♪ KATE: It is one of the most beautiful skylines on the planet, and it has been shaped by one of the most talented architects in the world, Jeanne Gang.

Known best for creating Aqua, an 83-story work of art in the heart of Chicago.

KATE: You weren't thinking, "This is gonna be the tallest building made by a female architect."

Jeanne Gang: No.

KATE: Her forward thinking approach to design and mission to connect people to their environment has made Jeanne Gang a leading architect of this generation.

JEANNE: It's like hitting it out of the park.

You know what I mean?

Not to be bragging about it.

KATE: You did!

I mean don't- (laughing) You knocked it out of the park.

KATE: Today, Jeanne is taking me to her favorite restaurant in all of Chicago, where even what's on her plate appeals to the heart of this architect.

JEANNE: A lot of times you learn about materials from breaking them.

KATE: We find out just what goes into creating her soaring skyscrapers, and how tough it's been to be a woman in this industry.

JEANNE: When people say that, it makes you wanna do it more.

KATE: And later, we're on the ground, immersed in one of Jeanne's projects that highlights the iconic skyline she's helped to shape.

This is just so beautiful.

It's almost like you've put a picture frame around the city of Chicago.

JEANNE: It's an incredible place in Chicago.

♪ KATE: What's better in life than a bottle of wine, great food and an amazing conversation?

My name is Kate Sullivan and I am the host of To Dine For .

I'm a journalist, a foodie, a traveler, with an appetite for the stories of people who are hungry for more.

Dreamers.

Visionaries.

Artists.

Those who hustle hard in the direction they love.

I travel with them to their favorite restaurant, to hear how they did it.

This show is a toast to them and their American dream.

KATE: To Dine For with Kate Sullivan is made possible by... ANNOUNCER: There are people in your life who count on you for what matters most.

American National agents are close to home and committed to our communities.

They'll help you find the right coverage for you, your family, even your farm and business.

You can learn more at americannational.com.

♪ KATE SULLIVAN: Hello, everyone.

Today I'm in Chicago in the River North neighborhood.

I'm on my way into a French restaurant called Brindille.

I'm about to meet one of the most celebrated architects in the world.

Her name is Jeanne Gang.

KATE: Jeanne, so nice to meet you.

Let me give you an elbow.

JEANNE GANG: Hey!

Nice to see you.

KATE: Thank you for doing this.

JEANNE GANG: I'm so excited to have lunch out for (laughs)... KATE: For a while.

Isn't it nice?

It's not often you get to sit down to lunch with someone in the city you love, whose talent stands right on the sidewalks you walk by every day.

Chicago is the Great American City.

It is a city of reinvention after the Chicago Fire.

It is a cultural crossroads in the middle of the country with 70-plus neighborhoods and a spectacular skyline.

It's one of those large cities with a small-town feel, where there's passion for sports, food, culture, and history.

Of course, Chicago's most known for its deep-dish pizza, but today, we're steppin' it up a few notches at one of the city's most elevated French restaurants, Brindille.

KATE: So, first of all, thank you- (laughs) for bringing me to this gorgeous restaurant.

It is stunning.

JEANNE GANG: You're welcome, but I'm also very excited to be back dining in a restaurant of this level.

KATE: Oh, isn't it nice?

JEANNE GANG: Yes.

KATE: "Nice" doesn't do Brindille justice.

This restaurant is upscale.

CARRIE NAHABEDIAN: I call it a up-market restaurant, a gem, a jewel box of a restaurant that showcases style.

KATE: Acclaimed chef Carrie Nahabedian and her cousin Michael Nahabedian are no strangers to the Chicago restaurant scene.

They are 21 years into this business together, earning Michelin stars and James Beard Awards for their first restaurant, Naha, a Chicago dining institution.

MICHAEL NAHABEDIAN: I mean if you're Greek, you come out of the womb in the restaurant business.

Yeah, we don't know any other way.

I mean, my cousin's a maniac in the kitchen, (laughs) and like, She runs a cooler great.

We run it together though, you know?

CARRIE: I hate boring food, and I like that every time that you have layers of flavor, layers of texture.

KATE: Brindille, a French word for twig or branch, signifies new growth or the beginning of something new, which is exactly what these cousins were looking for.

CARRIE: I remember having the conversation with my father, my late father, and he was like, "Oh, and you just finished everything at Naha.

You've accomplished everything there, the Michelin, the- the awards, everything.

And now you're diving right back into the deep end of the pool, again."

And I said, "We still have more to say."

KATE: This is elevated French dining at its very best.

