Deborah Berke, Architect for 21c Museum Hotel Bentonville, to Lecture in Little Rock, Bentonville

Photo Submitted

Deborah Berke, architect for 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville, will present lectures March 3 and 4 as part of architecture and design lecture series in Little Rock and Bentonville.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – There are two opportunities this week to hear from architect Deborah Berke. She will present a lecture titled "Out of the Ordinary" at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, at the Arkansas Arts Center, 501 E. 9th St., in Little Rock, following a 5:30 p.m. reception.

In addition, Berke will present her lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way, in Bentonville, as part of the museum's Architecture Speaker Series.

Berke is principal at Deborah Berke Partners, an architecture and design firm in New York, New York, and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Her Little Rock lecture is part of the Architecture and Design Network's 2014-15 Art of Architecture lecture series, and is also made possible by the collaborative effort of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

As the founding partner of the architecture and design firm that bears her name, Berke oversees a staff of 50 people. This skilled team deals with a diverse portfolio of projects that include campus master plans, cultural and arts facilities, university buildings, custom residences and hotels - including the 21c Museum Hotels, one of which is located in downtown Bentonville. All projects, large and small, share the Berke imprimatur: a "knowing simplicity."

Berke will discuss her goal to create buildings that are "inevitable, though not predictable," as well as the relationship between a designer's vision, life patterns and place.

In 2012, Berke was awarded the inaugural Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Professorship and Prize by the University of California, Berkeley. She has taught at the University of Maryland, the University of Miami, the Rhode Island School of Design and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. A monograph of her work was published by Yale University Press in 2008.

The 2014-15 Art of Architecture lecture series is sponsored by the Architecture and Design Network, a non-profit organization, with support from the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Arkansas Arts Center, the Fay Jones School of Architecture and community members.

The Little Rock lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact ardenetwork@mac.com.

The Bentonville lecture is $10 (or free for museum members). Participants can register online or by calling the museum's guest services at 479-657-2335.