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Top 10 Interesting Things to Know About Jeanne Gang

Jeanne designed Aqua Tower which made her widely known since it was the tallest woman-designed building in the world at the time it was completed. Other buildings she has designed include St. Regis Chicago, WMS Boathouse at Clark Park, One Hundred, and 40 Tenth Avenue.

Jeanne Gang was born on March 19, 1964, in Belvidere, Illinois. She is an American architect and the founder of an architecture and urban design practice, Studio Gang. Jeanne founded the firm back in 1997 and she is the leader. The firm has offices in different parts such as Chicago, San Francisco, and New York.

She is a learned architect and pursued her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Illinois and graduated in 1986. Later, she joined the Harvard Graduate School of Design and earned her master’s in architecture in 1993.

1. Jeanne was the Founder of Studio Gang

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It is interesting to know that Jeanne Gang was the founder of Studio Gang, an American architecture and urban design practice founded in 1997. The firm has offices in different parts such as Chicago, San Francisco, New York, and Â鶹APP.

Studio Gang is famously known for its material research and experimentation, collaboration across a wide range of disciplines, and focus on sustainability.

2. Aqua Tower Made her Popular

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Aqua Tower, an 82-story mixed-use skyscraper in Lakeshore East, downtown Chicago, Illinois made Gang widely known. At the time she designed Aqua Tower, it was the tallest woman-designed building in the world.

Aqua was co-designed by James Loewenberg of Loewenberg & Associates as the Architect of records and the team of Studio Gang architects led by Jeanne Gang.

3. She worked with OMA/Rem Koolhaas

One of the interesting things about Jeanne Gang is that she worked for OMA/Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam. This was before she could establish her own firm in 1997.

OMA is an international architectural firm with offices in different parts of work such as Hong Kong, Doha, Rotterdam, New York, and Australia while Rem Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

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4. Gang has Designed several Buildings in Chicago

Throughout Gang’s architectural career, she has designed several buildings in the Chicago area. Some of the buildings she has designed in Chicago include;

The University of Chicago Campus North Residential Commons, the SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio Community Center, Writers Theatre, the Columbia College Chicago Media Production Center, the Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo, the Columbia College Chicago Media Production Center, and City Hyde Park among others.

5. Received Several Awards and Honors

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Architect Jeanne Gang has been doing great work in the architectural field hence receiving numerous awards and honors. She has received many awards and honors for appreciation such as;

World’s Most Influential Architect, Time Magazine, 2019, Design Vanguard, Architectural Record, 2001, Winner of the Marcus Prize for Architecture presented by Univ of WI and the Marcus Corp. Foundation, 2017, Chicagoans of the Year, Chicago Tribune, 2004, Louis I. Kahn Memorial Award, Philadelphia Center for Architecture, 2017, Academy Award in Architecture, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2006, Fellowship, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, 2017, and Honorary Doctorate, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2013 among others.

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6. Projects She has Accomplished

Gang has secured several projects in her architectural field. She has accomplished many notable projects over the years. Some of the projects she completed include,

California College of the Arts San Francisco Campus, Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History (completed 2023), University of Chicago Campus North Residential Commons (completed 2016), Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College (completed 2014, Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo (completed 2010), Columbia College Chicago Media Production Center (completed 2010), The Bengt Sjostrom Theatre, home of the Starlight Theatre at Rock Valley College (completed 2003) and Chinese American Service League Kam Liu Center (completed 2004) among others.

7. She Earned an Ambassadorial Scholarship

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One of the interesting facts to know about Gang is that she was among the lucky people to earn an Ambassadorial Scholarship, a program of the Rotary Foundation.

After Jeanne Gang completed her master’s degree from Harvard Graduate School of Design, she later received an Ambassadorial Scholarship in the year 1989 to go and study at ETH Zurich, a research university founded by the Swiss federal government in 1854, in Zürich, Switzerland.

8. She was an Educated Architect

Jeanne is an educated architect with knowledge and high education in the field of architecture. After she completed her high school studies and graduated from Belvidere High School in 1982, she joined the University of Illinois. At the university, she was pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Architecture.

Later, after receiving her bachelor’s degree from Illinois University in 1986, Gang joined the Harvard Graduate School of Design to pursue a Master of Architecture and earned a Master of Architecture with Distinction in 1993.

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9. She is a Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design

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It is interesting to know that apart from Jeanne being an architect she is also a current professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has taught at the Graduate School of Design since 1998.

Gang as well acted as a visiting lecturer at Yale University School of Architecture in 2005, a visiting studio critic at the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in 2015, and the Cullinan Visiting Professor at Rice University School of Architecture in 2014 among others.

10. Gang has Authored Several Books

It is interesting to know that architect Gang has authored and published several books despite being an architect. Her publication mostly focused on architecture. Some of the books she has published include;

Reveal: Studio Gang Architects, Building: Inside Studio Gang Architects, Studio Gang: Architecture, and Reverse Effect: Renewing Chicago’s Waterways among others.