About Jeanne Gang

Jeanne Gang is an American architect and MacArthur Fellow advancing the possibilities of architecture and design in the twenty-first century—including their ability to make a positive social and environmental impact. She is the founding principal of Studio Gang, an architecture and urban design practice based in Chicago and New York. Drawing insight from ecological systems, she works across project types to create places that strengthen beneficial relationships between individuals, communities, and environments. Her analytical and creative approach has produced some of today’s most innovative architecture, including the 82-story, undulating Aqua Tower in downtown Chicago; the world’s first purpose-built structure for social justice education, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College; and the University of Chicago’s Campus North Residential Commons, whose curving landscape and pre-cast concrete buildings enrich the campus’ neo-Gothic tradition.

Jeanne and Studio Gang are currently designing major projects throughout the Americas and Europe. These include the expansion of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City; the new United States Embassy in Brasília, Brazil; mixed-use towers in Toronto and Amsterdam; and Civic Commons, a multi-city project reimagining public buildings across the United States.

Intertwined with their built work, Jeanne and her Studio develop research and related projects such as publications, exhibitions, and events that push design’s ability to create public awareness and lead to change—a practice Jeanne calls “actionable idealism.” These include Polis Station, an ongoing project exploring how American police stations can be reimagined through an inclusive design process to better serve their communities, and Reverse Effect, an advocacy publication produced to spark a greener future for the Chicago River.

Jeanne is the recipient of the National Design Award for Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and is a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur of France. In 2017 she was honored with the Louis I. Kahn Memorial Award and elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the author of three books and her work has been published and exhibited widely, including at the Museum of Modern Art, the International Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to lecturing throughout the world, she teaches architecture at the graduate level, most recently at Harvard, Columbia, and Rice. Jeanne Gang Jeanne Gang will deliver the 2018 Berlin Family Lectures (Photo: Sally Ryan).