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