Jeanne Gang
Born	(1964-03-19)March 19, 1964 (age 61) Belvidere, Illinois
Alma mater	University of Illinois (B.S.),Harvard University Graduate School of Design (M.Arch.)
Occupation	Architect
Awards	2011 MacArthur Fellow, 2013 National Design Award (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum), 2017 Louis I. Kahn Memorial Award (Philadelphia Center for Architecture)
Buildings	Aqua,St. Regis Chicago,Richard Gilder Center atThe American Museum of Natural History,Tom Lee Park,Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts,One Hundred Above the Park

Jeanne Gang (born March 19, 1964)^[1] is an American architect and the founder and leader ofStudio Gang (established in 1997), an architecture and urban design practice with offices inChicago,New York,San Francisco, andParis. She is known for apartment towers, first coming to wide attention with theAqua Tower, which at the time of its completion was the tallest building in the worlddesigned by a woman and has since been surpassed by the nearbySt. Regis Chicago, also designed by Gang. She is also known for designing with an emphasis on sustainability and on social justice, and has designed a number of academic and public buildings.

Gang was born inBelvidere, Illinois,^[1][2][3] where her father was the engineer forBoone County.^[4] She graduated from Belvidere High School in 1982,^[4][5] then earned aBachelor of Science in Architecture from theUniversity of Illinois in 1986; during her third year, she studied inVersailles, France at theÉcole nationale supérieure d'architecture de Versailles.^[6] In 1993 she earned aMaster of Architecture with Distinction from theHarvard Graduate School of Design.^[7][8]

In 1989, Gang was awarded anAmbassadorial Scholarship from theRotary Foundation to study atETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology).^[9]

Gang worked withOMA/Rem Koolhaas inRotterdam andBooth Hansen in Chicago before establishingStudio Gang Architects in Chicago in 1997.^[2][7][10]

Gang has extensive built work in the Chicago area, beginning with theStarlight Theatre atRock Valley College inRockford, Illinois, a 1997 commission.^[2] In 2016, theChicago Tribune named her one of its Chicagoans of the Year,^[11] and the following yearSurface called her one of the most prominent Chicago architects of her generation.^[12] She was first widely recognized for theAqua Tower (2010),^[13] her first skyscraper, which at the time of its completion was the tallest building in the worlddesigned by a woman.^[14][15][16] The nearbySt. Regis Chicago, also of her design, has since taken the title.^[17] She has also designed several academic buildings in the region, boathouses on theChicago River,^[18][19] and the Nature Boardwalk atLincoln Park Zoo.^[20] In 2019, the team led by Gang won the international competition to design the new Global Terminal atO'Hare International Airport.^[21]

She has also completed several projects in New York City, including theRichard Gilder Center at theAmerican Museum of Natural History^[22] Other major projects in the United States include the renovation and expansion of theArkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock,^[23] the expansion ofKresge College at theUniversity of California, Santa Cruz,^[24] the new campus forCalifornia College of the Arts in San Francisco,^[25] and the Center for Arts & Innovation atSpelman College in Atlanta.^[26]

Internationally, Studio Gang was selected in 2016 to design the newUnited States Embassy inBrasília, Brazil.^[27][28] TheUniversity of Chicago Center in Paris opened in 2024;^[29] Q Residences in Amsterdam, the firm's first project in Europe, was completed in 2022.^[30] Studio Gang's work has been widely honored, published, and exhibited.

Gang prioritizes ecologically sensitive design and also social responsibility.^[12][31] Her Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership atKalamazoo College is the first building designed specifically for social justice^[32] and usescordwood masonry, which she found "an old-school hippie" to teach;^[16] and some of her community projects are low-budget, such as theSOS Children's Villages Lavezzorio Community Center, which used donated concrete.^[15][33] Among Studio Gang's planning projects is a guide to re-envisioning and improving the Civic Commons published in 2016.^[34]

Gang is a Professor in Practice of Architecture at theHarvard Graduate School of Design, where she has taught since 2011 and in 2017 was theJohn Portman Design Critic in Architecture.^[35] She has also been a visiting studio critic at theColumbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, the Cullinan Visiting Professor at theRice University School of Architecture, a visiting lecturer at thePrinceton University School of Architecture, theLouis I. Kahn Junior Visiting Professor at theYale University School of Architecture, and a studio critic at theIllinois Institute of Technology.^{[citation needed]} She also lectures frequently.^[7][36] In 2016, she presented at theTED Women conference.^[37][38] On May 11, 2024, she delivered the commencement speech at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.^[39]

