Carol Willis is the founder, director, and curator of the Skyscraper Museum. She is also adjunct associate professor of Urban Studies at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Herbert Muschamp described Willis in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as the “woman who created the Skyscraper Museum in 1996 from nothing but her imagination, her passion for New York architecture, and her belief in the importance of history and the value of the public realm.”

Life

Willis graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

(B.A Art History, 1971.) She studied architectural history at

in the Department of Art History and Archaeology (M.A., 1976, M.Phil.,1979.) Willis is the author of ''Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago''. The book received an AIA book award and the "Best Book on North American Urbanism" in 1995 by the Urban History Association. Willis is married to Mark Willis, a banker and adjunct professor of urban planning at NYU.

Selected works

* ''Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'' (

Princeton Architectural Press Princeton Architectural Press (now PA Press) is a division of Chronicle Books. Founded by Kevin Lippert in 1981 in Princeton, NJ, PA Press has been a leading publisher of books on architecture, design, and visual culture for over forty years, ...

, 1995: 2008) * ''Building the Empire State'' ( W.W. Norton, 1998) * ''Introduction to Skyscraper Rivals by Daniel M Abramson'' (Princeton Architectural Press, 2000) * ''The Lower Manhattan Plan Paperback,'' edited by Carol Willis, introduction by Ann Buttenwieser (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002) * ''Introduction to New York Architecture: A History,'' photographs by Richard Berenholtz, text by Amanda Johnson (New York:

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

, 2003) * ''Introduction to New York Deco'' by photographer Richard Berenholtz (Welcome Books, 2009)

References

External links

The Skyscraper Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Carol 1949 births Living people American curators American women curators Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Columbia University alumni Columbia University faculty American women academics 21st-century American women