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Andrea Leers

{{short description|American architect and educator}}

{{Infobox architect

|name = Andrea Leers

|image =

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|caption =

|nationality = American

|birth_date =

|birth_place = Miami, Florida

|death_date =

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|alma_mater = Wellesley College; The University of Pennsylvania

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|influences =

|influenced =

|practice =

|significant_buildings =

|significant_projects = MIT Media Lab;

|significant_design =

|awards = Architecture Firm Award (2007)

}}

Andrea Leers is an American architect and educator. Together with Jane Weinzapfel, Leers created the Boston-based architecture firm Leers Weinzapfel Associates which was the first woman-owned firm to win the American Institute of Architects Architecture Firm Award in 2007.{{cite web |url=http://www.nbm.org/biographies/andrea-leers.html |title=Andrea Leers |work=National Building Museum |year=2015 |accessdate=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134450/http://www.nbm.org/biographies/andrea-leers.html |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead }} In 1991, she was elected to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows.

Leers is former Director of the Master in Urban Design Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she was Adjunct Professor of Architecture and Urban Design from 2001 to 2011.{{cite web |url= http://execed.gsd.harvard.edu/people/andrea-p-leers-0 |title=Andrea P. Leers |work=Harvard University Graduate School of Design |year=2015 |accessdate=12 April 2015}} Her academic career includes teaching positions at Yale University's School of Architecture (1981-1988), the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts (1990, 1998-1999), the Tokyo Institute of Technology (1991) and the University of Virginia School of Architecture (1995). In 1982 she spent a year in Japan as a NEA/ Japan U.S. Friendship Commission Design Arts Fellow. Leers was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy of Rome (1997), invited to be Chaire des Ameriques at the Sorbonne (Universite de Paris) (2007), and was Chair Professor at the National Chiao Tung University (2011-2014). In 2018, Leers was appointed to serve as Chair of Commission for the city of Boston.

Early life and education

Leers was born in Miami, Florida and raised in Springfield and Longmeadow, Massachusetts. She holds an undergraduate degree in art history from Wellesley College and a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts during the tenure of Louis I. Kahn. After an apprenticeship period in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Leers founded a practice in 1970 with former husband Hugh Browning, and when they divorced in 1978 she led the firm until 1982. In 1982 she and Jane Weinzapfel established Leers Weinzapfel Associates in Boston, Massachusetts.

Significant projects

  • MIT Media Lab Expansion (in association with Fumihiko Maki Associates), Cambridge, Massachusetts{{cite magazine|title=MIT Media Lab|url=http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2006/media-lab-building|magazine=Architectural Record|accessdate=10 March 2015}}{{cite web|title=Maki and Associates' MIT Media Lab Leads Boston Society of Architects Awards with Harleston Parker Medal|url=http://www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB099046|website=AIArchitect|publisher=American Institute of Architects|accessdate=10 March 2015}}
  • Harvard University Science Center Expansion, Cambridge, Massachusetts {{cite journal|last1=Snoonian|first1=Deborah|title=Harvard University Science Center Expansion|journal=Architectural Record|url=http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/universities/05_harvard/overview.asp|accessdate=10 March 2015}}
  • Harvard University Farkas Hall (Formerly Hasty Pudding), Cambridge, Massachusetts {{cite journal|last1=Leers Weinzapfel Associates|title=Harvard University New College Theater|journal=Architectural Record|url=http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/adaptivereuse/08_NewCollegeTheatre/default.asp|accessdate=10 March 2015}}{{cite journal|title=Theatrical Debut|journal=Harvard Magazine |date=January–February 2008 |url=http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/01/theatrical-debut-html|accessdate=10 March 2015}}
  • United States Federal Courthouse, Orlando, Florida {{cite journal|title=United States Courthouse Judge's Award and Best Public Building|date=December 2007|url=http://southeast.construction.com/features/archive/0712_covera.asp|accessdate=10 March 2015}}
  • Blue Hill Avenue Youth Development Center, Boston, Massachusetts {{cite journal|title=Award-Winning Works|journal=Architecture Week|url=http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0124/news_1-2.html|accessdate=10 March 2015}}{{cite journal|title=Made to Measure: The Architecture of Leers Weinzapfel Associates|journal=ArchDaily|date=June 2011 |url=http://www.archdaily.com/139438/made-to-measure-the-architecture-of-leers-weinzapfel-associates/|accessdate=10 March 2015}}
  • MBTA Operations Control Center, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Tobin Bridge Administration Building, Boston, Massachusetts {{cite journal|last=Matchan|first=Linda|title=Unafraid to be unglamorous: A design firm run by women turns unsexy projects into award-winning architecture|journal=The Boston Globe|date=October 14, 2007|url=http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2007/10/14/unafraid_to_be_glamorous/|accessdate=10 March 2015}}
  • Franklin County Justice Center, Greenfield, Massachusetts {{Cite web|url=https://www.lwa-architects.com/project/greenfield-trial-court/|title=Franklin County Justice Center|website=Leers Weinzapfel Associates|language=en|access-date=2020-03-11}}
  • University of Arkansas Adohi Hall, Fayetteville, Arkansas [https://www.lwa-architects.com/project/university-arkansas-stadium-drive-residence-halls/]
  • University of Pennsylvania Gateway Complex, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [https://www.lwa-architects.com/project/upenn-gateway-complex/]
  • John W. Olver Design Building, Amherst, Massachusetts [https://www.lwa-architects.com/project/integrated-design-building/]
  • Dudley Square Neighborhood Police Station, Boston, Massachusetts [https://www.lwa-architects.com/project/dudley-square-neighborhood-police-station/]

