Margaret Helfand (June 26, 1947 – June 20, 2007) was a Manhattan-based New York architect and urban planner who served as president of the New York chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

Early life and education

Helfand was born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

on June 26, 1947. She studied at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

(1965-1968) and completed her B.A. at the

University of California - Berkeley A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. After graduating with her B.A. from Berkeley, she attended the Architectural Association School in London in 1970, where she also studied at the International Institute of Design. She received her M.Arch from

Career

Helfand was a Manhattan architect and urban planner who has been recognized worldwide for her innovative approach to design of institutional buildings, interiors, and college campuses. Her designs emphasize clean elemental forms, the use of natural materials and the integration of her buildings with the surrounding landscape. After working in the 1970s for

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...

and Marcel Breuer Associates, she opened her own firm, Helfand Architecture, in 1981. Breaking through gender typecasting which often relegates female architects to designing houses and interiors, she executed many large-scale institutional and commercial works. Her firm's designs won many awards and her work is honored in a monograph published in 1999 by Monacelli Press. Some of her work included Kohlberg Hall and the Unified Science Center at

and the Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, headquarters for Automated Trading Desk. Ms. Helfand was elected to the College of Fellows by the

in 1998. She was recipient of the 2002 Rome Prize in Architecture. She helped create the Center for Architecture, a hub for exhibitions in the field and the home of the New York chapter of the institute. She was a co-chairman of New York New Visions, a civic group that advised government agencies on urban design and planning guidelines for the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan after the destruction of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

Personal life

When she was studying in London, she sailed a 90' schooner with friends to Spain and the Caribbean. After she completed her master's degree, she sailed from Costa Rica across the South Pacific. She was also interested in modern dance. Helfand was married to Jon A. Turner, who is an emeritus professor of Information Systems at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. She died in

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 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, six days before her 60th birthday, in 2007 from complications of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

Bibliography

* ''Margaret Helfand Architects: Essential Architecture'' (1999), Monacelli Press,

References

1947 births 2007 deaths American urban planners Women urban planners Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from colorectal cancer Architects from Pasadena, California People from Manhattan 20th-century American architects American women architects 20th-century American women 21st-century American women {{US-architect-stub