The swanky Parisian styled restaurant not only uses indulgent ingredients in their menu, but also incorporates artistry and design into their dishes.

CARRIE: Sometimes you just wanna be all dressed up and have a great night on a Wednesday, and not always a Friday night, and not always a Saturday night.

And it makes you feel so comfortable.

You're in a luxurious surrounding but you're not intimidated.

KATE: Today we are certainly in for a treat, starting off with the carrot salad.

It is a summer salad with young carrots roasted with anise seed, white truffle honey, crisp kale, strawberries, blackberries, Roquefort cheese, and rosemary spiced cashews.

And that's just the beginning.

KATE: For our main course we're indulging in tarte Tatin, a French favorite with upside down gold potatoes, p'tit Basque, truffles and onion soubise, and Herbes de Provence, all on a salad of pea shoots, shaved radishes, and blueberries.

KATE: I'm learning about Jeanne Gang, who just added another skyscraper to her portfolio, this one the tallest tower ever designed by a woman.

KATE: I'm fascinated to hear, of all the restaurants in Chicago, why did you choose this restaurant?

JEANNE GANG: I missed it, you know, over the last year and a half, and I also really admire the chef.

She's always taken care of me when I've brought clients here, because she can make anything vegetarian taste amazing.

Very complex tastes, and it's very original.

KATE: You mentioned your love of trees.

And the first thing you notice when you walk into this restaurant, are the beautiful branches around you.

JEANNE: And looking up at the trees, and the structure of trees, and it just makes me calm.

I love trees, and I've studied them, learned a lot about them, especially in the last year.

And trees are such a good model for everything.

Like thinking about how they support the branches, and how the leaves bring in light and new life.

KATE: You grew up in Belvedere, Illinois.

Tell me a little bit about what it was like to grow up in Belvedere, and really what you were like as a child.

JEANNE: It's a small town, and, my father was an engineer.

A Civil engineer for the county, doing all the roads and bridges, and so I just grew up really connecting to that community, but also the outdoors.

And then my mom, of course, was a Girl Scout troop leader, and she introduced me to, you know, camping, and the wilderness, and... so yeah.

I spent a lot of time just in the outdoors, making a tree house (laughs).

KATE: Did you?

So you were- you were creating and constructing buildings, tree houses when you were a child.

JEANNE: Yeah.

Definitely create things.

Even making houses out of like, a pile of snow, you know.

To have fun, my mom would boil some water on the stove, and then I would take it out and carve holes into the snow pile (laughs) for... KATE: Like to make igloos, sort of?

JEANNE: Yeah!

KATE: People always think you have to come from a big city to reach status, and to reach such success.

And really thank you.

KATE: Being from a small town can be an enormous advantage.

When you don't have a lot to work with, you create it on your own.

JEANNE: Yes.

That's true.

Mind you, I wasn't that far away from Chicago.

So we got to take trips here as you know, growing up, to go to the museums and see the architecture, the tall skyscrapers, and... KATE: What was the first building that you really took notice of?

JEANNE: I remember seeing the Art Institute, and just being pretty impressed by everything.

The Hancock Building.

We would go up to the top of that, and that was really an adventure.

KATE: And see the view which is so spectacular.

JEANNE: The verticality.

Because Chicago is so... it's a flat (chuckles), geography.

And so it's almost like the tall buildings are the landscape for the city, it's like a mountain range.

KATE: At what point in your early career... Did you know you really had an aptitude for this field?

JEANNE: For architecture, for me it was so natural because just being good in science and math, and then art, and really spending time creating things.

So that's what I like to do, and it just combines those things so perfectly.

KATE: I'm gonna take a taste of this Amuse-bouche here.

JEANNE: Okay.

KATE: It looks like it is a- a... it's lightly fried potato.

JEANNE: Mm hmm.

KATE: Oh wow.

JEANNE: Mmm.

KATE: It's like a fried mashed potato.

It's delicious.

So there wasn't like, an initial project that you were on, you know, right at the beginning, where you felt like, "Gosh, this is what I want to do."

JEANNE: I think it was really when I went and visited Paris as a student that I said, you know, and I saw for the first time older cities, and how architecture's so important for creating the atmosphere of the city.

Then I was really falling in love.

KATE: Jeanne traveled to Paris during her college career.

And it was this gorgeous, stunningly romantic city, and the one of a kind architecture that captured her heart and helped to inform how she sees the world.

JEANNE: Having a lecture in front of Notre Dame about the building, in the space, it was just... KATE: Magical.

JEANNE: Yeah, magical.

KATE: (laughs) Yeah.

