Annabelle Selldorf's Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility in Brooklyn, New York. It will be included in Built by Women, an exhibition at Manhattan's Center for Architecture opening March 2.

 

The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) hosts its Leadership Awards Gala on Thursday at the Prince George Ballroom in New York City. The Leadership Awards Gala will honor the legacy of Beverly Willis, an architect who fought to give women recognition for their design work, and award firms and individuals who strive to support and advance women in the building professions.

 

HOK will be presented with the Foundation award for its efforts to expand opportunities for and influencing the careers of women. The firm has seen an increase of more than 7% in its hiring and promotion of women in the last five years. Gregory Hodkinson and Mahadev Raman of Arup Group will receive the Keystone award, honoring their achievements for increasing women’s impact, representation, and effectiveness at the top management levels in the building industry. Arup has been proactive in promoting flexible work schedules and striving to make fair promotion decisions.

 

The Pillar award will go to Aine Brazil of Thornton Tomasetti for her leadership and mentorship, as well as her attempts to increase recognition and opportunities for women. Brazil plays an active role in both NEW (Non-Traditional Employment for Women) and WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate. The Oculus award will be given to Jennifer Wolch, Dean of the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley, for demonstrating significant leadership in teaching and research, enhancing, and furthering understanding of gender issues in architecture and related fields. Wolch led a collaborative effort to establish the Berkeley-Rupp Professorship and Prize Program, awarding $100,000 to architects combating gender inequality and whose work values sustainability and community. Both Arielle Assouline-Lichten and Caroline James will receive the Tribune award for Women in Design, the Harvard Graduate School of Design student group, which advocated that Denise Scott Brown be given a Pritzker Prize; they have demonstrated significant leadership and active participation in increasing recognition of and improving gender inequities plaguing the building industry.

 

On March 2, BWAF also kicks off its Built By Women (BxW NYC) exhibition at the Center for Architecture in Manhattan, recognizing 100 exceptional structures and built environments in New York City designed and/or constructed by women. Included in the site list: Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility, designed by Annabelle Selldorf, Principal, Selldorf Architects, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum, designed by Susan Rodriguez, Partner, Ennead Architects, and Long Island Railroad Vanderbilt Yard Relocation, Atlantic Yards, designed by Cheryl McKissack Daniel, President & CEO, McKissack & McKissack.