S.F.’s Outdoor Exploratorium Links Nature and Perception

Jeanne Gang: Material Humanist
Since Studio Gang’s founding in 1997, Jeanne Gang, FAIA, has led her Chicago-based firm on a multi-scalar search for the limits of architecture. She pushes urbanism, site interpretation, and, most importantly, material expression, to their breaking points, consistently turning barriers into lessons learned in a stream of innovation that’s recently had her named a Fellow of the Institute. Gang confesses a love of the physical act of making and construction, and appropriately, all her work flows from the humble possibilities and limitations of her materials. But that doesn’t disqualify her from brazen, iconic form. Her most well known project, the Aqua Tower in Chicago, turns rigorously detailed, contextual specifications into a sculpted high rise of rippling topographic terraces that redefine and yet reaffirm concrete’s material possibilities.

AIA Philadelphia Brings Architect-Designed Excellence to the Public
There is more than one way to highlight a city's architectural output. The AIA's juried Design Awards programs, for example, provide an authoritative snapshot of superior design. The results resonate more with trained architects, of course, but how else can architects collectively introduce their work to a broader audience?