Review. In 2017, she was honored with the Louis I. Kahn Memorial Award and made an honorary fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. Widely published and acclaimed, her work has been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Museum of Modern Art, and Art Institute of Chicago. She is the author of Reveal, the first volume on Studio Gang’s work and process, and Reverse Effect: Renewing Chicago’s Waterways, which envisions a radically greener future for the Chicago River. Jeanne is a distinguished alumna of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she was recently appointed Professor in Practice. Her GSD studios have previously explored the multivalent potential of materiality. This semester she is working with students to explore strategies for rebuilding community infrastructure in the Caribbean Islands following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Jeanne lectures frequently throughout the world and serves on various civic and design-focused committees and advisory groups.