Focus:
Built Environment and Visual Culture
Hilary Lewis is a specialist in a range of built environment and cultural topics: architecture, urban planning, real estate, economics, art and visual culture. She examines and consults on the challenges confronting the 21st-century city and the visual world. Today, Lewis is especially focused on how technology is transforming these fields. She has produced books, articles, magazines, exhibitions and other media as an author, on-screen commentator, curator, editor and publisher.
She contributes to several institutions on the board level. Lewis is member of the Board of Directors of the CINTAS Foundation, the Association of MIT Alumnae (AMITA), and the MIT Architecture Alumni (MITArchA), where she is currently Co-President of the board. She also sits on the Advisory Board of US Modernist.
Lewis has served as a consultant to Hines, the international real estate firm founded by Gerald D. Hines and known for its dedication to design excellence in commercial development. She has also worked with Rafael Viñoly Architects, Mitchell Giurgola Architects, the Gund Partnership and HOK, among other architectural and real estate organizations. She has an ongoing relationship with Gavekal, an independent economic research and asset allocation strategy firm that advises institutional investors.
For years, she served as the Chief Curator & Creative Director at The Glass House, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the former home of architect Philip Johnson. There she oversaw the programming, exhibitions and creative output of the organization in its commitment to art, architecture, culture and design. Additionally, she led the institution's curatorial department and the site's substantial art collection, which primarily features American 20th-century works by renowned figures such as Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol.
From 2003 until 2023, Lewis was part of the creative team that launched four different magazines on architecture and design in South Florida, two of which were acquired by Bonnier Corporation. In that capacity, she served on the editorial boards and both contributed to and edited these publications (HOME Miami, HOME Fort Lauderdale, Tropic and Island).
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. With Philip Johnson, she produced two books and numerous projects from essays to exhibitions.
In addition to her research, consulting and writing, Lewis is a skilled public speaker. She has addressed 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.