Studio Gang

Studio Gang is an American architecture and urban design practice with offices in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Paris.^[1] Founded and led by architect Jeanne Gang, the Studio is known for its material research and experimentation, collaboration across a wide range of disciplines, and focus on sustainability.^[2] The firm's works range in scale and typology from the 82-story mixed-use Aqua Tower to the 10,000-square-foot Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College to the 14-acre Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo. Studio Gang has won numerous awards for design excellence, including the 2016 Architizer A+ Firm of the Year Award and the 2013 National Design Award for Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, as well as various awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and AIA Chicago.

Studio Gang
Richard Gilder Center
Practice information
Key architects	Jeanne Gang
Founded	1997 (1997)
Location	Chicago, Illinois • New York, New York • San Francisco, California • Paris, France
Significant works and honors
Projects	St. Regis Chicago Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Kresge College Expansion at the University of California, Santa Cruz Writers Theatre Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History Northerly Island Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College Tom Lee Park University of Chicago Campus North Residential Commons City Hyde Park Eleanor Boathouse at Park 571 WMS Boathouse at Clark Park Aqua Tower Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo SOS Children's Villages Lavezzorio Community Center Columbia College Chicago Media Production Center Bengt Sjostrom Theatre (Starlight Theatre at Rock Valley College One Hundred
Website
studiogang.com

Background

The firm was founded by Jeanne Gang in 1997.^[3]

One of the Studio's first built works, the Bengt Sjostrom Starlight Theatre, was completed in 2003, and won praise from critics;^[4] the Chinese American Service League Kam Liu Center, finished the following year, garnered the firm additional accolades.^[5][6] Aqua Tower and the Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo, both completed in 2010, significantly increased the Studio global profile, winning acclaim from architecture critics.^[7][8]

The Studio has played a significant role in reshaping urban landscapes with a focus on ecological restoration and environmental stewardship. Projects include the revitalization of Tom Lee Park in Memphis that reconnects people to the long-neglected riverfront;^[9] two boathouses on the Chicago River that opened up access to the river's edge;^[10] and the transformation of a former Chicago airfield, Northerly Island, into a public lakefront park and biodiverse habitat.^[11]

In 2023, the Studio completed several major cultural and educational projects, including the reimagination of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, an adaptive reuse project, which was praised as a "new architectural landmark", and the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at The American Museum of Natural History in New York, described by the New York Times "a poetic, joyful, theatrical work of public architecture and a highly sophisticated flight of sculptural fantasy".^[12][13]

The Studio employs more than 140 people as of December 2023.^[14]

Notable works

Central atrium of the Richard Gilder Center

Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation

The $465 million Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History opened in May 2023. The 230,000-square-foot addition includes six floors above ground, and one below. The Richard Gilder Center welcomes visitors with a new, accessible entrance on Columbus Avenue that connects to central five-story atrium and creates more than 30 connections to the existing museum.^[15] The atrium's architecture is informed by natural form-making processes such as the movement of wind and water that shape geological landscapes.^[16] To achieve the continuous visual form, the atrium is constructed with shotcrete. The curvilinear façade contrasts with the earlier High Victorian Gothic, Richardson Romanesque and Beaux Arts structures, but its Milford Pink granite cladding is the same stone used on the Museum's west side.^[16]

The St. Regis Chicago, designed by Studio Gang.

St. Regis Chicago

Main article: St. Regis Chicago

The St. Regis Chicago, formerly Wanda Vista Tower, is a 101-story, 1,198 ft (365 m) supertall skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. Construction started in August 2016, and was completed in 2020. Upon completion it became the city's third-tallest building at 1,198 ft (365 m), surpassing the Aon Center. It is the tallest structure in the world designed by a woman, and forms a part of the Lakeshore East development and overlooks the Chicago River near Lake Michigan. The building comprises three interconnected volumes of different heights. Truncated pyramids called "frustums" are stacked in an alternating sequence, right-side-up and upside-down, lending the design its flowing rhythm. The towers have 6 different shades of glass. Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin praised the tower as "a stirring work of skyline artistry...as if the waters of Lake Michigan had burst upward and transformed themselves into fluid, undulating tiers of glass."^[17] The tower has a notably smaller footprint than other supertalls in Chicago with a building height-to-core aspect ratio of 40-to-1.

The exterior of Studio Gang's addition to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, featuring the second floor Cultural Living Room.