In 2024, Gang publishedThe Art of Architectural Grafting, which presents a 10-point program foradaptive reuse on the analogy of horticulturalgrafting.^[40][41] She co-editedBuilding: Inside Studio Gang (2012), a catalogue to accompany Studio Gang's solo exhibition atArt Institute of Chicago.^[42] In 2011, Studio Gang publishedReverse Effect: Renewing Chicago's Waterways, an advocacy publication to spur the revival of theChicago River.^[43]

Gang was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Institute of Architects in 2009,^[44] became an Honorary Fellow of theRoyal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2017,^[45] and also in 2017 was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.^[46] In 2018, she was elected an International Fellow of theRoyal Institute of British Architects.^[47]

Gang received the Academy Award in Architecture of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters in 2006^[48] She was a 2011MacArthur Fellow,^[3][49] the fourth architect to be selected,^[50] and was elected into theNational Academy of Design in 2012.^[51] In 2013, she received the Jesse L. Rosenberger Medal by theUniversity of Chicago,^[52] and she and Studio Gang were awarded the National Design Award for Architecture by theCooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.^[53][54] In 2014, she was one of five recipients in the inaugural year of theArchitectural Record Women in Architecture awards.^[55] In 2015, she was awarded theLégion d'Honnaire by France.^[56] Gang was named the 2016 Architect of the Year byThe Architectural Review, which cited the Arcus Center in particular.^[32] In 2017, she won the Public Humanities Award of the Illinois Humanities Council^[57] and the Marcus Prize for Architecture,^[58] and received the Louis I. Kahn Memorial Award of thePhiladelphia Center for Architecture.^[59] In 2019, she was included inTime magazine's list of the 100 most influentual people.^[60][61] In 2022, she won the ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development^[62] and was the first woman to receive theCharlotte Perriand Award, which recognizes architects whose work enhances the quality of life through design.^[63] Among specific buildings, theAqua Tower was awarded a 2008 American Architecture Award by theChicago Athenaeum,^[64] the 2009 Emporis Skyscraper Award,^[65] an Award of Excellence at the 2010CTBUH Skyscraper Awards,^[66] and the 2011 Prix d'Excellence International Design Award of the International Real Estate Federation,^[67] and was a finalist for the 2010International High-Rise Award;^[68]Mira won the jury award for unbuilt multi-unit residential buildings at the 2020Architizer A+ Awards^[69] and four awards of excellence at the 2021CTBUH Tall + Urban Innovation conference;^[70] andSt. Regis Chicago won Best Tall Building by Height: 300–399 meters and two awards of excellence at the 2022 CTBUH Skyscraper Awards^[71] and a People's Choice Award and a certificate of merit from the Chicago chapter of theAmerican Institute of Architects in 2023 (Studio Gang's design for theArkansas Museum of Fine Arts won an honor award at the same event).^[72]

She has received honorary doctorates from theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago,^[61][73]Columbia College Chicago,^[74] and theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.^[75][76]

Gang is married to Mark Schendel.^[3]

• Studio Gang official website
• Jeanne Gang,Harvard Graduate School of Design
• Kate Sullivan (January 7, 2022)."Jeanne Gang – Architect. Founder of Studio Gang".To Dine For with Kate Sullivan. Season 4. Episode 402. PBS. WTTW.
• Joann Gonchar (January 30, 2017)."Interview with Jeanne Gang".Architectural Record.
• RevealPrinceton Architectural Press: 2011ISBN 978-1-56898-993-8
• Studio Gang: Architecture,Phaidon Press: 2020ISBN 978-1-83866-054-3

• 20th-century American architects
• University of Illinois School of Architecture alumni
• Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni
• Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
• MacArthur Fellows
• 1964 births
• Living people
• People from Belvidere, Illinois
• Architects from Chicago
• American women architects
• Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
• 21st-century American architects
• 20th-century American women
• American women academics
• 21st-century American women
• Rice University faculty

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