Designing with Communities

Presentations and discussion of community-based design and public service architecture with Sharon Davis ‘06 M.Arch and Louise Braverman in conversation with Dean Amale Andraos.

Sharon Davis is an architect whose work is driven by her belief in the transformative power of design. Following a successful career in finance, she redirected her professional pursuits to the built environment, returning to graduate school in her forties and establishing a collaborative design practice dedicated to human-centered environments in 2007. A LEED-accredited professional who earned her master of architecture degree from Columbia GSAPP in 2006, Davis received the Women for Women Active Citizen’s Award in 2010 and the Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize from Columbia University in 2006. She has worked on architectural projects ranging in scope from residential interiors to commercial ground-up construction and international institutional development.

Louise Braverman is an architect with a deep passion for creating aesthetically inventive architecture that resonates with all segments of society. A graduate of the Yale School of Architecture, she established her practice, Louise Braverman Architect, to search for elemental solutions to complex architectural problems, using common means to achieve uncommon results. Recent projects include Centro de Arts Nadir Afonso, an art museum in Boticas, Portugal that encourages public participation with art; Village Health Works Staff Housing, an off-the-grid dormitory in the post-genocide village of Kigutu, Burundi and the Derfner Judaica Museum, an art museum in Riverdale, New York that facilitates multi-generational engagement. Her work has won numerous design awards and has been recognized by her peers, resulting in her elevation to fellowship in the American Institute of Architects and invitations to present the work of her firm at the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Venice Architecture Biennales.

Organized by Columbia GSAPP.