Diana Agrest facts for kids

Diana I. Agrest (born in 1945) is a talented architect and urban designer. She lives and works in New York City. She also writes and teaches about architecture and how cities are designed.

From early in her career, Diana Agrest wanted to find new ways to think about cities. She saw that old ideas about city design weren't working well. So, she started to develop new ideas, both in her writing and in her actual building projects. She was one of the first to use a "poststructuralist" approach. This means she looked at architecture and cities in a fresh, critical way, questioning old rules and ideas.

Teaching and Learning

Diana Agrest is a full-time Professor of Architecture at The Cooper Union. She has taught there for many years.

She also taught at Princeton University School of Architecture starting in 1972. She was the very first woman architect to teach at Princeton! She taught design and a special course called "The Theoretical Practice of Architecture." In 1972, she joined The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS) in New York. There, she studied the idea of "place" and how people understand spaces. She also helped guide the design studios for students. Later, she led an advanced workshop on architecture and city forms. She has also been a guest professor at places like Yale University and Paris 8 University.

Designing Cities and Buildings

Diana Agrest started her own architecture practice very early. From 1969 to 1977, she worked on experimental projects and competitions. In 1978, she co-founded Agrest and Gandelsonas, and later Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects in New York.

As an architect and urbanist, she designs and builds many different types of projects. Her firm has worked in the United States, Asia, Europe, and South America. These projects include large city plans, buildings for schools or businesses, homes, and even interior designs. Her work often focuses on large city projects, and these ideas influence her smaller building designs.

Some of her recent projects include:

• The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines, Iowa.
• The Des Moines Vision Plan (a plan for the city's future).
• The Green Belt in South Amboy, NJ.
• The International Film Center in Shanghai, China.
• Master plans for large areas in Shanghai and Manhattan West in New York.
• A plan for the Renault Trapeze Site in France.

Her building projects include:

• A private home in the West Hollywood Hills.
• The Breukelen Community Center in Brooklyn, New York.
• The Melrose Community Center.
• Farm complexes in Uruguay and Sagaponack, New York.

She is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. This is a special honor for architects. She has also created her own theoretical projects, like a house for a musician in Majorca, Spain.

Nature and Cities

Since 1989, Diana Agrest has explored how nature and cities fit together. Her project for China Basin in San Francisco was very forward-thinking. It looked at the link between nature and city design without focusing on buildings. This was a new idea that later became known as "landscape urbanism." This means designing cities with a strong focus on natural systems and landscapes. She wrote an important essay called "The Return of the Repressed: Nature" about this topic. She continues to teach and research this subject at Cooper Union.

Film and Architecture

Diana Agrest has a strong interest in film. She developed a unique way to think about urban architecture using ideas from movies and film theory. She was the first to bring this topic into architecture as a serious subject. She showed how film can help us understand and design cities.

In 1993, she created and directed a program called "Framing the City: Film, Video, Urban Architecture." This program, supported by the Whitney Museum of American Art and others, explored how film relates to cities. She taught students to do "filmic readings" of cities. This means using film ideas to understand urban spaces and then create new urban designs.

As a filmmaker herself, she wrote, produced, and directed a documentary film. It is called "THE MAKING OF AN AVANT-GARDE©: The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies 1967–1984." This film premiered at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2013. It has been shown at many museums, universities, and festivals since then.

Awards and Recognition

Diana Agrest's work has won many awards. These include:

• Excellence in Design Awards from the New York State AIA.
• Excellence in Design Awards from the New York City Chapter AIA.
• The Masterwork Award from the Municipal Art Society for the best building in New York City.
• The Society of Registered Architects NY Chapter Award of Merit.

In 2008, she became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. She has also received grants from organizations like the Graham Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts. These grants helped fund her work, including her documentary film.

In 1996, she won the AIA International Book Award for her book The Sex of Architecture. In 2014, she was recognized for her design of the Melrose Community Center. This project was a winner of Built by Women New York City. This competition celebrates amazing sites and spaces designed, engineered, and built by women.

Exhibitions and Lectures

Her architectural work has been shown in many museums, galleries, and universities. These include:

• The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
• The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
• The Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art.
• The Fogg Museum at Harvard University.
• The Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco.
• The Centre Pompidou in Paris.
• The Triennale di Milano.

She has also given many lectures and speeches. She has been a keynote speaker at conferences and symposiums all over the world, including in North, Central, and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

About Diana Agrest

Diana Agrest is an American citizen. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1945. She started studying architecture at age 16. She earned her architecture degree from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Buenos Aires in 1967.

After graduating, she moved to Paris, France, for further studies. She received a fellowship from the French Government. She studied at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and the Centre de Recherche d'Urbanisme from 1967 to 1969. In 1971, she came to New York City to join the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies.

See also

In Spanish: Diana Agrest para niños