Architect Jeanne Gang (she/her), FAIA, is the founding partner of Studio Gang. Her inquisitive, forward-looking approach to design—unique in its pursuit of new technical and material possibilities as well as in its expansion of the active role of designers in society—has distinguished her as a leading architect of her generation. Drawing insight from ecological systems, she creates striking places that connect people with each other, their communities, and the environment.
Her diverse, award-winning portfolio includes cultural centers that convene diverse audiences, public projects that connect citizens with ecology, installations that challenge traditional material properties, and high-rise towers that foster community. Notable among these are the recently completed Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, which the New York Times called “a poetic, joyful, theatrical work of public architecture and a highly sophisticated flight of sculptural fantasy.” Other completed projects include the reimagined Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock; Writers Theatre, a professional theater in Glencoe, Illinois; the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan; and two towers that have redefined Chicago’s skyline: the 101-story St. Regis Chicago, now the city’s third-tallest building, and the 82-story, undulating Aqua Tower. Her ongoing work includes major cultural and civic projects throughout the Americas and Europe, such as a new United States Embassy in Brasília; the University of Chicago’s European hub for study and research in Paris; Stanford University’s new Sustainability Commons in Palo Alto; and an expansion of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. Tall buildings in Toronto, Denver, Paris, and Boston are also underway. Intertwined with built work, Jeanne and the Studio also develop research, publications, and exhibitions that push design’s ability to create public awareness and give rise to change—a practice Jeanne calls “actionable idealism.” The Studio has championed innovative design strategies to improve ecological biodiversity in cities, including bird-safe building techniques and an experimental prairie ecosystem on the rooftop of their Chicago office. At the same time, Jeanne has challenged the status quo in professional practice by closing the gender wage gap in her company and encouraging her colleagues to follow suit. Jeanne is a Professor in Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, her alma mater, where her teaching and research focus on the cultural and environmental aspects of buildings’ reuse. She is the author of four books on architecture. Her most recent book, The Art of Architectural Grafting, was released this spring in both French and English editions. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at the Museum of Modern Art, the International Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
