Elizabeth Whittaker is the founder and principal of Merge. She established the firm in 2003 – after working at leading architectural practices in Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles – with the aims of developing contemporary craft, reinterpreting typologies, and shaping the social ecology of place. Her design leadership and management has fostered a diverse collective in which voices and skillsets merge to produce consistently-creative and award-winning architecture. She has lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad on this work. It has also been published widely including in Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard issue, which named Merge a top ten global practice.
Elizabeth is the recipient of the AIA Young Architects Award, the Architectural League of New York ‘Emerging Voices’ Award, and Architectural Record’s 2017 ‘Next Generation Leader’ – an honor bestowed upon one female architect in the country each year. She is currently serving as an Industry Advisory Group (IAG) member for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Building Operations (OBO) overseeing architectural projects throughout the world. She has previously served on the BSA/AIA Board of Directors and Rotch Traveling Fellowship Committee. Elizabeth was recently nominated for election to the AIA College of Fellows, the American Institute of Architects’ highest honor for contributions to the profession and society.
Elizabeth received a Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) where she was recognized with the Core Studio Prize, Faculty Design Award, and John E. Thayer Award for overall academic achievement. Previously she obtained a Bachelor of Architecture in Environmental Design cum laude from North Carolina State University.
Elizabeth engages the discipline of architecture through both professional and academic service, having taught design studios at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Northeastern University, Boston Architectural College, and Harvard University’s GSD. At the GSD, she was Lead Faculty in Architecture in the summer Career Discovery Program from 2011-2015, has led Core Architecture studios since 2009, and currently holds a faculty position as Associate Professor in Practice of Architecture. In practice and pedagogy, Elizabeth advances the broad agenda of redefining the urban and social boundaries of the city.