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

Main article: Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

The redevelopment of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) involved a comprehensive transformation of the existing building and grounds, resulting in a 133,000-square-foot facility. Studio Gang's design reused and restored as many of the existing structures as possible, which spanned multiple eras and architectural styles dating back to 1937. The Studio's design introduced a distinctive central addition that unites the entire complex, and "blossoms" out at the north and south ends to create new entrances and social spaces for the community. The design provides a renewed identity for AMFA, while also establishing visual and physical connections to the surrounding park and the neighborhoods beyond.^[18]

Selected projects

Education and research

Project	Location	Status	Year
The University of Chicago Center in Paris	Paris, France	Under Construction	2022	[19]
Kresge College Residential Buildings	Santa Cruz, CA	Completed	2023	[20]
Kresge College Academic Center	Santa Cruz, CA	Completed	2023	[21]
Beloit College Powerhouse	Beloit, WI	Completed	2020	[22]
University of Chicago Campus North Residential Commons	Chicago, IL	Completed	2016	[23]
Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College	Kalamazoo, MI	Completed	2014	[24]
Columbia College Chicago Media Production Center	Chicago, IL	Completed	2010	[25]
One Milestone West	Boston, MA	Under Construction	2023	[26]
David Rubenstein Treehouse	Boston, MA	Under Construction	2023	[26]
Spelman College Center for Innovation & the Arts	Atlanta, GA	Under Construction	2024	[27]
California College of the Arts	San Francisco, CA	Under Construction	2023	[28]

Nature, culture, and community

Project	Location	Status	Year
Rescue Company 2 (New York City Fire Department)	New York, NY	Completed	2019	[29]
Northerly Island	Chicago, IL	Ongoing	2017	[30]
Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History	New York, NY	Completed	2023	[31]
Civic Commons	United States	Completed	2016	[32]
Eleanor Boathouse at Park 571	Chicago, IL	Completed	2016	[33]
National Aquarium Strategic Master Plan	Baltimore, MD	Design concept completed	2016	[34]
Writers Theatre	Glencoe, IL	Completed	2016	[35]
PAHC Studio	Chicago, IL	Completed	2014	[36]
WMS Boathouse at Clark Park	Chicago, IL	Completed	2013	[37]
The Conservation Center	Chicago, IL	Completed	2012	[38]
Kaohsiung Maritime Cultural and Pop Music Center	Kaohsiung	Competition design completed	2011	[39]
Blue Wall Center	Greenville, SC	Design concept completed	2010	[40]
Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo	Chicago, IL	Completed	2010	[41]
Taipei Pop Music Center	Taipei	Competition design completed	2010	[42]
Ford Calumet Environmental Center	Calumet City, IL	Design concept completed	2008	[43]
SOS Children's Villages Lavezzorio Community Center	Chicago, IL	Completed	2008	[44]
HafenCity Chicago Square	Hamburg	Design concept completed	2006
Chinese American Service League Kam Liu Center	Chicago, IL	Completed	2004	[45]
Bengt Sjostrom Starlight Theatre at Rock Valley College	Rockford, IL	Completed	2003	[46]
Tom Lee Park	Memphis, TN	Completed	2023	[47]
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts	Little Rock, AR	Completed	2023	[12]
Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival	Garrison, NY	In design	2023	[48]

Towers

Project	Location	Status	Year
One Delisle	Toronto, ON	Pre-construction	2026	[49]
St. Regis Chicago	Chicago, IL	Completed	2022	[50]
11 Hoyt	New York, NY	Completed	2021	[51]
One Hundred	St. Louis, MO	Completed	2020	[52]
Solar Carve (40 Tenth Avenue)	New York, NY	Completed	2019	[53]
Solstice on the Park	Chicago, IL	Completed	2018	[54]
MIRA	San Francisco, CA	Completed	2017	[55]
City Hyde Park	Chicago, IL	Completed	2016	[56]
Shoreland	Chicago, IL	Completed	2014	[57]
Recombinant House (Garden in the Machine)	Cicero, IL	Design concept completed	2012	[58]
Aqua Tower	Chicago, IL	Completed	2010	[59]
Vancouver Pair	Vancouver, BC	Design concept completed	2010	[60]
Hyderabad O2	Hyderabad	Design concept completed	2008	[61]
HafenCity Crane Tower	Hamburg	Design concept completed	2006	[62]
Zhong Bang Village	Shanghai	Competition design completed	2003	[63]
Q Residences	Amsterdam	Completed	2022	[64]

