Everything about Denise Scott Brown totally explained
Denise Scott Brown, (née Lakofski; born
October 3,
1931 in Nkana,
Rhodesia) is an
architect, planner, writer, educator, and principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates in
Philadelphia. Denise Scott Brown and her husband and partner,
Robert Venturi, are regarded among the most influential architects of the twentieth century, both through their architecture and planning, and theoretical writing and teaching. Scott Brown and Venturi live in Philadelphia and have a son, James Venturi.
Education and teaching
Born to Jewish parents Simon and Phyllis (Hepker) Lakofski, Denise Lakofski studied first in
South Africa at the
University of the Witwatersrand from
1948 to
1952, where she met her future husband, Robert Scott Brown. Lakofski traveled to London in 1952 and continued her education at the
Architectural Association School of Architecture. She was joined there by Scott Brown in 1954, and graduated with a degree in architecture in 1955. Denise and Robert Scott Brown were married on
July 21,
1955. The couple spent the next three years working and traveling throughout Europe. In 1958, the Scott Browns came to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to study at the
University of Pennsylvania's planning department. In 1959, Robert Scott Brown was killed in an auto accident. Denise Scott Brown completed her master's degree in city planning in 1960 and became a faculty member at the university upon graduation. She completed a master's degree in architecture while teaching. At a 1960 faculty meeting, Scott Brown met
Robert Venturi, a young architect and faculty member, when she spoke against demolishing the university's library, designed by
Philadelphia architect
Frank Furness. The two became collaborators and taught courses together from 1962-1964.
Scott Brown left the University of Pennsylvania in 1965. Becoming known as a scholar in urban planning, she taught at the
University of California, Berkeley, and was then named co-chair of the Urban Design Program at the
University of California, Los Angeles. Scott Brown later taught at
Yale University, and in 2003 was a visiting lecturer with Venturi at
Harvard University's
Graduate School of Design. During her years in the southwest, Scott Brown became interested in the newer cities of
Los Angeles and
Las Vegas. She invited Venturi to visit her classes at
UCLA, and in 1966 asked him to visit
Las Vegas with her. The two were married in
Santa Monica, California on
July 23,
1967. Scott Brown moved back to
Philadelphia in 1967 to join her husband's firm, Venturi and Rauch, and became principal in charge of planning in 1969.
Architecture and planning
In 1972, with Venturi and Steven Izenour, Scott Brown wrote
Learning From Las Vegas: the Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form. The book published studies of the
Las Vegas Strip, undertaken with students in a research studio Scott Brown taught with Venturi in 1970 at
Yale's School of Architecture and Planning. The book joined Venturi's previous
Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (
Museum of Modern Art, 1966) as a rebuke to orthodox modernism and elite architectural tastes, and a pointed acceptance of American sprawl and vernacular architecture. The book coined the terms "Duck" and "Decorated Shed" as applied to opposing architectural styles. Scott Brown has remained a prolific writer on architecture and urban planning.
With the firm, re-named Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown in 1980; and finally Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates in 1989, Scott Brown has led major civic planning projects and studies, and more recently has directed many university campus planning projects. She has also served as principal-in-charge with
Robert Venturi on the firm's larger architectural projects, including the Sainsbury Wing of London's National Gallery, the capitol building in
Toulouse and the Nikko Hotel and Spa Resort in Japan.
Selected works
Brown University Campus Life Plan; Providence, Rhode Island (2004)
Tsinghua University Campus Plan Suggestions; Beijing, China (2004)
Baker-Berry Library, Dartmouth College; Hanover, New Hampshire (2002)
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University Campus Plan; Boston, Massachusetts (2002)
Williams College Campus Plan; Williamstown, Massachusetts (2001)
Frist Campus Center, Princeton University; New Jersey (2000)
Rauner Special Collections Library, Dartmouth College; Hanover, New Hampshire (2000)
Perelman Quadrangle, University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia (2000)
Provincial Capitol Building; Toulouse, France (1999)
Gonda (Goldschmied) Neurosciences and Genetics Research Center, UCLA; Los Angeles, California (1998)
University of Michigan Campus Plan; Ann Arbor, Michigan (1997-2005)
Bryn Mawr College Campus Plan; Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania (1997)
Mielparque Nikko Kirifuri Resort; Nikko National Park, Japan (1997)
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; La Jolla, California (1996)
Denver Civic Center Plan; Denver, Colorado (1995)
Charles P. Stevenson, Jr. Library, Bard College; Annondale-on-Hudson, New York (1994)
Children's Museum; Houston, Texas (1992)
Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, London; United Kingdom (1991)
Seattle Art Museum; Seattle, Washington (1991)
Restoration of the Fisher Fine Arts Library, University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia (1991)
University of Pennsylvania Campus Planning; Philadelphia (1988-2000)
Center City Development Plan; Memphis, Tennessee (1987)
Lewis Thomas Laboratory; Princeton University, New Jersey (1986)
Gordon Wu Hall; Princeton University, New Jersey (1983)
Hennepin Avenue Transit/Entertainment Study; Minneapolis, Minnesota (1981)
Jim Thorpe Historic District Planning Study; Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania (1979)
Washington Avenue Revitalization Plan; Miami Beach, Florida (1978)
Best Products Catalog Showroom; Langhorne, Pennsylvania (1978)
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College; Oberlin, Ohio (1976)
BASCO Showroom; Philadelphia (1976)
Franklin Court; Philadelphia (1976)
South Street "Crosstown Community" Planning; Philadelphia (1970)
Awards
Design Mind Award, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards; 2007 (with Robert Venturi)
Athena Award, Congress for the New Urbanism; 2007
Vilcek Prize, The Vilcek Foundation; 2007
Vincent J. Scully Prize, National Building Museum; 2002 (with Robert Venturi)
Topaz Medallion, American Institute of Architects; 1996
National Medal of Arts, United States Presidential Award; 1992 (with Robert Venturi)
AIA Firm Award, to Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown; 1985
Bibliography
Learning from Las Vegas: the Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form, (with Robert Venturi and Steven Izenour), Cambridge: MIT Press, 1972; revised edition 1977.
A View from the Campidoglio: Selected Essays, 1953-1984, (with Robert Venturi), New York: Harper & Row, 1984.
Urban Concepts, Architectural Design Profile 60: January-February 1990. London: Academy Editions; distributed in U.S. by St. Martin's Press.
Architecture as Signs and Systems: for a Mannerist Time (with Robert Venturi), Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004. Further Information
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