| JUDGE |
DEBORAH BERKE Written by RACHEL GALLAHER
WHEN DEBORAH BERKE WAS JUST 14 YEARS OLD, SHE CAME HOME AFTER AN EVENING SPENT ROAMING HER NEIGHBORHOOD IN QUEENS, NEW YORK, AND ANNOUNCED TO HER PARENTS, “I’M GOING TO BE AN ARCHITECT.” Her decision was the culmination of dozens of nightly walks with a friend on which they’d observe local houses “Both of us wanted to be architects,” Berke recalls. “We would spend hours sketching plans and trying to figure out what the houses looked like on the inside based on the exterior architecture.” Berke’s fascination with design, architecture, and their place in a community helped launch her into a notable career that has spanned three decades and produced dozens of award-winning
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residential, commercial, and institutional projects. After studying architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and earning a master’s in urban planning from City University of New York, she launched her New York–based firm, Deborah Berke Partners, in 1982. Known for her sleek modern designs, Berke puts a heavy focus on context, climate, and building materials. “It’s incredibly important that buildings are grounded in their location,” she notes. Her firm, now with over 60 employees, has designed prominent structures around New York City (the Marianne Boesky Gallery; the 48 Bond Street apartments) and beyond, including seven 21c Museum Hotels across the U.S., the Yale University School of Art in New Haven, and the recently completed
Cummins Indianapolis Distribution Headquarters. In July 2016, Berke became the first female dean of the Yale School of Architecture, where she has been a professor since 1987. She firmly believes that more women are needed in the profession, and she sees their dearth as an indication of a broader problem in architecture: the underrepresentation of most communities. “I think architecture should look like the population it serves, and that’s everybody,” she says. “Those who practice architecture, whether it’s in a traditional sense or in the capacity of town planning officials, campus architects, and so on, should resemble the population. That’s my goal.” This commitment to social justice and community engagement is among the reasons GRAY tapped Berke to be one of our inaugural GRAY Awards judges. A devoted design educator for more than 30 years, she is used to reviewing new work, and her notes on the region’s burgeoning architectural scene leave no doubt that the Pacific Northwest is at the top of the class. “Design in the Northwest is very strong and has a contemporary regional voice that I find both appropriate and compelling,” she says. “There’s a lot of fertile, creative work going on here, and I find that exciting.” h