Ena Dubnoff facts for kids

Ena Dubnoff is an American architect who lives and works in Santa Monica, California. An architect is a person who designs buildings. She is the head of her own company, Ena Dubnoff Architects. She is known for designing buildings that help communities, such as affordable housing and centers for families and young people.

Education and Early Life

Ena Dubnoff began her college studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She soon returned to the Los Angeles area and went to the University of Southern California (USC). At the time, she was the only woman in her architecture class. Many of her classmates were veterans who had returned from the Korean War.

In 1960, Dubnoff graduated cum laude, which means she earned high honors. She also won the AIA Medal for Excellence in Architecture award while she was still a student. In 1966, she earned a master's degree in Urban Design from Columbia University. After graduating, she received a special fellowship that allowed her to travel for a year, and she spent time in India.

Career in Architecture

Ena Dubnoff has had a long and successful career as both an architect and a teacher.

Teaching and Early Designs

From 1963 to 1965, Dubnoff taught architecture at Pennsylvania State University. She was invited to teach there by the head of the department, Gregory Ain. She also taught at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC) from 1973 to 1976. In 1981, she became the first woman hired for a permanent teaching position in architecture at USC, where she taught until 1988.

After graduating from USC, one of her first projects was designing a house for her parents. She worked with the famous firm Buff, Straub and Hensman on the project. The house was featured in many magazines and won several awards.

Working for Major Firms

Dubnoff worked for two years at the office of William Pereira and Associates. There, she helped create master plans for large areas, including the Irvine Ranch and Catalina Island. She also worked on the plan for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Later, she worked for another well-known architect, A. Quincy Jones, and for the New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Starting Her Own Companies

After getting her architect's license, Dubnoff designed the main building for the Dubnoff School. This was a school for children with special needs founded by her mother.

In 1984, she started a company with Dolores Hayden called Dubnoff and Hayden. They designed Willowbrook Green, a project that provided affordable homes and childcare in Los Angeles. When Hayden left to focus on teaching, Dubnoff formed a new company called ONE Company Architecture, which is now Ena Dubnoff Architects.

She also helped create a group of four women called O.N.E. Company in 1991. Their goal was to build more affordable housing. They also started a non-profit organization called W.O.R.K.S. to help with these projects. Ena Dubnoff's company continued to design buildings for non-profit groups and low-income families.

Notable Projects

Ena Dubnoff has designed many important buildings, often for non-profit groups and communities. Here are a few examples:

• El Centro del Pueblo (2008): A community and youth center in Los Angeles.
• Pisgah Village (2006): An apartment complex in Los Angeles.
• Temple Villas (2006): A housing project in Los Angeles.
• Highland Village Apartments (2001): An apartment building in Los Angeles.
• Halifax Apartments (1997): A housing project in Los Angeles developed with the Thai Community Development Center.
• Willowbrook Green (1990): An affordable housing and childcare project in Los Angeles.

Awards and Recognition

Dubnoff has received many awards for her work, including:

• AIA National Award of Merit for the house she designed for her parents.
• Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Awards for Pisgah Village and the Halifax Apartments.
• CCAIA Design Award for the El Centro del Pueblo Youth and Recreation Center.
• Urban Land Institute National Award for Excellence for the Normandie Apartments.

Personal Life

Ena Dubnoff's parents were also very accomplished. Her father, Jacob W. Dubnoff, was a biochemist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Her mother, Belle Dubnoff, was an educator who started the Dubnoff School for Educational Therapy in 1948. The school is now called the Dubnoff Center for Child Development and Educational Therapy.

Today, Ena Dubnoff has a second career in woodturning, which is the art of shaping wood on a machine called a lathe. Her artwork is shown in galleries and exhibitions across the country.