Louise Braverman facts for kids

Louise Braverman is a New York City-based architect known for a design philosophy that aims to combine aesthetic design and social conscience. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA).

Educated at the Yale School of Architecture, Braverman founded her own firm, Louise Braverman Architect, in 1991. Her firm has designed a number of notable buildings around the world, including the Village Health Works Staff Housing in Burundi and Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso in Portugal. Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso, an art museum, has been featured in the pivotal books, Destination Architecture: The Essential Guide to 1000 Contemporary Buildings and Breaking Ground: Architecture by Women, a visual survey of architecture designed by women from the early twentieth century to the present day. Braverman lectures frequently, discussing her work at such venues as Columbia GSAPP, The Plan Magazine Perspective USA, and at the Architectural League NY as an Emerging Voice. She described her architectural design approach in her keynote address at the 2017 AIA Iowa Convention and again in her 2020 in-depth interview with Julia Gamolina published on the noted website, MadameArchitect.org. and again in her 2023 lecture, Architecture of Art + Conscience at The National Arts Club. Braverman was invited to present the work of her firm at the 2023, 2021,2018, 2016, 2014, and 2012 Venice Biennale of Architecture, at the Time Space Existence exhibitions as well as at OfficeUS Exhibit at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale United States Pavilion. She discussed her thoughts about how her six consecutive installations in Venice added insight to the evolution of her built architectural work in conversation with Martha Thorne at the AIA New York Chapter 2021 Cocktails and Conversation program. She also expressed how Venice is a source of her creative inspiration in her essay Dream of Venice Architecture.

Notable works

Some of Braverman's notable works include award-winning sustainable housing center for health workers in a rural village in Burundi, Africa and the Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso Art Museum in Boticas, Portugal dedicated to the work of abstract artist Nadir Afonso.

Other projects that have gained attention from the media include CV Starr Hand Surgery Center in St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, Poets House, Derfner Judaica Museum, and Chelsea Court affordable housing. Her firm was selected by the Walton Family Foundation in 2015 to be included in the inaugural Northwest Design Excellence Program, a pool of 36 designers who will contribute to the future of the urban landscape in Northwest Arkansas.

Selected projects

Architecture

• Pre-Fab Learning Landscape, 2016
• Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso Art Museum, 2013
• Village Health Works Staff Housing, 2013
• Derfner Judaica Museum, 2009
• Poets House Library + Learning Center, 2009
• Brooklyn Public Library, Highlawn Branch, 2006
• Pavel Zoubok Art Gallery, 2004
• Joe's Salon, 2003
• Chelsea Court Affordable Housing, 2003
• Maps + Movies at Grand Central Terminal, 1996-1997
• Poetic Light at Grand Central Terminal, 1996

Videos

• "Layers", Time Space Existence Exhibit Venice Architecture Biennale, 2023
• "Hyperloop Suburb - Louise Braverman Architect", Time Space Existence Exhibit Venice Architecture Biennale, 2018
• "Active Voice", Venice Architecture Biennale Installation, 2016
• "Voices from Venice: Conversations at the 2014 Architecture Biennale with Women Who Practice Architecture", 2014
• "Kigutu in Formation", Venice Architecture Biennale Installation, 2012

Awards