Winning Architect

On July 8, 2016, the NoVo Foundation and Lela Goren Group announced that Deborah Berke Partners has been selected as the winner of The Women’s Building International Design Competition. Berke, who has promoted the advancement of women in the field of architecture throughout her career, will lead a diverse team of designers and architects to transform the former Bayview Correctional Facility into The Women’s Building– a permanent home for the girls’ and women’s rights movement in New York City.

Berke’s proposal was based on a draft concept for the building, which continues to be developed and refined through ongoing consultation with leaders from across the girls’ and women’s rights movement. Berke and her team will now be an active partner in these discussions. Press Release

Meet the Team


Deborah Berke


Deborah Berke, FAIA, LEED AP is an architect, educator, and the founder of Deborah Berke Partners. Based in New York City, Deborah Berke Partners is an award-winning architecture, planning, and design firm that is currently completing a new business headquarters for Cummins Inc. in Indianapolis, Indiana, the 122 Community Arts Center in New York City, and new residences on the East and West Coasts and in the Midwest. Deborah leads the firm alongside two partners, Maitland Jones and Marc Leff, senior principals Stephen Brockman and Caroline Wharton Ewing, and six principals.

Deborah is the Dean of the Yale School of Architecture, the first woman to hold the position. She has been a Professor (adjunct) at Yale since 1987. In 2012 she was the inaugural recipient of the Berkeley-Rupp Prize at the University of California at Berkeley, which is given to an architect who has advanced the position of women in the profession and whose work emphasizes a commitment to sustainability and the community.

Deborah and the firm are the subject of two upcoming books: House Rules (Rizzoli, July 2016), which focuses on the firm’s residential work and offers practical and poetic advice for better living; and Working (Artifice, fall 2016), a survey of the firm’s workspaces, including offices, galleries, factories, and learning environments.

She is a board member of the James Howell Foundation, and a member of the board of directors of Yaddo. She was a founder and vice president of DesignNYC, a founding trustee of the Design Trust for Public Space, a trustee of the National Building Museum, chair of the board of advisors of the Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University, trustee of the Brearley School, and vice president of the AIA New York Chapter.

Deborah is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and The City University of New York. In 2005, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Rhoda Kennedy


Rhoda Kennedy began working at Deborah Berke Partners in 2002. She is a Principal of the firm. Rhoda provides leadership on projects with complex programmatic requirements and has the ability to reconcile clients’ needs and manage extensive project teams in a cohesive and efficient way. She has a depth of experience working on projects for higher education institutions and non-profit organizations, and leads programming studies and consensus-building processes with interested stakeholders. Rhoda studied at the Vicenza Institute of Architecture in Vicenza, Italy and earned her Master of Architecture degree from the University of Florida.

Arthi Krishnamoorthy


Arthi Krishnamoorthy is a Senior Associate at Deborah Berke Partners. Since joining in 2010, Arthi has managed projects involving many user groups and distinct functional requirements. Arthi’s work as project manager of the 175,000 square foot distribution headquarters for Cummins Inc. highlights her skill in reconciling complex programmatic and technical needs and developing consensus within a large project team. She also has expertise in designing flexible and collaborative workspaces that accommodate diverse users and work styles. Arthi grew up in Singapore and earned her Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania.