Film Screening and Discussion: The Space Architect

To celebrate Women’s History Month and the International Women’s Day theme of “Give To Gain,” AIANY Women in Architecture is screening The Space Architect, a documentary about the trailblazing architect Constance Adams. After earning degrees from Harvard and Yale, Adams left behind a career designing skyscrapers to focus on spacecraft and prototypes for lunar and Martian habitats. Her groundbreaking work at NASA reimagined how humans might live in outer space.

The Space Architect captures Adams reflecting on her extraordinary career and her passionate focus towards Earth, where she hoped to apply her knowledge to address the urgent challenges of the climate crisis. The film, heart-wrenching and hopeful, offers a moving meditation on a life driven by purpose and curiosity as Adams shares her vision: a design philosophy that fuses technical precision with human-centered empathy. The director, Rebecca Carpenter, documents Adams in the last chapter of her life; it is part time capsule, part manifesto, revealing a woman racing against time so that future generations might have more of it.

Deborah Berke, FAIA, Adam’s former professor at Yale, and the film’s director, Rebecca Carpenter, will join Vivian Lee, FAIA, former AIANY WIA Committee Co-Chair, in a Q&A after the film.

Speakers:
Deborah Berke, FAIA, Founder, TenBerke, Dean, Yale School of Architecture
Rebecca Carpenter, Film Director, The Space Architect
Vivian Lee, FAIA, LEED AP, Co-Chair Emeritus (2017-2023), AIANY Women in Architecture; Design Principal, Gensler

About the Speakers:
Deborah Berke began her career as an architect in 1982. Since then, she formed a partnership with Maitland Jones and Marc Leff in 2002. The firm expanded in 2019 to form the creative collective TenBerke: the team with whom she has created a distinct and lasting body of work. Berke guides the design ethos of our practice and projects. Her approach to architecture, which is informed by her pursuit of authenticity, love for the visual arts, and intellectual rigor, pervades our design processes and our projects. In July 2016, she became the first woman dean of the Yale School of Architecture, where she has been a professor since 1987. Berke has previously taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies, of which she was a fellow. In 2013 she received the first Berkeley-Rupp award, given by the University of California at Berkeley to a “distinguished practitioner or academic who has made a significant contribution to promoting the advancement of women in the field of architecture, and whose work emphasizes a commitment to sustainability and the community.” Berke received the AIA’s prestigious Topaz Award for her “nimble harmonization of education and practice” in 2022. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, member of the National Academy of Design, and a Board Member of The James Howell Foundation. Over the past two decades, Berke has also served as trustee and vice president of desigNYC, founding trustee of New York City’s Design Trust for Public Space, trustee of the National Building Museum, Chair of the Board of Advisors for the Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University, trustee of the Brearley School, and a vice president of the AIA New York Chapter.

Filmmaker Rebecca “Beck” Carpenter is a film artist known for character-driven stories that blend emotional intimacy with a sharp visual sensibility. Her work explores the quiet tensions of human connection—identity, resilience, and the moments that change us—often finding meaning in the spaces between dialogue. Her film The Space Architect centers on Constance Adams, whose work for NASA helped define what humans truly need to survive and thrive in hostile environments, from the surface of the Moon to the edges of long-duration spaceflight—and here on Earth. Guided by a lifelong love of science, Carpenter is interested in how curiosity, evidence, and informed participation shape the world we live in. She gravitates toward stories that respect the audience’s intelligence and invite engagement rather than instruction—work that opens space for questioning, conversation, and agency instead of easy answers. Outside of filmmaking, Carpenter works as a visual artist and project-based educator, designing creative experiences that are hands-on, rigorous, and genuinely fun. She believes learning should feel active, social, and a little challenging. A lifelong athlete, she brings the same appreciation for teamwork, discipline, and momentum to her creative life. Whether she’s directing, teaching, or collaborating, Carpenter’s work is grounded in trust, curiosity, and the belief that skillful, curious people make the world more interesting—and better—together.

Vivian Lee is an accomplished architect with more than 30 years of experience, translating design excellence into communities around the world. From her early life in Taiwan and Paraguay to her professional practice in the U.S., China, and Italy, Lee’s work is a boundless collection of cultures, histories, and consciousness. As Design Principal at Gensler, she leads creative vision, delivering aesthetically balanced, practical solutions that drive sustainability and human-centric spaces across commercial, residential, educational, and healthcare projects. Her passion for design is seen in her projects and her mentorship of students and emerging architects. She is the former co-chair of AIANY Women in Architecture, through which she develops programs and events to promote design and professional development, fostering women into leadership roles. Beyond her role on the AIANY Board of Directors, Lee is a frequent design juror and panelist at industry events and has served as a juror for the AIA National Latrobe Prize, a research grant that advances the architecture profession. Her exemplary design portfolio awarded her elevation to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, and in 2025, AIA recognized Lee with its highest service honor, the Edward C. Kemper Award, for her significant and impactful contributions to the profession through dedicated service to the industry. Lee’s profound influence as a mentor and her tireless advocacy for equity, diversity, and inclusion have reshaped the architectural landscape for the better.