Beverly Willis, Architect and Advocate for Women in the Field, Dies at 95
The San Francisco Ballet Building (1984), a major project by Beverly Willis considered as the first building in the United States designed expressly for use by a major ballet company (left); Willis pictured at a construction site in 1982 (right). Photos via Beverly Willis Architectural Photograph Collection, Library of Congress
Beverly Willis founded her own practice in San Francisco in 1958 and went on to create the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation in 2002 out of frustration at seeing women largely absent from architectural history textbooks. She made it her mission to recognize the work of her female predecessors and contemporaries.
Ms. Willis recognized the work of little-known 20th-century female architects, as well as more established ones who worked into the 21st century as well, like Zaha Hadid, Annabelle Selldorf and Elizabeth Diller, of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
These are just a few of the architects, designers and construction chiefs highlighted in her short film “Unknown New York: The City That Women Built.”
Ms. Willis died on October 1, 2023 due to complications with Parkinson’s Disease. She leaves behind a profound legacy of advocating for women in the field of architecture and will be missed.
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