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 The Architecture Firm Award is the highest honor that the American Institute of Architects can bestow on an architecture firm for consistently producing distinguished architecture. Prior recipients of the AIA Architecture Firm Award include: *2025 ...

in 2007. In 1991, she was elected to the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

College of Fellows. Leers is former Director of the Master in Urban Design Program at the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urba ...

where she was Adjunct Professor of Architecture and Urban Design from 2001 to 2011. 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 The Tokyo Institute of Technology () was a public university in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. It merged with Tokyo Medical and Dental University to form the Institute of Science Tokyo on 1 October 2024. The Tokyo Institute of Technology was a De ...

(1991) and the

University of Virginia School of Architecture The University of Virginia School of Architecture is the graduate school of architecture at the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. The school offers master's, doctoral and limited bachelor's progra ...

(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 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

(1997), invited to be Chaire des Ameriques at the Sorbonne (Universite de Paris) (2007), and was Chair Professor at the

National Chiao Tung University National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) was a public research university in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Established in 1896 as Nanyang Public School by an imperial edict of the Guangxu Emperor, it was one of China's leading universities. After the Chinese ...

(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 Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

and a Master of Architecture from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Graduate School of Fine Arts during the tenure of

Louis I. Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

. 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 was a Japanese architect. In 1993, he received the Pritzker Prize for his work, which often explores pioneering uses of new materials and fuses the cultures of east and west. Maki died on 6 June 2024, at the age of 95. Early life Maki was born ...

Associates), Cambridge, Massachusetts * Harvard University Science Center Expansion, Cambridge, Massachusetts * Harvard University Farkas Hall (Formerly Hasty Pudding), Cambridge, Massachusetts * United States Federal Courthouse, Orlando, Florida * Blue Hill Avenue Youth Development Center, Boston, Massachusetts * MBTA Operations Control Center, Boston, Massachusetts * Tobin Bridge Administration Building, Boston, Massachusetts *Franklin County Justice Center, Greenfield, Massachusetts *University of Arkansas Adohi Hall, Fayetteville, Arkansa

*University of Pennsylvania Gateway Complex, Philadelphia, Pennsylvani

*John W. Olver Design Building, Amherst, Massachusett

*Dudley Square Neighborhood Police Station, Boston, Massachusett

Significant lectures

* Jury Member International Competition: Paris-Saclay Student Housing, France (2015) * "Making Connections" at University of Cyprus (2014) * “Women of Architecture: Extended Territories: Leers Weinzapfel Associates” National Building Museum, with Jane Weinzapfel (2014) * Keynote Speaker, “No Site in Sight: Making Architecture in the Urban Fabric,” 2010 International Design Conference, Shih-Chien University, Taipei, R.O.C. (2010) * "Crossing Scales / Cultures / Disciplines: A Personal Reflection on 10 Years of Design Studios" at Harvard Graduate School of Design. *AIA New York's "Cocktails & Conversations"

Awards

Boston Society of Architects The Boston Society for Architecture (formerly known as the Boston Society of Architects) (BSA) is a nonprofit membership organization committed to architecture, design and the built environment. History On June 20, 1867, approximately 50 archi ...

Award of Honor (2009)
Award of Excellence
BSA Women in Design Committee (2002) *

(2007)
Architect Top 50
(2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Wall Street Journal Best Architecture of 2017AIA Architecture Firm Award
(2007)
AIA Honor Award
(2001)
AIA Honor Award for Interiors
(1998) *
International Design Award, Institutional Category
(2007)
American Architecture Award
(2001, 2008)
World Architects Building of the Year
(2017)
Business Week/Architectural Record Award
(2001)

Bibliography

* * * * *Leers, A. (2017). Collaborative spaces transform teaching, amplify learning, and maximize resources. Planning for Higher Education, 45(4), 15-21.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leers, Andrea Yale University faculty Living people Fellows of the American Institute of Architects American women architects Year of birth missing (living people) Architects from Miami Architects from Boston Architects from Springfield, Massachusetts Wellesley College alumni University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni American women academics 21st-century American women