Laurie Ann Hawkinson (born March 25, 1952) is an American architect. She worked at
Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies and is a partner at Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects. Hawkinson is also a Professor of Architecture at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
’s Graduate School of Architecture.
Early life and education
Hawkinson was born on March 25, 1952.
She was educated at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and
Master's Degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. . After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, Hawkinson travelled to New York to enrol in the
Whitney Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...
's Independent Study Program. While there, she was encouraged by director Jane G. Rice to apply as an art handler, which she accepted. According to the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, Hawkinson was the only woman art handler in a major New York museum at the time.
Career
After graduating from Cooper Union, Hawkinson co-founded an architecture firm with Henry H. Smith-Miller in 1983. The following year, Hawkinson collaborated with
Erika Rothenberg
Erika Rothenberg is a Los Angeles-based conceptual artist whose work has included painting, drawing and photography, public art, sculpture and installation art, installation.Freudenheim, Susan"Casting a cold eye...,"''Los Angeles Times'', March ...
and John Malpede to create the ''Freedom of Expression National Monument,'' in
Battery Park City
Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the nort ...
for its
Creative Time
Creative Time is a New York-based nonprofit arts organization. It was founded in 1974 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific, socially engaged artworks in the public realm, particularly in vacant spaces of historical and architectura ...
Art on the Beach project. Their monument was a giant megaphone aimed at encouraging people to voice their opinions. In 2004, their monument was again exhibited in
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
from August to November. During this time, Hawkinson sat as a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts in Architecture, Planning and Design from 1986 until 1989.
In 1987, Hawkinson (AP) and Smith-Miller were selected to design the
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
The Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA is a contemporary art museum in Philadelphia. The museum is associated with the University of Pennsylvania, and is located on its campus. The Institute is one of the country's leading museums dedicated to e ...
at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...
. They were subsequently awarded the 1989–1990 Faculty Design Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. The following year, Hawkinson was named an Eeero Saarinen Visiting Professor at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
. She then spent three years at the
Southern California Institute of Architecture
Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a private architecture school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde and more adventurous than ...
as a Visiting Critic and Graduate Thesis Advisor.
While serving as the director of Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), Hawkinson collaborated with
Vishaan Chakrabarti to connect New York's Financial District to Governors Island through a land bridge made of landfill. In 2016, she was appointed to the Public Design Commission by New York mayor
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkinson, Laurie
1952 births
Living people
California women architects
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Cooper Union alumni
Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation faculty
20th-century American architects
21st-century American architects
21st-century American women