Jeanne Gang

Jeanne Gang is an architect recognized for redefining the relationship between buildings, communities, and the natural environment. As the founding partner of Studio Gang, Gang leads an international architecture and urban design practice with offices in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Paris. She previously worked with OMA/Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam and Booth Hansen in Chicago before establishing Studio Gang.

Gang first gained global attention with "Aqua Tower," a skyscraper noted for its curved concrete balcony overhangs that evoke rippling water and diffuse strong winds, enabling balconies on every floor and all four sides of the building. This structure was the tallest building in the world designed by a woman at the time of its completion and was later surpassed by St. Regis Chicago, also designed by Gang. Her portfolio includes apartment towers, museum additions such as the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts and the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History, as well as civic and educational spaces like the University of Chicago John W. Boyer Center in Paris, Tom Lee Park in Memphis, and the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College. Gang's team won the international competition to design the new Global Terminal at O'Hare International Airport.

In addition to built projects, Gang and Studio Gang develop research, publications, and exhibitions that explore architecture's potential to foster public awareness and drive change, a practice she describes as actionable idealism. Gang is the author of four books on architecture, including "The Art of Architectural Grafting," published in English and French. Her earlier works, such as "Reveal: Studio Gang Architects" and "Reverse Effect: Renewing Chicago's Waterways," reflect the firm's commitment to ecological and civic transformation. Gang has also addressed professional practice issues, including closing the gender wage gap within her firm and encouraging industry peers to do the same.

Gang's contributions to architecture have been recognized with numerous honors. She is a MacArthur Fellow, an elected member of the National Academy of Design, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an Officer in the National Order of the Legion of Honor, and a Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters. Her work is included in the permanent collections of Centre Pompidou, Canadian Centre for Architecture, MAXXI, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and Art Institute of Chicago. Gang has received the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture, the Charlotte Perriand Award, and the ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. She was named the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Architecture and Architect of the Year by AW Architektur & Wohnen, and was included among the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine.

Gang is the Kajima Professor in Practice of Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design, where her teaching and research focus on materiality and the cultural and environmental aspects of building reuse. She has presented at TED Women and lectured at institutions including Columbia, Yale, Princeton, and Rice University. Gang's work addresses skyscraper design, urban ecology, and social justice through architecture, establishing her as a leading voice in contemporary architectural practice.