In Memoriam: Nancy Ai-Tseng Miao Twitchell, FAIA (1928–2020)

Nancy Ai-Tseng Miao Twitchell, FAIA, passed away at the age of 92 on May 29, 2020. A graduate of Harvard GSD, she was one of the earliest women architects to be elected FAIA by the American Institute of Architects, held a Professorship at Pratt Institute School of Architecture for 30 years, and was on the design staff of Edward Larabee Barnes, The Architects Collaborative (TAC), Mitchell & Giurgola, and Hugh Stubbins & Associates, after starting her career as an architect for Walter Gropius. She was also a Partner in two of her own firms, Architects Design Group and Twitchell & Miao, Architects, both co-founded with her husband, Terry Twitchell (son of Ralph Spencer Twitchell, who was the Senior Partner to Paul Rudolph and a founder of the Sarasota School of Architecture).

She was a prolific designer with a tremendously varied portfolio of work. Nancy designed residential skyscrapers including Carnegie Hill Tower in Manhattan; multi-block urban college campuses like Manhattan Community College in New York City; large suburban healthcare campuses notably Broome Developmental Center in Binghamton, New York; private residences that won “Architectural Record House” awards, including the New York home of the former Corning CEO; and laboratory buildings such as the Coykendall Science Building at SUNY New Paltz.