Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/193668
PHOTO BY STEVE HALL © HEDRICH BLESSING (BOARDWALK); © SALLY RYAN PHOTOGRAPHY, COURTESY OF STUDIO GANG ARCHITECTS (GANG) Jeanne GANG There's no better word to describe Jeanne Gang and her Chicagobased firm, Studio Gang Architects, than "innovative." The 49year-old, Harvard-educated architect heads what she calls "a collective of architects, designers and thinkers" that pushes the boundaries of traditional architectural practice, fusing her interests in ecology, culture and climate with design that experiments with materials (sometimes scavenged, sometimes invented) and structures to create buildings of refreshing originality. Gang's unique architectural vision, explored in an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago earlier this year, won her a $500,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2011—known colloquially as a "genius grant"—one of only a handful of architects to win in the prize's 32-year history. Gang garnered international attention with Aqua Tower, an 82-story hotel, office and apartment building overlooking Chicago's Millennium Park, completed in 2009. Its undulating concrete balconies gave an otherwise basic glass box a seductive, sculptural silhouette—and helped boost the young architect's career. "Aqua—which has 1.9 million square feet—showed that we were capable of doing much larger-scale work," says Gang. "It was really successful from the client's standpoint, even at a really tough economic time, so it's brought us a lot of other projects like that." Studio Gang has more developer projects these days, including high-rise condo towers in Chicago and Vancouver, and a crystalline office building abutting Manhattan's trendy High Line. She calls it the "Solar Carve Tower" in recognition of the building's sculptural massing, which is "carved" back from the elevated park to maximize sunlight, air and views. But her office, which is approaching 50 people, continues to focus equally on modest community centers and nonprofits. "We're trying to be more selective now, looking at which projects we really want to go after," maintains Gang. "But I'm still very connected to the work." studiogang.net Jeanne Gang's Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo CULTURED 97