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Focus: the Built and Visual World

Hilary Lewis is an expert on architecture, urban planning, real estate and visual culture, who has produced books, articles, magazines, exhibitons and other media. Trained in public policy, urban planning and history of architecture, she examines and comments on the challenges confronting the 21st-century city and the visual world.

Lewis has collaborated with leading figures of the building industry. With Philip Johnson, she wrote two books and multiple articles during more than a decade of ongoing work. Also, for years, Lewis recorded Johnson's memoirs and ideas on architecture, making her today a renowned source for information on the late architect. 

 

Currently, she serves as the Chief Curator & Creative Director at The Glass House, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Johnson's former home. She oversees the programming, exhibitions and creative output of the organization, which is committed to art, architecture, design, and the built environment. Additionally, she is in charge of the site's substantial art collection -- primarily American 20th-century works by renowned figures such as Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol.

 

A specialist on real estate development as well as the aesthetics of architecture, Lewis has served as a consultant to Hines, the international real estate firm led by Gerald D. Hines and known for its dedication to design excellence in commercial development.

 

After the tragic events on September 11, 2001, she co-authored THINK New York: A Ground Zero Diary, an extensive book on the master planning and rebuilding at Ground Zero, produced with Rafael Viñoly Architects and released by Images Publishing.

 

She was a founding member of the editorial board and a contributing editor at two monthly publications launched in 2003 and 2004, HOME Fort Lauderdale and HOME Miami. Both of these magazines explored new ideas on architecture, real estate and design in Florida and were acquired by media giant Bonnier Corporation.

 

In 2009, she began work on Esplanade as its founding Senior Editor. Esplanade celebrated the architecture and design of the Boston region. In 2011, she joined the team launching a new design publication for South Florida, Tropic, and served as its Senior Editor.


In addition to her research, curatorial duties and writing, Lewis is a skilled public speaker. She has spoken to audiences and the media nationwide and has appeared on radio and television as well as in print and film. She began her career in academia: Lewis studied and taught at MIT and Harvard. Her undergraduate degree was earned at Princeton.