Karen Van Lengen
Education
Columbia University, Master of Architecture
Vassar College, B.A.
Biography
Karen Van Lengen, FAIA, is the William Kenan Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia. She is an internationally recognized architect, researcher, and academic leader. Van Lengen has been a pioneering figure in bringing sonic awareness and design to the discipline of architecture, and her current research focuses on the exploration of sound and communication as an integral part of the public realm. As a research fellow (2012-14) at the University’s Institute for Advanced Technologies in the Humanities, she created an ongoing web-based project, Soundscape Architecture. This project, in collaboration with artist Jim Welty, celebrates the aural qualities of iconic examples of architecture using visually engaging interpretive and analytical processes. Their extensive body of work can be found at www.soundscapearchitecture.com.
As the recipient of a Jefferson Trust Grant, she has also studied the aural qualities of the University’s “Academical Village” with students, faculty collaborators, and Jim Welty. This body of work can be found at: www.soundscape.iath.virginia.edu/ListeningToTheLawn. Van Lengen continues to build experimental sound installations to develop new communicative systems for public engagement, and to demonstrate how the design of sound may positively influence architectural concepts and their subsequent spaces.
In addition to these sonic projects, Van Lengen’s art and architectural works have been acquired and exhibited at various museums and institutions, including: The Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia University Library Drawing Collection, The Museum of the City of New York, The Cooper Hewitt Museum, The Branch Museum, and Amerika Haus Berlin, as well as several galleries. In addition to her design and exhibition work, Van Lengen has lectured extensively, authored, and co-authored several books and articles related to sound, landscape, and architectural design.
From 1999 to 2009, Van Lengen served as the first female Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. In this role she established a decade-long conversation on the relation between ethics and aesthetics, a concept that continues to influence the mission of the School and its programs. Among her most notable accomplishments, she championed cross-disciplinary education and research to address complex environmental and cultural challenges. She also founded “Campbell Constructions,” a design program in which faculty renovated and expanded the school’s home within Campbell Hall and its surrounding landscape. Her book, Urgent Matters: Designing the School of Architecture at Jefferson’s University (2009), documents this decade-long rejuvenation process, encompassing 12 individual renovations and additions to the School. At the University level, she founded “Women’s Work,” a lecture series promoting women’s research across the University, and also worked with the Vice President for Research to establish University-wide environmental studies initiatives.
As Chair of Architecture at Parsons School of Design (1995-1999), Van Lengen founded the renowned Design Build Workshop and its associated curriculum celebrating the theory-to-building process, which remains a hallmark of the program today. Her book City Spaces (2000) documents the five projects that became the foundation for this continuing workshop.
Van Lengen, a cum laude graduate of Vassar College and a MArch graduate of Columbia University, began her professional career at IM Pei & Partners, where she was the first female design Associate, before founding her own firm in New York City in 1987. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Van Lengen is the recipient of numerous awards, competition prizes, fellowships, and grants associated with her art and design work as well as her institutional leadership.
EXHIBITIONS
“Listening Theatres”, Branch Museum, Richmond, VA, 2020
New York Public Library animation in, "The Senses: Design Beyond Vision", curated by Ellen Lupton, Cooper Hewitt Museum, NYC, 2018
"Forum Studio", City Space, Charlottesville, VA, 2017
"Soundscape New York", Museum of the City of New York, NY, 2015
"Drawings from the America Memorial Competition", Berlin Museum, 2015
"Highlights from the Permanent Collection: Avery Library," 125 Year Celebration, Columbia University, 2015
"The Art of Noise", College Cork, Ireland, 2013
"Art by Architects", Virginia Society of AIA, Richmond, Virginia, 2013
"Mix House, Highlights from the Department of Architecture and Design", Permanent Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 2010-11
"Mix House Drawings", Bronx Museum Permanent Collection, New York City, 2010
Mix House Installation at "Open House Exhibition: Architecture and Technology for Intelligent Living", Pasadena CA, Essen Germany, Warsaw, Poland and Oslo 2007-9
"International Architecture Exhibition," The Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles, CA, 1999
Karen Van Lengen: “Recent Work”, Parsons School of Design, New York, 1998
"American Memorial Library Drawings", Parsons School of Design, New York, 1995
"Monuments", The New School University, 1995
"Dissonant Worlds", Kentler International Center, Red Hook, Brooklyn, 1994
"Monumental Propaganda Preview", World Trade Center Exhibition Hall, NYC, 1993
"Jahn-Sportpark / Mauerpark fur Berlin Olympia 2000", Berlin, Germany, 1992
"Generated Realities", Spirit Square Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC, 1991
"Drawings from Avery Library Collection", Buell Center, Columbia University, NYC, 1991
"Internationale Sommerakademie fur Architektur IM", 15. Juli, Bis, 26, August, 1989
"Amerika Gedenkbibliotek Competition", Amerika Haus, Berlin, West Germany, 1989
"Amerika Gedenkbibliotek First Prize", Galerie Aedes, Berlin, West Germany, 1989
"Drawings from the Amerika Gedenkbibliotek Competition", Werkbund Galerie, Frankfort, 1989
"Works on Paper by 24 Artists", Gallery Onetwentyeight, NYC, 1988
"Drawings from the Manhattan Waterfront Competition", Fashion Institute Gallery, NYC, 1988
"Women in Architecture", Columbia University, NYC, 1981
"Celebration of the Statue of Liberty", Liberty Island Exhibition Gallery, NYC, 1980
ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS
Van Lengen, Karen, “Lacrimae Rerum and Tears of Memory” in Sound of Architecture: Acoustic Atmospheres in Place, ed, Angeliki Sioli and Elisavet Kiourtsoglou, Leuven University Press, 2022 (Peer-reviewed)
Van Lengen, Karen, "Listening to Architectures" in, The Handbook of Listening, ed. Debra Worthington and Graham Bodie, Wiley Press, 2020 (Peer-reviewed)
Van Lengen, Karen, “Pedagogy and Place: The legacy of the Landscape at Vassar College”, in Landscape and the Academy, ed,Bluestone and Beardsley, Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University Press, 2018 (Peer-reviewed)
Van Lengen, Karen and Sanders, Joel, Re-envisioning Audio Techno-culture, The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge, and Society, 2010
Van Lengen, Karen, “MIX House”, in The Place of Sound: Architecture/Music/Acoustics, Colin Ripley, Ryerson University, 2007
Van Lengen Karen and Sanders, Joel, “Making Sense”, INTERIOR ATMOSPHERES, Architectural Design Publication, May/June 2008
Van Lengen, Karen and Sheridan, Ted, “Hearing Architecture”, Journal of Architectural Education, November 2003
Van Lengen, Karen, “By Design- Designing a house for her family”, Metropolis, September 1998
Van Lengen, Karen, “The structuring of a new architectural landscape.” Bulletin of The International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, Vol. 35,) n.2, 1994
Van Lengen, Karen, “Spreebogen Typologies: Jury Reconvenes to Confirm 1st-Stage Winner,” Competitions, Volume 3, Fall 1993
BOOKS
Van Lengen, Karen, URGENT MATTERS: Designing the School of Architecture at Jefferson’s University, University of Virginia School of Architecture, 2009
Van Lengen, Karen and Reilly, Lisa, An Architectural Guide to Vassar College, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2004
Van Lengen, Karen, City Spaces, Parsons School of Design, 2000
Vision in Architecture Award, Branch Museum, Honorable Mention
Fellow, Institute for Advanced Technologies in the Humanities
Jefferson Trust Foundation Grant for “Listening to the Lawn” Project
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects
University of Virginia Zintl Leadership Award
Distinguished Achievement Award, Virginia Society of the AIA
First Prize winner, Amerika Gedenkbibliotek Competition, Berlin, West Germany
Third Prize, Formica 2000X Competition
AIA Honor Award, Fragrant Hill Hotel, Beijing, China (I.M. Pei & Partners)
Fulbright Fellowship in Architecture, Rome, Italy
American Association of University Women Academic Fellowship
