Beverly A. Willis
General Information
Occupation: Architect, Artist, Author
Birth City: Tulsa
Birth State/Province: Oklahoma
Birth Country: United States
Resident City: New York
Resident State/Province: New York
Resident Country: United States
Notes: Founder, Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, 2002; President and Founding Director, Architecture Research Institute, Inc., 1994-2005; Founding Trustee National Building Museum, Washington, DC, 1976- ; Building Research Advisory Board National Academy of Science, 1971-79; (First Woman) Chair Federal Construction Council, 1976-79.
Archive/Repository: IAWA, Special Collections, Newman Library, Ms92-019, Beverly Willis Architectural Papers, 1954-1998
Sources: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/iawa/WillisBev.html
Specialties
Subject: Geographical focus:
Description: California and New York
Subject: Focus of work:
Description: Institutional buildings, commercial (office and retail), multi-family housing, technology and land planning, residential
Url: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/iawa/WillisBev.html
Notes:
Jobs
Employer: Beverly Willis Atelier
City: Honolulu
State: Hawaii
Country: United States
Employer: Willis and Associates
Title: President and Designer
City: San Francisco
State: California
Country: United States
Employer: Beverly Willis Architects
Title: Principal
City: San Francisco
State: California
Country: United States
Employer: Architecture Research Institute
Title: Founder and President
City: New York
State: New York
Country: United States
Employer: Beverly Willis Architects
Title: Principal
City: New York
State: New York
Collaborators
Name: David Coldoff
Project: minority partner for 14 years from 1966-1980.
Apprenticeships
No apprenticeships on record
Awards
Name: Phoebe Hearst Gold Medal
Description: Distinguished Service to the City of San Francisco
Date Received: January 30, 1969
Name: Fellowship American Institute of Architects
Date Received: 1980
Name: Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Mount Holyoke College
Date Received: 1982
Name: US Government Delegate to "Habitat"
Description: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements
Date Received: 1976
Name: Exceptional Distinction for Environmental Design by the Governor of California
Description: Work on Union Street
Date Received: 1967
Name: Montgomery Fellowship, Dartmouth College
Date Received: 1992
Name: Significant Achievement in Beautication Citation by Buildings Magazine
Description: TransAmerica Title Building, Oakland, California
Date Received: 1966
Name: Pacific Coast Builders Conference and Builders Magazine Gold Nugget Merit Award
Description: Margaret S. Hayward Playground Building, San Francisco, California
Name: AIA Award of Merit, Homes for Better Living
Description: Vine Terrace Apartments, San Francisco, California
Date Received: 1976
Name: AIA Bay Area Award
Description: Union Street Store Development at 1890 Union Street, San Francisco, California
Date Received: 1967
Name: National Association of Home Builders Merit Award
Description: River Run Residence, St. Helena, California
Date Received: 1985
Name: California Council of the American Institute of Architects Merit Award
Description: Margaret S. Hayward Playground Building, San Francisco, California
Date Received: 1984
Name: Pacific Coast Builders Conference and Builders Magazine Gold Nugget Grand Award
Description: Best Recreational Facility, Margaret S. Hayward Playground Building, San Francisco, California
Date Received: 1983
Name: American Institute of Building Design Merit Award
Description: Office Renovation for the Campbell-Ewald Building, San Francisco, California
Date Received: 1965
Exhibitions
Title: Women in American Architecture 1880-1990
City: Denver
Country: United States
Title: Yerba Buena Gardens
Description: San Francisco Museum
City: San Francisco
State: California
Country: United States
Title: That Exceptional One: Women in American Architecture, 1888-1988
Description: Commemorated the 100th anniversary of the election of the first woman, Louise Blanchard Bethune of Buffalo, New York, to membership in the American Institute of Architects
City: Traveling Exhibit of the AIA's American Architectural Foundation
Country: United States
Notes: The exhibit consisted of the following three sections: "Becoming an Architect" covered the establishment of schools of architecture in the United States during the late 19th century; the influence of the Beaux-Arts and Bauhaus movements; the political and social activism of the 1960s and 1970s; and the enrollment gains of women in architecture and other professional school. "Practicing Architecture" profiled women in professional practice-from the early all-female firm of MIT graduates to current and precedent-setting practitioners. It reflected a wide range of building types, practice types, specialties, and locales. " Gaining Recognition" used an illustrated timeline to document the evolution of women in architecture as their achievements and numbers grew and as attitudes both among and about female architects changed over a century.