Exhibitions

Project	Location	Status	Year
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts	Little Rock, AR	Completed	2023	[65]
Dimensions of Discovery: Environments for Learning	Paris, France	Completed	2023	[66]
Studio Gang Mock-Ups	Chicago, IL	Completed	2022	[67]
Good News: Women in Architecture	Rome, Italy	Completed	2021	[68]
A Different Future in the Making	Chicago, IL	Completed	2020	[69]
Baleinopolis: The Secret Societies of Cetaceans	Paris, France	Completed	2019	[70]
Stage Buoys	Chicago, IL	Completed	2017	[71]
Hive	Washington, D.C.	Completed	2017	[72]
Working in America	Chicago, IL	Completed	2016	[73]
Thinning Ice at Design Miami	Miami, FL	Completed	2014	[74]
Changes of Phase for Thodos Dance Chicago	Chicago, IL	Completed	2014	[75]
EXPO Chicago	Chicago, IL	Completed	2012 –2014	[76]
Building: Inside Studio Gang Architects at the Art Institute of Chicago	Chicago, IL	Completed	2012 –2013	[77]
Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream at the Museum of Modern Art	New York, NY	Completed	2012	[78]
Baseball in the City at the Art Institute of Chicago	Chicago, IL	Completed	2004	[79]
Marble Curtain at the National Building Museum	Washington, D.C.	Completed	2003	[80]

Planning

Project	Location	Status	Year
Enterprise Research Campus Plan	Boston, MA	Completed	2022	[81]
Kresge College Expansion at the University of California, Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz, CA	Completed	2019	[20]
Neighborhood Activation to Increase Public Safety through Community-Empowered Design and Planning	Chicago, IL	Completed	2021	[82]
River Edge Ideas Lab	Chicago, IL	Completed	2017	[83]
Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice Neighborhood Activation Study	New York, NY	Completed	2018	[84]
Memphis Riverfront Concept	Memphis, TN	Completed	2017	[85]
Neighborhood Schools Reuse Concept	Memphis, TN	Completed	2018	[86]
Port District Planning Study	Milwaukee, WI	Completed	2015
Civic Commons Philadelphia	Philadelphia, PA	Completed	2016	[87]

Selected awards

• 11 Hoyt Receives Honor at 2023 AIA NY Design Awards ^[88]
• Institute Honor Award, Interior Architecture, AIA Awards, 2017 / Writers Theatre
• Daniel Burnham Award for Master Planning, AIA Illinois, 2016 / Technical team for Positioning Pullman
• Divine Detail Award, Design Excellence Awards, AIA Chicago, 2016 / Writers Theatre
• Interior Architecture Award, Design Excellence Awards, AIA Chicago, 2016 / Writers Theatre
• Distinguished Building Citation of Merit, Design Excellence Awards, AIA Chicago, 2016 / Writers Theatre
• Divine Detail Award, Design Excellence Awards, AIA Chicago, 2016 / City Hyde Park
• Distinguished Building Citation of Merit, Design Excellence Awards, AIA Chicago, 2016 / City Hyde Park
• Institute Honor Award, Architecture, AIA Awards, 2016 / WMS Boathouse at Clark Park
• Architizer A+ Firm of the Year, 2016
• Award for Excellence in Design, Thirty-third Annual Design Awards, Public Design Commission, New York, 2015 / Rescue Company 2
• Distinguished Building Award, Design Excellence Awards, AIA Chicago, 2015 / Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
• Divine Detail Award, Design Excellence Awards, AIA Chicago, 2015 / Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
• Honor Award, AIA Illinois, 2015 / Northerly Island
• Distinguished Building Citation of Merit, Design Excellence Awards, AIA Chicago, 2014 / WMS Boathouse at Clark Park
• National Design Award, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
• Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction Acknowledgement Prize North America, 2011, for the Ford Calumet Environmental Center^[89]
• Distinguished Building Honor Award, AIA Chicago, 2011, for the Nature Boardwalk, Education Pavilion and South Pond Transformation at Lincoln Park Zoo^[90]
• Most Compassionate Architectural Firm, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 2009^[91]
• Skyscraper of the Year Award, Emporis, 2009, for the Aqua Tower^[92]
• Emerging Visions Award, AIA Chicago, 2000 & 2006^[93]
• Neighborhood Development Award, 3rd place, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, 2005, for the Chinese American Service League^[94]