CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Internationally renowned architect and Illinois alumna Jeanne Gang has designed buildings that have reshaped the Chicago skyline and inspired awe.
The 82-story Aqua Tower features curving outdoor terraces that appear to ripple across the façade of the building. Three columns of varying heights and a flowing appearance form the 101-story St. Regis Chicago, the third tallest building in the city. Gang was selected to design the new Global Terminal at O’Hare International Airport. Her buildings are not just beautiful structures. She believes they also can connect people and make their lives better.
“My motivation, the reason why I do the work, is I believe we can make a better world for everyone,” she said.
Gang began her journey at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she earned an architecture degree in 1986. She’ll give the U. of I. Commencement address on May 11 in Memorial Stadium. She also will receive the Illinois Medal in Architecture from the School of Architecture on May 12.
“Illinois has one of the oldest architecture programs in the country. It’s a well-established program. There was a broad cross-section of ideas that were mixing at the time when I was a student, and I really enjoyed all these different viewpoints that came together,” Gang said. “I started to learn what I liked in that environment. It helped me to find my place in architecture.”
There weren’t many women in architecture at the time, but Gang found a supportive mentor in Art Kaha, a now-retired architecture professor who taught Gang’s sophomore design studio. He encouraged her to participate in the school’s study abroad program in Versailles, France, which Gang described as an influential part of her education. Kaha said Gang was a serious student and a talented designer.
“She always aspired to be a top designer, and she has become that. It was encouraging and powerful that she opened her own firm when she did, so soon after graduate school. It was very adventuresome,” Kaha said. “I felt like she would have her own office and do well, but I didn’t know how well.”
“Gang has had a meteoric rise in her career,” said architecture professor Kathryn Anthony, who was the only woman faculty member teaching architecture at the U. of I. 40 years ago when Anthony arrived on campus. Now, women make up a little more than half the students in architecture schools across the country and about 40% of those who complete the Architecture Registration Exam each year, according to the American Institute of Architects.
“Gang has had an enormously positive impact, not just on women in architecture, but also on transforming the image of cities where her designs have now become major urban landmarks. Her skyscrapers have changed the face of Chicago from all different angles, especially when viewed from Lake Michigan and the Chicago River,” Anthony said.
Gang is the founding partner of Studio Gang, an architecture and urban design firm headquartered in Chicago, with offices in New York, San Francisco and Paris. She refers to her approach to her work as “actionable idealism,” which is rooted in putting big ideas into action through practical steps that can generate meaningful change. She believes architecture can impact some of the biggest problems facing society — such as the climate crisis and social inequity — by using design as a medium to connect people to each other, the environment and their communities.
Her design for the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation — an addition to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, which The Wall Street Journal named among the Best Architecture of 2023 — looks sculptural and organic, like natural structures formed by wind and water. Gang’s design incorporates natural light and a sense of flow that moves people instinctively through the space and encourages them to engage with the exhibits.
“I wanted the building to inspire curiosity in visitors, so they would feel excited to explore and learn. During the design process, I thought about landscapes that give me that feeling of wanting to explore,” Gang said.
By using concrete slabs rather than steel to build the balconies of Aqua Tower, Gang was able to create their fluid appearance and stagger the placement of the terraces so neighbors can interact with one another.
“We were tapping into the nature of the material, and also connecting people throughout the building to a place on the façade where they could be part of the city and a community at the same time,” she said.
One of her designs that Gang considers most important is one that was never built. In 2004, Gang proposed a design for the Ford Calumet Environmental Center that would have incorporated materials that were abundant and nearby, including salvaged steel, she said. That idea of sustainability has been a thread throughout her career.
“This notion of starting with what’s already there is one we apply to every project,” Gang said.
The firm’s Chicago office has a green rooftop with native plants that can safely harbor regional species and support biodiversity. Many of Studio Gang’s completed projects are described as “bird safe,” incorporating elements that reduce the risk of bird strikes.
In addition to designing buildings and urban spaces, Studio Gang works on research projects that examine larger contemporary issues and propose ways to address them through design action. The firm was selected to participate in the River Edge Ideas Lab, through which Studio Gang developed a set of design ideas to create new public spaces and experiences along the edge of the Chicago River’s South Branch. As part of the Reimagining the Civic Commons initiative to invest in public spaces in cities across the U.S., Studio Gang published a booklet that proposed a set of design strategies and techniques that communities can use toward reimagining their civic assets. In “Reverse Effect: Renewing Chicago’s Waterways,” Gang examined how Chicago’s riverfront could be reimagined to revitalize its surrounding neighborhoods.
Gang’s recently published “The Art of Architectural Grafting” advocates for the reuse and expansion of existing buildings in order to accommodate growth and changing needs, while minimizing their carbon footprint. She said the biggest challenge for architecture today is reducing carbon emissions.
“Construction accounts for 30-40% of carbon emissions. This is staggeringly high compared to other industries. One of the most important things we have to do in architecture is reduce that,” Gang said. “I’m interested in sustainable materials, but also in using buildings to their fullest capacity and extending their longevity.”