Career
After she graduated from the MArch program, Gayer got a job at Marvin E. Knedler & Associates, which then led to positions at Duff, Reck, Lehman Architects, and Michael Gaviglio & Associates. [1] In 1983 she and her partner started their own firm Artemis Designs. She has led a team to design many projects, such as The Left Bank Townhouses. [1] In 1988; Gayer moved to Vermont to work as an associate architect at the University of Vermont [1]
Gayer is the director of the Vermont Design Institute (VDI), a non-profit organization focused on design and community development, headquartered in Burlington, Vermont, where she has managed the collaborative since April 1998. [2]
Between June 1999 and September 2000, she worked as a planner for the state of Vermont. During this time, she was responsible for organizing the Smart Growth conference for the state, also authoring a work on the History of Planning in Vermont. [2]
Diane Gayer participated in a diverse range of projects to show her passion and versatility in the architectural field, one of which is the Masozera House in Rwanda. [4] Additionally, she actively engages in pro bono endeavors in South Africa, lending her expertise to various local initiatives. [3] Beyond this, Gayer commits herself to numerous NGO projects, advocating for architecture as an effective instrument for driving social and communal advancement. [3]
The Masozera Family House
The Masozera Family House in Rwanda is a prominent testament to her creative prowess of Diane Gayer. Nestled above Lake Kivu and aligned with a fault line connecting Lake Victoria to the Nile Basin, the property's strategic location served as a canvas for Gayer's ingenuity. [4] Drawing inspiration from Rwandan architect Vedaste Ngarambe, who championed the aesthetics of indigenous materials and craftsmanship, Gayer harnessed the geographical alignment and incorporated local elements and techniques into the project. [4] The architectural concept of the house was underpinned by a commitment to sustainable design, aiming to contribute to the country's recovery and address the effects of the 1994 genocide. [3] [4]
Constructed from 2010 to 2017, The Masozera Family House integrates with the hillside terrain, comprising three distinct levels: an inviting entry foyer, expansive public living spaces, and private bedrooms. [3] Gayer conscientiously adhered to local regulations on tree protection, sourcing the primary construction materials from the surrounding area. [3] The house was thoughtfully equipped with eco-friendly features, including solar panels, water harvesting systems, and an inground septic system. [3] These elements collectively exemplify a harmonious fusion of architectural brilliance, sustainability, and a deep-rooted connection to the local context.
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that have human occupancy or use as their principal purpose. Etymologically, the term architect derives from the Latinarchitectus, which derives from the Greek, i.e., chief builder.
Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. It seeks to create spaces that will enhance the natural, social, cultural and physical environment of particular areas. Classical prudent design may have always considered environmental factors; however, the environmental movement beginning in the 1940s has made the concept more explicit.
Sim Van der Ryn is an American architect, researcher and educator. Van der Ryn's professional interest has been applying principles of physical and social ecology to architecture and environmental design.
Diana Balmori Ling was a landscape and urban designer. She was the founder of the landscape design firm Balmori Associates.
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Design Build Bluff is a program of The University of Utah's College of Architecture + Planning, where each year, architecture graduate students are immersed in a hands-on opportunity to design and build a full-scale work of architecture in collaboration with the Navajo people. The program derives its name from the town of Bluff, Utah, adjacent to the Navajo Nation, in which the campus facility is located. Design Build Bluff projects are a full donation to the client and are noted for being innovative, sustainable and award-winning designs. The program is currently collaborating with the Mexican Water Chapter House on more community based projects.
The Campus of the University of Southern California, also known as the University Park Campus is located in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The campus sprawls across 226 acres and contains most of the academic facilities and residential buildings of the University of Southern California. The University Park campus is in the University Park district of Los Angeles, 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The campus's boundaries are Jefferson Boulevard on the north and northeast, Figueroa Street on the southeast, Exposition Boulevard on the south, and Vermont Avenue on the west. Since the 1960s, through-campus vehicle traffic has been either severely restricted or entirely prohibited on some thoroughfares. The University Park campus is within walking distance to Los Angeles landmarks such as the Shrine Auditorium and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which is operated and managed by the University. Most buildings are in the Romanesque Revival style, although some dormitories, engineering buildings, and physical sciences labs are of various Modernist styles that sharply contrast with the predominantly red-brick campus. Widney Alumni House, built-in 1880, is the oldest university building in Southern California. In recent years the campus has been renovated to remove the vestiges of old roads and replace them with traditional university quads and gardens. The historic portion of the main campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
Richard Steven "Dick" Levine is an American environmental architect, solar energy and sustainability pioneer, and professor at the University of Kentucky. He is one of the early solar energy innovators in the U.S., a holder of U.S. patents on structural systems and solar energy applications, and the architect of a number of award winning solar buildings including his widely published Raven Run Solar House (1974). Levine is co-director of the Center for Sustainable Cities at the University of Kentucky. His contributions to sustainable urban planning are in both the theory and practice of the sustainable city-region. He has over 150 publications on solar energy and sustainability research, conducted in Italy, Austria, China and the Middle East.
Brooks + Scarpa is an American architectural firm based in Los Angeles, California, and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA. Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa are the recipients of the 2022 American Institute of Architect Gold Medal, the institute's highest honor. The firm was also chosen as the 2014 Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Award Winner in Architecture. In 2010 they were the recipient of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Firm Award. Los Angeles projects completed by the firm include the Solar Umbrella home in Venice, California, the Orange Grove lofts in West Hollywood and the Colorado housing project in Santa Monica.
David Coleman, FAIA, is an American architect based in Seattle, WA. David was born in New York and studied fine arts and environmental design at Pratt Institute before taking up architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. He completed his studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture. He founded David Coleman Architecture in 1986. In 2011 David was elected to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows.
Noel Phyllis Birkby was an American architect, feminist, filmmaker, teacher, and founder of the Women's School of Planning and Architecture.
Anna Heringer is an acclaimed architect known for her innovative approach to sustainable architecture, particularly in the realm of earthen construction. Her work is characterized by a deep respect for local materials and techniques, as well as a commitment to community engagement and empowerment. Heringer's projects span the globe, from Bangladesh to Austria, and have garnered international recognition for their beauty, functionality, and sustainability, most notably the METI Handmade School in Rudrapur, Bangladesh.
Women in architecture have been documented for many centuries, as professional practitioners, educators and clients. Since architecture became organized as a profession in 1857, the number of women in architecture has been low. At the end of the 19th century, starting in Finland, certain schools of architecture in Europe began to admit women to their programmes of study. In 1980 M. Rosaria Piomelli, born in Italy, became the first woman to hold a deanship of any school of architecture in the United States, as Dean of the City College of New York School of Architecture. In recent years, women have begun to achieve wider recognition within the profession, however, the percentage receiving awards for their work remains low. As of 2023, 11.5% of Pritzker Prize Laureates have been female.
Thomas Doerr is an architect, author, and educator. After studying design in Rome, Italy and interning in Boston, Massachusetts, Doerr received his Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989. Doerr spent two years as an architectural intern in San Francisco, California then earned his master's degree at the University of California at Berkeley in 1993.
David Edward Sellers is an American architect, based in Vermont. He is known for using an improvisational approach to modern architecture which eventually led to what is known as design/build. His work focuses on designing and building with nature, with special emphasis on custom craftsmanship and a preference for sustainability. His work in town and community planning has received national recognition for pedestrian and human-scaled settlement patterns.
Elizabeth Wright Ingraham was an American architect and educator. A granddaughter of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, she studied under his tutelage at his Taliesin studio at age 15. She later established an architect's practice in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband, Gordon Ingraham, which adhered to Wright's architectural styles. In 1970 she formed her own architectural firm, Elizabeth Wright Ingraham and Associates, which she led until her retirement in 2007. She is credited with the design of approximately 150 buildings in Colorado Springs and other western locales. She also founded and directed the Wright-Ingraham Institute, which invites students and visiting faculty to conferences and workshops on environmental issues. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.
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Mariam Issoufou Kamara is a Nigerien architect. Her designs focus on open living spaces and make use of locally produced materials available to African communities: cement, recycled metal and raw earth.
