Top female Architects

Architect Jeanne Gang's best-known work is Aqua, an 82-story high-rise draped in undulating concrete balconies near Millennium Park in Chicago. less

Architect Jeanne Gang's best-known work is Aqua, an 82-story high-rise draped in undulating concrete balconies near Millennium Park in Chicago.

Photo: Steve Hall (c) Hedrich Blessing In this Sept. 14, 2011, photo provided Sept. 19, 2011 by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Jeanne Gang, 47, an architect focusing on the geographic, social and environmental factors of residential, educational and commercial buildings, poses for a photo in Chicago. Gang is one of 22 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius grants." (AP Photo/John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Jean-Marc Giboux) MANDATORY CREDIT lessIn this Sept. 14, 2011, photo provided Sept. 19, 2011 by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Jeanne Gang, 47, an architect focusing on the geographic, social and environmental ... morePhoto: Jean-Marc Giboux, AP The Aqua, designed by Jeanne Gang in Chicago, Illinois. less

The Aqua, designed by Jeanne Gang in Chicago, Illinois.

Photo: Raymond Boyd Architect Jeanne Gang's The Aqua at Lakeshore East Condominiums, in Chicago, Illinois.
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Architect Jeanne Gang's The Aqua at Lakeshore East Condominiums, in Chicago, Illinois.

Photo: Raymond Boyd The Aqua, designed by Jeanne Gang, is seen from the Nichols Bridgeway in Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois. less

The Aqua, designed by Jeanne Gang, is seen from the Nichols Bridgeway in Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois.

Photo: Raymond Boyd The unusual Aqua Tower designed by Jeanne Gang, Chicago, Illinois. less

The unusual Aqua Tower designed by Jeanne Gang, Chicago, Illinois.

Photo: Amanda Hall Architect Jeanne Gang's Aqua Tower, in Chicago, Illinois.
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Architect Jeanne Gang's Aqua Tower, in Chicago, Illinois.

Photo: Raymond Boyd The Aqua, designed by Jeanne Gang, is seen from the Nichols Bridgeway in Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois. less Photo: Raymond Boyd Architect Jeanne Gang's The Aqua at Lakeshore East Condominiums, in Chicago, Illinois.
less Photo: Raymond Boyd In this 2011 photo Jeanne Gang, an architect focusing on the geographic, social and environmental factors of residential, educational and commercial buildings, is seen at her studio in Chicago.
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In this 2011 photo Jeanne Gang, an architect focusing on the geographic, social and environmental factors of residential, educational and commercial buildings, is seen at her studio in Chicago.

Photo: Jean-Marc Giboux, AP Photo of Jeanne Gang.
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Photo of Jeanne Gang.

Photo: Paul L. Merideth, SFC

Even as development crews work on more than half a dozen towers downtown, more are in the works - and one may be designed by America's best-known female architect.

The local office of developer Tishman Speyer confirmed Thursday that it has hired Chicago's to design a tower on one of the city-owned lots near the future home of the Transbay Transit Center. Beyond that, details are sketchy as can be.

Still, it's provocative news for a skyline where much of what is going up seems interchangeable. Gang's best-known work is Aqua, 82 stories near Millennium Park in Chicago draped in undulating concrete balconies that reach out as far as 12 feet - an effect likened to "vertical topography" on the website of her firm, Studio Gang.

"We have engaged Jeanne Gang and think she's fantastic, ", managing director of Tishman Speyer's San Francisco office, said in a phone message left in response to an inquiry from The Chronicle. "We're very excited about this."