Significant lectures

  • Jury Member International Competition: Paris-Saclay Student Housing, France (2015){{cite web |url=http://www.epps.fr/en/tag/student-housing/ |title=Student housing – Paris Saclay |work=epps.fr |year=2015 |accessdate=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924001534/http://www.epps.fr/en/tag/student-housing/ |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead }}
  • "Making Connections" at University of Cyprus (2014) {{cite journal|title=Making Connections|journal=Cyprus Events|url=http://www.cyprusevents.net/events/making-connections-nicosia-2014/|accessdate=10 March 2015}}
  • “Women of Architecture: Extended Territories: Leers Weinzapfel Associates” National Building Museum, with Jane Weinzapfel (2014){{cite web |url=http://www.nbm.org/about-us/national-building-museum-online/extended-territories.html |title=Extended Territories: Women of Architecture |work=National Building Museum |year=2015 |accessdate=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402120806/http://www.nbm.org/about-us/national-building-museum-online/extended-territories.html |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead }}
  • Keynote Speaker, “No Site in Sight: Making Architecture in the Urban Fabric,” 2010 International Design Conference, Shih-Chien University, Taipei, R.O.C. (2010){{cite web |url= http://bbs.archi.sdnl.org/viewtopic.php?t=3598 |title=建築人 • Becoming•變向 2010國際設計研討會 |work=bbs.archi.sdnl.org |year=2015 |accessdate=12 April 2015}}
  • "Crossing Scales / Cultures / Disciplines: A Personal Reflection on 10 Years of Design Studios" at Harvard Graduate School of Design.{{cite web |url= http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/media/crossing-scales-cultures-disciplines-a-personal-reflection-on-10.html |title=Crossing Scales/Cultures/Disciplines: a Personal Reflection on 10 Years of Design Studios |work=Harvard Graduate School of Design |year=2015 |accessdate=12 April 2015}}
  • AIA New York's "Cocktails & Conversations"{{Cite web|url=https://www.lwa-architects.com/2015/09/andrea-and-jane-at-aia-new-yorks-cocktails-conversations/|title=Andrea and Jane at AIA New York's Cocktails & Conversations|date=2015-09-08|website=Leers Weinzapfel Associates|language=en|access-date=2020-03-11}}

Awards

  • Boston Society of Architects Award of Honor (2009)
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20170626044026/http://www.architects.org/awards/women-design-award-excellence Award of Excellence], BSA Women in Design Committee (2002)
  • Architecture Firm Award (2007)
  • [https://www.architect50.com Architect Top 50] (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
  • [https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-architecture-of-2017-buildings-of-quiet-ambition-1513028870 Wall Street Journal Best Architecture of 2017]
  • [https://www.aia.org/awards/7276-architecture-firm-award AIA Architecture Firm Award] (2007)
  • [https://www.aia.org/pages/11531-honors--awards-submissions AIA Honor Award] (2001)
  • [https://www.aia.org/awards/7411-interior-architecture AIA Honor Award for Interiors] (1998)
  • I [https://idesignawards.com International Design Award, Institutional Category] (2007)
  • [https://www.americanarchitectureawards.com American Architecture Award] (2001, 2008)
  • [https://www.world-architects.com/en/architecture-news/headlines/world-building-of-the-year-2 World Architects Building of the Year] (2017)
  • [https://www.architecturalrecord.com/topics/148-good-design-is-good-business Business Week/Architectural Record Award] (2001)

Bibliography

  • {{cite book |title=Made to Measure: The Architecture of Leers Weinzapfel Associates |author1=Andrea Leers |author2=Jane Weinzapfel |author3=Joe Pryse |author4=Josiah Stevenson |publisher=Princeton Architectural Press |location=New Jersey |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-56898-957-0}}{{cite web |url= http://www.archdaily.com/139438/made-to-measure-the-architecture-of-leers-weinzapfel-associates/ |title=Made to Measure: The Architecture of Leers Weinzapfel Associates |work=ArchDaily |year=2015 |accessdate=12 April 2015}}
  • {{cite journal|last=Szenasy |first=Susan S. |date=8 August 2013 |title=Q&A: Andrea Leers and Jane Weinzapfel |url=http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/August-2013/Q-A-Andrea-Leers-and-Jane-Weinzapfel/ |journal=Metropolis (architecture magazine) |access-date=9 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607164929/http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/August-2013/Q-A-Andrea-Leers-and-Jane-Weinzapfel/ |archivedate=7 June 2015 }}
  • {{cite web|title=Women of Architecture: Extended Territories: Leers Weinzapfel Associates |url=http://bwaf.org/national-building-museum-2014/ |publisher=National Building Museum |accessdate=10 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123204/http://bwaf.org/national-building-museum-2014/ |archivedate=2 April 2015 }}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Spyrou|first1=Spyros|title=Interview with Ms. Andrea Leers of Leers Weinzapfel Associates|journal=Cy Arch|date=December 2, 2014|url=http://www.cy-arch.com/interview-with-ms-andrea-leers-of-leers-weinzapfel-associates/|accessdate=10 March 2015}}
  • Leers, A. (2017). Collaborative spaces transform teaching, amplify learning, and maximize resources. Planning for Higher Education, 45(4), 15-21.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leers, Andrea}}

Category:Yale University faculty

Category:Living people

Category:Fellows of the American Institute of Architects

Category:American women architects

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Architects from Miami

Category:Architects from Boston

Category:Architects from Springfield, Massachusetts

Category:Wellesley College alumni

Category:University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni

Category:American women academics

Category:21st-century American women