Building Tour: The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation

The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation is the latest addition to New York’s historic American Museum of Natural History. At a time of urgent need for better public understanding of science and greater access to science education, the Gilder Center is designed to amplify the intellectual impact of the museum with experiential architecture that encourages exploration—drawing in people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to share the excitement of scientific discovery and learning about the natural world.

Please arrive at 3:45pm, we will start the tour promptly at 4:00pm.

Speaker:
Weston Walker, Design Principal and Partner, Studio Gang

About the Speaker:
Weston Walker is a Design Principal and the Partner in Charge of Studio Gang’s New York Office. Since establishing the office in 2013, Walker has overseen its growth to a team of over 40 with a robust portfolio of cultural, residential, and civic work across the city and throughout the Americas. He served as design principal for the recently completed Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History, which the Wall Street Journal deemed “a rhapsody of flowing structure.” Further projects in New York completed under Walker's leadership include residential tower 11 Hoyt, which was recognized with a 2023 AIANY Honor Award, the Solar Carve Tower adjacent to the High Line, and Rescue Company 2, a fire station in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He is currently leading the designs for two additional public projects in the city: the Marlboro Greenhouse and Agriculture Education Center and the Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center, which is under construction.
 
Outside of New York, Walker's work includes design leadership for Harvard University’s first building with a mass timber structure, the David Rubenstein Treehouse in Boston, as well as the first permanent home for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in Garrison, New York, and a new U.S. Embassy in Brasília.
 
Walker is a graduate of Yale University, where he received his Master of Architecture degree and was awarded the AIA Henry Adams Medal. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Cornell University, graduating summa cum laude for his thesis work exploring systems of perception and meaning in both musical and architectural spaces. A frequent lecturer, Walker has spoken at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, the Boston Society for Architecture, and the Cooper Union with the Architectural League of New York. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Urban Design Forum—using his platform and portfolio of work to continually advocate for ways to use architecture to realize measurable positive change in the world.