In 2016, the Yale School of Architecture will, for the first time in the school's history, be led by a woman. New York architect and adjunct professor of architectural design Deborah Berke, FAIA, was selected as the next dean of the school, the university announced today. Berke will replace Robert A.M. Stern, FAIA, who has held the position since 1998.
Berke holds a B.F.A., a B.Arch., and an honorary doctorate in fine arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, as well as a master's degree in urban planning in urban design from The City University of New York. She received the first Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Professorship and Prize in 2012. Berke has been teaching at Yale for nearly 30 years, and will take over as the Yale School of Architecture dean on July 1, 2016.
She founded her New York practice Deborah Berke Partners in 1982, and her firm's portfolio includes the in-progress Richardson Olmsted Complex in Buffalo, N.Y., the residential units in the Rafael Viñoly, FAIA–designed 432 Park Avenue tower under construction in New York, and 21c Museum Hotels in Louisville, Ky., Bentonville, Ark., Durham, N.C., Cincinnati, and Brooklyn. Her firm also designed the Yale School of Art, a project that was completed in 2000.
In 2013, ARCHITECT spoke with Berke about the future of architecture:
"What is in store for the future of architecture is a really complicated question because architecture is so many things. Architecture is code compliance whether its building safety, or A.D.A., or zoning; architecture is building responsibly in a world that needs to become more sustainable; architecture is about helping those less privileged than those of us in the west to live decent lives with the help of buildings for schools, hospitals, and housing, all of those things are architecture. And then of course there is the big kind of capital A architecture which is what does it look like, what's the next sort of starchitect building that's going to make a person and a place famous and important. So, question is hard, because architecture is so many things. As a designer, or someone who is really focused on design primarily, I think the questions should be about what do buildings look like that allow them to continue to play an important role in our culture, but still assume all of the responsibilities they need to assume. For me, that would be about being a little less boisterous and ostentatious and a little more understated to let other creative human endeavors shine in front of buildings." (Watch the complete interview on ARCHITECT.)
For more information about projects by Deborah Berke Partners, visit ARCHITECT's Project Gallery.
