Eva Maddox

Named by Fast Company as one of the “change agents… designers, & dreamers who are creating your future,” Eva L. Maddox is a principal and board member of Perkins+Will as well as the founder of the Branded Environments discipline. This unique group of design specialists utilize a research-based design approach to identify & integrate a client’s DNA into tangible brand expressions, experiences and environments.
She has provided Branded Environments services to many leaders within the corporate, education, healthcare and civic arenas, including such notable clients as DuPont, Ogilvy & Mather, Haworth, Bank of America, Northwestern University, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and the Museum of Science & Industry.

Eva received her Bachelor of Science in Design in 1966 from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Art, Architecture & Planning. She is a member of the University of Cincinnati Foundation Board of Trustees, currently serving on the Development Committee, as well as a member of DAAP’s Advisory Board for the Study of the Practice of Architecture. In 2006, Ms. Maddox was honored with a Doctorate of Fine Arts by the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees.

Eva has received numerous professional accolades and honors including Contract’s Legend Award (2011), selection as a Purpose Prize Fellow by Civic Ventures (2007 & 2008), the IIDA Pioneer in Design Award (2005), International Women’s Forum “Women Who Make a Difference” Award (2004), as well as being named “Chicagoan of the Year” by Chicago magazine (2002). The International Interior Design Association recognized her outstanding leadership and contribution to the design profession with the Leadership Award of Excellence (2000). Ms. Maddox is a member of IIDA’s College of Fellows and the Interior Design Hall of Fame.

Eva is frequently recognized for design excellence on an international basis, garnering over 100 awards to date. Her work has received the most “Big I” awards (thirteen) in the design industry. Projects are also frequently published in books and magazines, as well as featured in exhibitions such as the Art Institute of Chicago’s “Chicago Architecture: Ten Visions of the Future” (2004).

Ms. Maddox speaks regularly at many educational and professional venues, and has lectured internationally on the value of good design within society at universities in India, Bangladesh, and Holland. Most recently, Eva was one of twelve high-profile international designers selected to speak at the Doha, Qatar Design Conference, sponsored by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar and Qatar’s Ministry of Civil Service Affairs and Housing.

In 1994 Eva co-founded Archeworks, an alternative graduate design school in Chicago. The mission of this non-for-profit school is to address social needs within areas of health, education and community by providing “real life” solutions through a multi-disciplinary design process. Projects include a delivery system for AIDS medicine, learning strategies for daycare, restorative environments of Alzheimer’s patients and assistive products for many forms of disability. Each semester, Eva teaches Design Theory and Future Studies at the school.

Ms. Maddox has recently been appointed to the General Service Administration’s Design Excellence Program as a member of the National Register of Peer Professionals, a select group of leaders in the fields of architecture and design who contribute their experience to ensure that federal buildings provide enduring value in the community. As a Peer Professional, Eva will be instrumental in enhancing the quality of commissions, enabling outstanding design to create public buildings that enrich, inspire, and enlighten. Her work continues to revolutionize the design profession, and currently focuses upon the theories of multiple intelligences, alternative learning processes, sustainable and restorative spaces, as well as the integration of community and cultural interpretations within the environment.