The prestigious College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley announced this week that architect Deborah Berke has been chosen as the first recipient of UC Berkeley’s inaugural 2012 Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Professorship and Prize.
The Berkeley-Rupp Prize was created to honor "a distinguished practitioner or academic who has made a significant contribution to promoting the advancement of women in the field of architecture, and whose work emphasizes a commitment to sustainability and the community." The prize, which will be awarded biannually, will be awarded in addition to a $100,000 prize, a guest-position as professor for one term at the college, a sponsored public lecture and a gallery exhibition of their work at the CED.
Berke, who is the founder of New York City-based firm Deborah Berke Partners and an adjunct professor of architectural design at Yale University, has received numerous awards for her designs. Berke's design of the 21c Museum Hotel Louisville and the Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York garnered much critical acclaim from the design community.
Jennifer Wolch, Dean of UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design, told architectural magazine Bustler: “Deborah Berke exemplifies everything this prize is meant to celebrate. The excellence of her craft, her creative approach to sustainability, and her willingness to mentor women in the field and share her ideas and expertise make her the perfect person to receive the Berkeley-Rupp Prize.”
Above, the building designed by Berke's firm Deborah Berke Partners at 48 Bond Street in New York is shown.