Title: Outdoor Chair
Description: Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Design
State: New York
Country: United States
Start Date: 1988
Title: Outdoor Chair
Description: Contract Design Center
City: San Francisco
State: California
Country: United States
Start Date: 1987
Title: Group Oil Paintings Exhibition
Description: Honolulu Gallery of Art
City: Honolulu
State: Hawaii
Country: United States
Start Date: 1956
Notable Projects
Title: San Francisco Ballet Building (0753)
Description: This project entailed building design, construction drawings, and construction supervision of the four-story, 96 foot-high building in San Francisco's Civic Center. This was the first stand-alone building in the US designed and built for a ballet company. Willis was intent on the design reflecting the total fabric of a dancer's life.
City: San Francisco
State: California
Country: United States
Start Date: 1984
Title: Vine Terrace Apartments (0594)
Description: Now known as Nob Hill Court Condominiums, 930 Vine Street was built on the edge of downtown. Using a courtyard plan, the design mitigates the noise of heavily trafficked streets, as well as creates safe, shared private space and better air circulation to all units.
City: San Francisco
State: California
Country: United States
Start Date: 1973
Title: Margaret S. Hayward Playground (0716)
Description: This one room "toy" building where children can play indoors includes an office, rest rooms, and food serving facilities. Designed as part of the play yard, it is not much taller than the playground equipment.
City: San Francisco
State: California
Country: United States
Title: Yerba Buena Gardens (0752)
Description: A 24 acre mixed-use complex in downtown.
City: San Francisco
State: California
Country: United States
Title: Manhattan Village Academy (0807)
Description: The 400-student high school was designed in an existing loft space at 43 W. 22nd St., and built by the New York Department of Education as a potential prototype for its small schools, a new idea at that time.
City: New York
State: New York
Country: United States
Start Date: 1994
End Date: 1996
Title: Internal Revenue Service Computer Center (0676)
Description: Unbuilt computer center prototype for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, General Services Administration, Kansas City, Kansas was to be built on nine IRS campuses and attached to existing buildings, the first to be built in Lexington, Kentucky. The building was designed to expand from 2 to 4 floors covering the open courtyard with a four story high atrium in the center of the building. President Jimmy Carter vetoed the funds for the building--making headlines across the country--in response to a nationwide protest against automating income tax returns.
City: Kansas City
State: Kansas
Country: United States
Start Date: 1981
Notes: unbuilt
Title: Aliamanu Valley Community (0660)
Description: Adjacent to Pearl Harbor Naval Base, the Aliamanu Valley New Town consisted of 525 buildings for military families and housed 11,500 people. The town was the first major project planned with CARLA--Computerized Approach to Residential Land Analysis.
City: Honolulu
State: Hawaii
Country: United States
Start Date: 1979
Title: Union Street Shops (0318)
Description: These stores were a seed in the nascent trend towards adaptive re-use. Willis raised the buildings, creating an extra floor level beneath the existing structure to house 9 shops and 2 restaurants, and it kept the existing buildings intact.
City: San Francisco
State: California
Country: United States
Start Date: 1980
Title: Pacific Point Condominium Apartments (0628)
Description: Located at 5001-5017 Palmetto, the Pacific Point Condominiums consist of eight buildings with 98 homes. The buildings were designed in a fan shaped floor plan and its facades were made of white stucco with stained wood trim. Built on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the soil was partially unstable so Willis used CARLA (Computerized Approach to Residential Land Analysis).
City: Pacific Point
State: California
Country: United States
Education
Institution: University of Hawaii
Degree: BFA with Honors
Licensing
License: Architect / Designer
Organization: California, United States
Professional Affiliations
Organization: American Institute of Architects
Notes: 1979, President (first woman), California Council; Fellow, 1980-
Publications By
Title: Invisible Images The Silent Language of Architecture.
Publisher: National Building Museum
City: Washington
State: DC
Country: United States
Date Published: 1997
Publications About
Title: Beverly Willis's Bibliography
Author:
Url: http://beverlywillis.com/index.lasso?-token.page=bibliography