Vonn Weisenberger is a designer and social justice advocate who combines his expertise and enthusiasm with a deep appreciation for the importance of working collaboratively. He works across the fields of planning, architecture, and design with one focus — improving and celebrating public life for all.
I utilize my wide range of skills to impact all areas of design — from concept to construction — at multidisciplinary firms including SKOLNICK, Rockwell Group, and Pure+Applied. I have made significant contributions to a range of projects in the areas of planning, architecture and interiors, exhibitions, furniture and products, signage and wayfinding, and print and digital graphics.
My focus is on civic and cultural projects for the public good, practicing design that empowers diverse audiences to explore vital stories, create and activate meaningful spaces, and enrich community life. I combine my expertise and enthusiasm with a deep appreciation for the importance of working collaboratively, and developing project- and site-specific solutions.
Currently
I live in Brooklyn, NY and am working as an intermediate designer at SKOLNICK Architecture + Design Partnership. I work with both the firm's architecture and exhibit teams and am also a member of the DEI planning committee. I'm also a mentor for architecture students at Penn State, part of the Social and Environmental Justice working group for US Architects Declare, and working with the Design Advocates.
Selected Clients
I have worked with many notable cultural and civic institutions including Columbia University, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, London Children’s Museum, New York University, The Barnes Foundation, The Brooklyn Historical Society, The Library of Congress, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, The Museum of the City of New York, The National Building Museum, and The New York Public Library.
Contact
Current Stats
Number of Plants: 97
Number of Cats: 2
Number of 30 Rock Rewatches: 12
Awards, News, and Articles
06.22.2021
Los Angeles Has a Housing Crisis. Can Design Help?
"Winners produced various examples of what better can look like. A proposal by a Brooklyn-based architect, Vonn Weisenberger, pictured a suite of gabled, green-roof buildings with prefab cores and modular apartments sharing a shaded courtyard. The design mixes vernacular allusions to the old bungalow court and to Cliff May’s classic ranch houses." Read more.
06.14.2021
Exhibition Opening: Jack, Larger than Life
Jack, Larger than Life is an intimate portrait of creator-collector Jack Lenor Larsen (1927-2020). His innovative textiles are presented side by side with his various "enthusiasms," the objects of craft and art he assiduously gathered, as well as the clothing he collected and wore. I worked with the team at SKOLNICK Architecture + Design Partnership to design the exhibit, which opens at the LongHouse Reserve on June 26th, 2021. Read more.
05.20.2021
Christopher Hawthorne Discusses the Results of the “Low-Rise Housing Ideas for Los Angeles” Competition
Christopher Hawthorne and a selection of jurors involved in the competition will speak about the results and their impressions of the work submitted. My submission, California Branch Housing, was awarded 1st place in the competition. View details on the virtual event here and watch the recording here.
05.17.2021
Column: An architectural competition imagines density — done in an L.A. way
"Another, by New York-based designer Vonn Weisenberger, uses a pair of adjacent corner lots to accommodate at least three comfortably scaled bungalows and a corner store — all in an architectural style inspired by Cliff May, the 20th century California designer who helped pioneer the ranch house." Read more.
05.17.2021
L.A.’s Modest Solution to the ‘Missing Middle’ Housing Problem
"The winner of the “Corners” category, which looks at how to densify corner lots in low-rise residential neighborhoods, is Vonn Weisenberger’s “Branch-style” home, a play on the California Ranch that joins two lots with a community center for multi-generational living." Read more.
05.17.2021
Los Angeles Has a Plan to Disarm the NIMBYs
"The Corners winner, by Brooklyn-based architect Vonn Weisenberger, proposes adaptable units in a flexible pattern that preserves existing trees. Those buildings enclose a central courtyard for residents in the style of an old bungalow court; they also contain street-facing, ground-floor commercial or community space, which has long been banned from most residential blocks in Los Angeles." Read more.
05.17.2021
These Winning Low-Rise Designs Are a Blueprint for Better Housing—and Better Living—in Los Angeles
"Vonn Weisenberger’s submission, California Branch-style Housing, placed first in Corners, which challenged participants to create a design that includes six to ten units and an accessory retail unit across a combination of neighboring lots that include a corner." Read more.
05.17.2021
Los Angeles Announces Winners to Open Design Low-Rise Challenge
"For Corners, the top-prize recipient was Brooklyn-based Vonn Weisenberger. His “Branch House” evokes the laid-back, outdoor-oriented character of California Ranch style and such classic Los Angeles typologies as the bungalow court." Read more.
05.17.2021
Winners announced in Low-Rise: Housing Ideas for Los Angeles design challenge
"The results are in: Launched last November, the Low-Rise: Housing Ideas for Los Angeles design challenge, a free-to-enter ideas competition organized by the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Chief Design Officer for the City of Los Angeles, Christopher Hawthorne, now has a roster of winning concepts." Read more.
05.16.2021
A Less Atomized, More Communitarian Los Angeles? Low-Rise Winners Point the Way
"In the Corners category, which assumes that neighboring property owners can combine their lots to build 6–10 apartments, the young Brooklyn architect Vonn Weisenberger took first place with a design inspired by the ranch-style houses of Cliff May but updated for a less atomized and more communitarian future." Read more.
05.16.2021
California Branch Housing wins 1st Place in Low-Rise: Housing Ideas for Los Angeles
My proposal for a new model of affordable and sustainable low-rise, multi-unit housing in Los Angeles was awarded first place in the ideas competition! View my submission and see the other winners here.
