Deborah Berke, FAIA

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"For more than 40 years, Deborah Berke, FAIA, has leveraged her\nnimble harmonization of education and practice to share the discipline of\narchitecture with students and professionals from a wide range of backgrounds.\nThrough her accessible and purposefully non-monumental pedagogy, Berke advances\nher deep-rooted belief that architectural education should be available to\neveryone. Her contributions and inexhaustible spirit have inspired countless\nstudents and design professionals. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Berke\u2019s teaching career began shortly after her graduation from\nthe Rhode Island School of Design when she founded an architecture education\nprogram for high school students at New York\u2019s Institute for Architecture and\nUrban Studies. Students enrolled in the program were presented with a broad\nrange of perspectives on architecture and the city, which helped them better\nunderstand the built environment\u2019s forms and creation. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Those early experiences, coupled with the cross-disciplinary,\nart-based education she received, greatly influenced her teaching at her alma\nmater, the University of Miami; University of California, Berkeley; and the\nYale School of Architecture, where she has served as dean since 2016, the first\nwoman to lead the school. Last year, she was appointed to a second term based\non the success of her initiatives to diversify the faculty and student body and\nto support cross-disciplinary initiatives. Her efforts include the Yale Center\nfor Ecosystems in Architecture, the school\u2019s first architectural sciences lab,\nand the introduction of an urban studies major for undergraduates. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Berke welcomes a broad range of perspectives into the\nclassroom, and her design studios regularly feature novelists, scientists, and\nplanners as guest lecturers and critics. Her innovative approach has helped the\nschool attract nonconventional thinkers and designers, and she has shaped the\ncareers of not only architects but also artists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs.\nIn 2012, her peers and students celebrated her contributions to the school with\nthat year\u2019s Professor King-lui Wu Teaching Award. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cDeborah has not only played a critical role in welcoming new\nfaces to the school and to the profession, she has also proven herself an\nintellectual leader, advocating a point of view that has done much to\ncounteract the navel-gazing theories of recent architectural pedagogy,\u201d wrote\nRobert A.M. Stern, FAIA, in a letter supporting Berke\u2019s nomination for the\nTopaz Medallion. \u201cHer studios and seminars, imbued with what she describes as\n\u2018the architecture of the everyday,\u2019 reflect a fundamental humanity she brings\nto all her work.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"At Yale, Berke\u2019s studios focus on relevant and real-world\ntopics, from scalable urban apiaries to the urban industry of Louisville. Her\nstudents deeply engage with communities and some of society\u2019s most pressing\nissues. Far from imitators or acolytes, Berke\u2019s students are empowered to\nemploy design to create dignified spaces for people. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"As Yale\u2019s dean, she has embedded her engaged approach in every\ngraduate architecture student\u2019s education. She partnered with the school\u2019s\nrenowned Building Project, where first-year students design and build a house\nin New Haven, with an organization that helps find permanent housing for people\nexperiencing homelessness. Additionally, she supports the creation of a\ncollaborative course that aims to investigate and end the practice of slavery\nin the construction supply chain."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cIn the past, the unfortunate standard for universities has\nbeen to follow the pathways of power \u2014whether through the presence of the\nsingular \u2018starchitect\u2019 or star practices,\u201d Billie Tsien, AIA, wrote of Berke.\n\u201cFrom her earliest days as dean, Deborah has instead spoken of the need for\ncollaboration, for a balance of life and work, and of the architect\u2019s\nresponsibility to the larger world.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Through the combination of Berke\u2019s ethics, educational\nexperience, and keen understanding of spaces that support creativity and\nlearning, her practice, New York\u2019s Deborah Berke Partners, has assembled an\nexpansive portfolio of projects for institutions of higher learning. Since\n1982, clients such as Yale, Princeton University, and the University of\nPennsylvania have looked to the firm to create flexible and welcoming learning\nspaces that are reflective of each school\u2019s culture and mission. The firm\u2019s\nwork has been lauded with the National Design Award from the Cooper Hewitt,\nSmithsonian Design Museum and dozens of awards from local and state AIA\nchapters. Recently, in keeping with Berke\u2019s values, the firm expanded from\nthree to 11 partners. The move increased the number of women and partners of\ncolor while reinforcing a multigenerational leadership structure."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In her roles as professor and practitioner, Berke has evolved\ncritical design thinking and equipped tomorrow\u2019s architects with the skills to\nface pressing societal and environmental challenges for the greater good. Her\ninsightful leadership and distinct contributions to the profession ensure that\nher influence will continue to reverberate for generations. "]]]]}