Deborah Berke (born 1954) is an American architect and academic. She is the founder of

Deborah Berke Partners TenBerke (formerly Deborah Berke Partners) is a New York City, based architecture and interior design firm founded and led by Deborah Berke, who concurrently serves as Dean of the Yale School of Architecture. Projects Completed Projects * Pr ...

, a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

-based design firm. Berke is the J.M. Hoppin Professor at the

Yale School of Architecture The Yale School of Architecture (YSOA) is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University, and is generally considered to be one of the best architecture schools in the United States. The School awards the degrees of Master of Arc ...

, where she has taught since 1987. Since 2016, Berke has served as the school's Dean, making her the first woman to hold the position.

Life

Deborah Berke was born in 1954 in Douglaston, Queens, New York City. She traces her decision to become an architect to age 14, when she would explore Queens and study small-lot houses. Berke attended the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

, earning a BFA in 1975 and a

BArch BArch may refer to: * Bundesarchiv (BArch), the German Federal Archives * Bachelor of Architecture The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is a bachelor's degree designed to satisfy the academic requirement of practising architecture around the wor ...

in 1977. She was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the school in 2005. For graduate studies, Berke attended the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

, earning a Masters in Urban Planning in Urban Design in 1984. In 2012, she became the first laureate of the Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Professorship and Prize.

Selected works

*1982, ''Rob Krier: Urban Projects, 1968-1982'' (with Rob Krier; Kenneth Frampton;

Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies The Institute for Architecture & Urban Studies is a non-profit architecture studio and think tank located in Manhattan, New York, United States. IAUS (1967–1984) The Institute of Architecture and Urban Studies was founded in 1967 as a non-pr ...

) *1984, ''Visual analysis'' (with University of Maryland, College Park. School of Architecture) *1985, ''32 buildings'' (with Mark McInturff; University of Maryland, College Park. School of Architecture) *1990, ''30 buildings'' (with Mark McInturff; University of Maryland, College Park. School of Architecture) *1997, ''Architecture of the Everyday'' (with Steven Harris) *2008, ''Deborah Berke'' (with Tracy Myers) *2016, ''House rules: an architect's guide to modern life''

Awards and honors

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

, elected 2022 *

AIA AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to: Aia * Aia, a small town in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, Spain * Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis * Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ancient town in Greece * ''Aia'', the collected ed ...

/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education, 2022 *

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

, elected 2022 * Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Professorship and Prize, 2012

In popular culture

Berke is referenced extensively in the 2017 film ''Columbus'' by director

Kogonada Kogonada (sometimes styled :: kogonada) is a South Korean-born American filmmaker. He is known for his video essays that analyze the content, form, and structure of various films and television series. The essays frequently use narration and edi ...

. The female protagonist, Casey, is a fan of her work, citing the regional branch of Irwin Union Bank designed by Berke as her third favorite building. Berke ate

beans on toast Baked beans is a dish traditionally containing white beans that are parboiled and then, in the US, baked in sauce at low temperature for a lengthy period. In the United Kingdom, the dish is sometimes baked, but usually stewed in sauce. Canned ...

with

Ina Garten Ina Rosenberg Garten ( ; born February 2, 1948) is an American author, host of the Food Network program '' Barefoot Contessa'', and a former staff member of the Office of Management and Budget. Among her dishes are ''cœur à la crème'', celery ...

in a 2017 episode of

Barefoot Contessa ''Barefoot Contessa'' is an American cooking show that premiered November 30, 2002, on Food Network, and is currently the oldest show on the network's daytime schedule. Hosted by celebrity chef Ina Garten, each episode features Garten assembli ...

References

External links and additional reading

* *“A Working House: Studio/Guest House, Hillsdale, New York, Deborah Berke and Carey McWhorter, Architects.” ''Architectural Record'' 181, no. 4 (April 1, 1993). *Gerfen, Katie, Deborah Berke, and Maitland Jones. 2017. “Rockefeller Arts Center at SUNY Fredonia, Fredonia, N.Y.: Deborah Berke Partners: A Classic I.M. Pei Arts Building Gets an Addition and Renovation by the Masters of Thoughtful Pragmatism.” ''Architect (Washington, D.C.)'', November, 164–75. *Interior Design. “Deborah Berke Partners Creates Contemporary Art Experience at the 21c Museum Hotel Chicago.” Accessed October 25, 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Berke, Deborah 1954 births 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects Fellows of the American Institute of Architects American women architects Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Rhode Island School of Design alumni Yale School of Architecture faculty Yale University administrators 20th-century American women 21st-century American women City University of New York alumni