What were the early days of being an architect, especially a woman like for you?

JEANNE: There were always people that said, "You shouldn't do that," or, you know, "You can't do that."

Not my parents.

They always supported me.

But you know, like when people say that, it makes you wanna do it more.

(laughs) So...

So, um... KATE: So you did get that.

You got a lot of, "You can't do that," and... JEANNE: Here and there, yes.

And it was just enough.

KATE: Today, almost half of all students of architecture are women.

A stark contrast from the early 70's, before Title IX, when gender discrimination in colleges stopped many women from going into fields like architecture.

Even now, Jeanne Gang is one of just 17% of registered architects who are female.

And she isn't just an architect.

She runs her company.

Jeanne is the founding principal of Studio Gang, an architecture and urban design studio with offices in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Paris.

Studio Gang has projects ranging from cultural centers, like the American Museum of Natural History, to public projects, like the new Global Terminal at O'Hare Airport, to mixed-use towers and public parks.

She's written three books on architecture, and in 2019 was named one of Time's Most Influential People.

JEANNE: Wow.

KATE: That looks amazing.

KATE: Oh, this is the carrot salad.

It looks spectacular.

It looks like a work of art, doesn't it?

JEANNE: It does.

JEANNE: And the color is amazing too.

KATE: It's so beautiful.

JEANNE: Wow.

Bon appetite.

(laughs) KATE: Bon appetite is right.

KATE: Can we talk about Aqua?

JEANNE: That would be nice.

(laughs) I'm drinking some aqua right now.

KATE: Start from the beginning.

Where did you- what was the inspiration for that particular building, and how did you begin in creating it?

JEANNE: I met the developer, Jim Lonborg, and then he asked me if I wanted to come by his office and talk about some work, doing on this big project that he's working on, and I said sure.

I thought it was, just interviewing for, you know, some smaller project, and then he showed me what it was and it was to design one of the towers.

And I thought, wow.

I'd never had done a tower before, but, I had some ideas.

He said, "You know, let's just- let's just get started."

And he just gave me a shot at it.

KATE: Did you have it in your mind that you would want to create the tallest building in the world?

JEANNE: No.

(chuckles) KATE: Or...

I mean, was that part of it (laughing), or?

JEANNE: No, well, the thing was, he- he said, um, "How much time do you need for the research?"

And I said, "Could I have like, um, four weeks?"

And he said, "I'll give you one week."

(laughs) KATE: Oh no, are you serious?

JEANNE: I made two ideas.

Um, he came over to see them.

Two, um, different approaches to the high rise.

Built models.

You know, this is with my studio, my whole team working on it.

And he immediately knew which one he liked.

KATE: Jeanne's vision for Aqua was to maximize the view and shade by designing unevenly distended concrete balconies on each floor, creating a rippling effect like water.

When it was finished, the building was designed to 859 feet, and in 2010, this was the tallest structure designed by a female-led firm in the world.

KATE: The balconies are undulating, and it looks like waves.

And it is very distinctive on the Chicago skyline.

And it is forever a part of the city.

And was that legacy part of the design?

The fact that it would be such a... really, an iconic building in Chicago?

JEANNE: I took it very seriously about like, adding such a large, tall building to the skyline.

But I wasn't thinking about legacy, or I wanted it just to be a good work of architecture- KATE: You weren't thinking, this is gonna be the tallest building made by a female architect?

JEANNE: No.

That wasn't- (laughs) No, it was just working on design, what- KATE: Wow.

JEANNE: How can it be interesting?

How can it be good for the people who live there, but also for the pedestrians walking by on the street that don't get to live there?

KATE: Hm.

JEANNE: And I was really thinking about how people feel when they would see it around a corner or something like that.

I think all buildings, you know, they participate both for the people who are taking part of it inside, but also they're... you know, how does it give something back to the city?

KATE: Were you surprised at how celebrated it was, how much attention you got personally, and how much the building got?

JEANNE: Kind of, yes.

(laughs) KATE: Was it a surprise of your career?

JEANNE: Well, it's always that you don't know if it's actually gonna happen also.

Because there's, um, you know, so many factors that go into a tall building.

Financing, what could happen during and in the economy, which it did toward the very end.

KATE: Mm hm.

JEANNE: But when it first started going up, when it was about 10 or 15 floors, that's when I knew it was gonna be so good.

(laughs) It was then- KATE: You got excited.

You're like, "This is good."

JEANNE: I like, "This is really working and it's really gonna be good."

KATE: Aqua is just one of so many impressive buildings Jeanne and Studio Gang have designed.

