Rebecca Macklis, BA in Architecture ’12

Rebecca Macklis, AB ‘12, is a multidisciplinary urban designer leading strategic initiatives, partnerships, and public realm advocacy at The Municipal Art Society of New York. Previously, she was the director of urban design & strategy at the New York City Public Design Commission where she worked at the intersection of design and policy, overseeing the review of complex mixed-use projects with a focus on the provisioning of public space, housing, and urban systems. Leading a portfolio of the commission’s collaborative cross-sector initiatives, she also oversaw interagency working groups for urban design, alternative project delivery, and the Annual Awards for Excellence in Design.

Macklis is the managing editor of Designing New York: Quality Affordable Housing, which received an AIA citation for design excellence, and co-author of Women-Designed NYC and Prefabrication in the Public Realm. As an Urban Design Forum Forefront Fellow for Turning the Heat, she researched the risks of extreme heat to advance public health equity and climate justice and was shortlisted for Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas.

Macklis holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Anthropology, with a minor in American Culture Studies, from Washington University in St. Louis. She currently serves as a consultant for the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project Cities Network, on Urban Design Forum’s Forefront Fund Advisory Committee, and is a mentor with ARCscholars. She has been an adjunct instructor, critic, and presented work at various institutions nationally.