Coast to Coast: The Gender of Preservation

As women have become the majority of students in architecture schools, our profession has been in the throes of both examining and reexamining the role of women in design. Many women who have launched successful solo practices have achieved it by focusing on interiors or preservation, specialties that have traditionally been considered second class to design architecture. This evening will explore preservation practice and advocacy and look at how the profession views and assesses it.

The program will feature two architects from the East and West coasts of the United States who have built their careers by specializing in preservation. Why did they go into this field? Was, and is, preservation practice a platform or a limitation? Was gender a factor in building their practices? How do they view gender as part of their stories? Have the parameters changed? How have they moved beyond preservation in their own work? What is the future? Where should the next generation take preservation in practice and advocacy? Is there a more inclusive view emerging that embraces a wider spectrum of typologies, cultures, and traditions?

Speakers:
Ann Beha, FAIA, Principal, Ann Beha Architects
Brenda A. Levin, FAIA, President and Principal, Levin & Associate, Architects

Ann Beha, FAIA, founded her firm in 1982 in Boston to focus on historic preservation and adaptive re-use, and since then has led the practice to honors for new design and planning, as well as restoration. Her work explores place, content, and innovation in equal measure and is known for its exploration of heritage in dialogue with contemporary design. Beha has been design principal for academic projects at the University of Chicago, Princeton University, Cornell University Law School, Yale University, and MIT. Ann Beha Architects’ (ABA) civic projects include the United States Embassy in Athens, Greece; the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. In New York City, ABA recently completed the renovation of the Grolier Club, a world renowned exhibition and special collections library. A graduate of Wellesley College, Beha received a Master of Architecture Degree from MIT, was a Loeb Fellow at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Design at the City College of New York. She is a member of Harvard University’s Design Advisory Council and received the 2018 Award of Honor from the Boston Society of Architects. ABA practices nationally and internationally, is a woman and minority owned firm, with women and minorities comprising more than 50% of its practice.

Brenda A. Levin, FAIA, is known for revitalizing Los Angeles’ urban, historic and cultural form. For 39 years, her architecture and urban design firm has pioneered the preservation and redefinition of important historic landmarks, the adaptive reuse of existing structures, as well as new educational and cultural buildings including LA City Hall, Dodgers Stadium, and Griffith Observatory. Levin is a native of the New York metropolitan area. She studied graphic design at Carnegie Mellon and New York Universities, then pursued architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to starting her own firm, based in Downtown Los Angeles since 1980, she worked for legendary architect John Lautner.  The firm has received recognition and awards from professional, national, and California preservation organizations, as well as business and governmental agencies. In 2010 AIA/Los Angeles selected Levin to receive the Gold Medal, which is the highest honor it can bestow on an individual. In 2017 Levin received the Architectural Angel Award from Los Angeles’ Project Restore.

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