Their portfolio is broad, including the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, the University of Chicago Center in Paris, and Tom Lee Park in Memphis, to name a few.

And then there's the St. Regis in Chicago.

When it's finished it will stand 101 stories, the third tallest building in Chicago and the tallest building in the world by a female architect in a female-led architecture firm.

With its three interlocking towers, this hotel and residential development is a showstopper.

Each level is set back five inches, and then every 12 stories the process is reversed.

What makes it even more unique, you can walk right through the base.

KATE: What does that feel like?

When y- when your idea that you've been thinking about, researching and talking with your Studio Gang- JEANNE: Yeah, yeah.

KATE: ...and putting it together, and then you see it.

What is that like?

JEANNE: It's like hitting it out of the park.

You know what I mean?

Not to be, like, bragging about it.

KATE: You did!

(laughter) You knocked it out of the park!

JEANNE: That is exactly what we wanted it to be and it is becoming.

And it was a lot of hard work.

You know, years of design going into that.

It doesn't just start taking shape without all of this engineering, and hard work, and architecture and considering every detail when it finally is there.

KATE: When it works, it's good.

JEANNE: It's worth it.

Yeah.

KATE: Difficult times, I- I've found, are really what determine- JEANNE: Mm.

KATE: ...the trajectory of our career, and our lives.

And it's the tough times that really- and how we react to them.

That really, ultimately, end up determining our path.

I'm just wondering, can you take me to a- a tough moment?

JEANNE: 2008, the financial crisis.

The first thing people did was stop construction and stop planning buildings.

It was a really, really, immediate... KATE: Was that during Aqua?

JEANNE: The developer told me if we would've started one month later in the construction, this would've been stopped.

But it was just, you know, far enough along that it made it through.

JEANNE: Oh wow.

KATE: You can smell the caramelized onions.

JEANNE: Mm-hmm.

This is the tarte Tatin.

KATE: And it looks spectacular.

JEANNE: It does.

KATE: Wow.

It looks great.

And mushrooms.

And blueberries.

JEANNE: Mm.

KATE: And shavings of truffle.

Wow.

JEANNE: It looks...

It's- it's a work of art.

(laughs) KATE: This is your favorite restaurant.

JEANNE: It actually looks like a building, in a way.

KATE: It does.

How does this kind of creativity inform your own work?

JEANNE: Well, I'm a really big fan of craft, and how things are put together and made, and how they are... Everything from the ingredients, like what we work with in architecture, to like that final details of this in this experience, that is sensory and- KATE: Yes.

The smell.

The sight.

The visual.

How it's put on the plate.

JEANNE: So it's kind of a mini version of- of making a building... special.

KATE: We always tell kids to follow their passion, right?

To kind of get a sense of what they're good at, and go after it.

And what I'm hearing from this conversation with you, is that one path wasn't enough.

JEANNE: Mm-hmm.

KATE: It wasn't enough that you were just good at mathematics.

It wasn't enough that you liked to build things, whether it was a fort or... something with the snow and ice, and an ice castle.

That you combined all of your interests for this career.

JEANNE: Yeah, hm.

KATE: So sometimes it's okay to be really good at two, what seemingly divergent paths.

JEANNE: It- I think that's a good point, but also just to realize you can design your own career.

'Cause the- the model for what an architect was supposed to be, it didn't exactly fit me.

Like the way that it was set up.

And I just followed what I was interested in.

So nature, and you know, materials, and, people, and habitats, and architecture is just like a medium for doing what I feel I need to do and want to do in my environment.

KATE: After the career that you've had up to this moment where do you love to walk around?

What city in the world, or what place do you just adore?

JEANNE: Well, takes me back to Paris I guess again, where, you know, I still love that city.

We now have offices in my favorite cities.

Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Paris.

(laughs) KATE: So it all goes back to Chicago, you're saying.

And you have literally been around the world and created buildings around the world.

But still Chicago, and the Chicago skyline, is one of your favorites.

JEANNE: It's Chicago's skyline, and it's Chicago's like, outer edges, where, you know, it was once a swamp.

And it was just the river.

And it's not a very old city, you know?

And so it's like, the skyline and the place itself, which is really embedded in my mind.

It's almost like a muse.

You know, I use the city to think through things, that sometimes can apply to other cities, or you know, give you a different outlook on other cities.

KATE: Oh my goodness.

JEANNE: Oh wow.

KATE: Oh my goodness.

SERVER: Profiterole here.

KATE: Oh!

SERVER: Lemon custard and strawberry.

KATE: Oh, that is... SERVER: And for you my dear, the chocolate fantasy.

