Studio Gang Architects is the latest high-profile firm tapped by the State Department to design a U.S. embassy. The department chose the Chicago- and New York–based firm to design a new embassy complex in Brasília, Brazil, according to a press release today.
Studio Gang bested five other shortlisted firms for the commission: Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Morphosis Architects, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Rafael Viñoly Architects, and Steven Holl Architects. The new complex will located on the site of the existing two-story building designed by Henningson, Durham, and Richardson (HDR) and constructed in the 1970s.
This embassy is the newest commission under the State Department's "Excellence in Diplomatic Facilities" initiative. As Michael Z. Wise reported in ARCHITECT, the relatively recent program is in contrast to standardized designs seen in the aughts, and has come under fire at House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearings.
This is Studio Gang's first U.S. embassy project, but the firm has completed numerous civic and public works, including the WMS Boathouse at Clark Park and the SOS Children's Villages Lavezzorio Community Center in Chicago, a proposed Brooklyn firehouse for the New York Fire Department, and a concept for a new American Museum of Natural History building in New York.
Visit ARCHITECT's Project Gallery to view more work by Studio Gang Architects.
