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Minimalist ceiling detail with recessed pleated disc lights arranged in a linear pattern against grey soffit and white vertical ribbed panels by Deborah Berke.
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Deborah Berke

ArchitectResidentialHospitality

Founding Principal at TenBerke

Deborah Berke is the founder of the New York architecture firm now known as TenBerke (originally Deborah Berke Partners, formed in 2002 and expanded in 2019), and the Edward P. Bass Dean of the Yale School of Architecture, where she began teaching in 1987 and became dean in 2016 as the school's first woman in the role. TenBerke's campus work includes residential colleges at Princeton University, the Lewis Center at Harvard Law School, and a meeting and guesthouse for the University of Pennsylvania. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and the City University of New York, she received the 2025 AIA Gold Medal and the 2022 AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion.

Experience

  1. Founder & Partner

    TenBerke

    1982 – present

    Current

  2. Dean

    Yale School of Architecture

    2016 – present

    Current

Awards & press

  • ELLE Décor's 2026 A-List

    ELLE Décor · June 10, 2026

  • Honor Award - Smith College Kathleen McCartney Hall

    SARA NY Design Awards · 2026

  • Design Awards of Merit - Brown University Brook Street Residence Halls

    AIA New York · 2026

  • Deborah Berke Restores a Historic East End Boardinghouse, Revitalized as a Stunning Single-Family Retreat

    Galerie Magazine · May 29, 2026

  • TenBerke Designs Mass-Timber Career Development and Leadership Hub for Smith College

    Architectural Record · May 19, 2026

  • TenBerke and Thornton Tomasetti complete Smith College mass timber student hub

    The Architect's Newspaper · May 19, 2026

Education

  • Rhode Island School of Design

    B.Arch

Selected work

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