Karen Van Lengen

B.A., Vassar College;
M.Arch., Columbia University

Dean and Edward E. Elson Professor of Architecture

Karen Van Lengen
Dean and Edward E. Elson Professor of Architecture

Dean Karen Van Lengen, has led the Architecture School in its distinguished role as an eminent institution for the comprehensive study and design of the environment. As the former Chair of Architecture at Parsons School of Design, Van Lengen founded the Design Workshop Program, an integrated design build studio that is a signature part of the Parson’s MArch curriculum. At the University of Virginia she founded Campbell Constructions, a faculty design program to recreate the Architecture School’s home, Campbell Hall, using faculty designers to transform the building and its landscapes. She created the new Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture to promote a more synthetic relationship between these two disciplines and has championed the development of a fully integrated set of programs that address “Urgent Matters” of contemporary society. This concept champions the synthesis of aesthetics and ecology in the context of today’s dynamic technological revolution. She is currently working with other university scholars to establish a pan-university initiative on the improvement of the environment and is the Founder of Women’s Work, a monthly lecture series at the University that promotes the scholarship of women in all schools at the university.

Prior to her academic career she was an Associate at I M Pei & Partners before founding her own firm in New York City that won numerous awards and citations. In addition to her architectural work, she also exhibited her drawings in numerous group shows around the country.

Van Lengen’s current research focuses on the integration of sound and vision in architectural design. She collaborates with Joel Sanders, Architect, New York City, on several polemical and real projects related to this research. They recently completed an installation/animation of the MIX HOUSE for the Vitra Museum and Art Center, Pasadena in 2007-8. She is the author of several articles and has co-authored (with Lisa Reilly) the College Campus Guide: Vassar College, published by Princeton Architectural Press.

Van Lengen received her B.A. from Vassar College (cum laude with departmental honors in psychology), and a MArch from Columbia University.