KATE: Oh!

JEANNE: Wow, it's a- KATE: Wow.

JEANNE: It's a tower.

KATE: I think they were inspired, and also matching your love of architecture- JEANNE: Mm-hmm.

KATE: ... with their own love of architecture.

JEANNE: How can you make something that thin and structural?

KATE: Yes.

JEANNE: I need to touch it, I'm sorry.

(laughter) KATE: Wow.

JEANNE: But that's very strong material.

See what I mean?

KATE: See, that's the way you're looking at, I love it.

I'm just looking at, let's dive in.

JEANNE: I wanna break it because a lot of times, you learn about materials from breaking them.

KATE: Do it.

Let's do it, Jeanne.

JEANNE: Well, all right.

KATE: You go for it.

JEANNE: We're gonna do like this.

We're gonna put it in bending.

KATE: Okay.

JEANNE: Okay.

So there's some... Yeah.

There's a little flexibility there.

KATE: Yes.

JEANNE: And it's... And it's sticky, which is... KATE: And you can see the other part fold... KATE: ...

When that piece went down.

(both laughing) KATE: This is turning into an architecture lesson!

Our dessert!

Oh, that is so beautiful.

JEANNE: Wow, okay.

Now we can eat, now we can eat.

JEANNE: Mm-hmm, this is amazing.

KATE: So are you thinking about legacy when you build buildings?

Or does that not even enter into your thought as you lead Studio Gang, and think about your legacy as an architect?

JEANNE: Well to the extent that any building is a legacy, and you know, we would be better off if our buildings lasted longer, all of our buildings lasted longer.

It's really a waste if they just get- KATE: Right.

JEANNE: ...you know, torn down so fast.

So yes to be enduring, yes to be significant, but not to the extent that I'm afraid to experiment, and fail.

KATE: So when people hear the name Jeanne Gang what do you want them to think?

JEANNE: Architect.

Great architect, hopefully.

Someone who's very passionate about environment and sustainability, and equity and thinks about things differently for the benefit of all, I hope.

KATE: That meal is a tough act to follow.

But just a few miles from our lunch is one of Studio Gang's projects that really highlights Jeanne's passion for the environment.

It's not a skyscraper or cultural center.

It's the Nature Boardwalk at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Studio Gang redesigned the century old public space in 2010, increasing the depth of the pond for wildlife and adding the unique honeycomb pavilion, the perfect spot to take in nature and the city at the same time.

KATE: This is just so beautiful, It's almost like you've put a picture frame around the city of Chicago.

JEANNE: Yeah, it really... it is about setting a relationship between the city and this nature, which is really biodiverse nature as you can tell all around you, and seeing how close you can get the two together.

KATE: It looks like a honeycomb.

JEANNE: The honeycomb pavilion, yeah.

Really made of bent wood lamellas curving in two directions.

These, pieces were all prefabricated, and it was all installed in about five days.

KATE: Oh wow.

JEANNE: The whole idea of this place was to, you build it and they will come.

And not just people, but the animals.

KATE: Yes.

JEANNE: So with the habitat, making the right attractive things to- to draw, insects, pollinators, birds, bats, bees, and mammals too.

And to have this setting right here so close to the downtown skyline is amazing.

JEANNE: I call it also like, a zoo without cages.

KATE: Mm.

JEANNE: The- the animals are voluntarily coming, and then people are here too, and learning, and being engaged with their environment.

It's really...it's an incredible place in Chicago.

KATE: Thank you for creating it.

Really.

As a citizen of Chicago, thank you.

JEANNE: I just did the first step, but...(laughing) I think everyone else did the rest.

KATE: What a meal in Chicago with Jeanne Gang.

Jeanne is a testament to what is possible with hard work, talent, and insatiable curiosity.

She listens carefully, and cares deeply about the environment and the world around her, and then lets that passion inform her work profoundly.

She's a study in not letting gender or the way things have always been done affect the way she envisions the future.

Soft spoken and humble, make no mistake, Jeanne is a towering force.

As real and as imposing as the skyscrapers she creates is the legacy she is leaving on modern day architecture.

KATE: If you would like to know more about the guests, the restaurants, and the inspiring stories of success, please visit todinefortv.com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram at To Dine For TV.

We also have a podcast, To Dine For the podcast is available on apple podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

To Dine For with Kate Sullivan is made possible by... ♪ ANNOUNCER: There are people in your life who count on you for what matters most.

American National agents are close to home and committed to our communities.

They'll help you find the right coverage for you, your family, even your farm and business.

You can learn more at americannational.com.