Alison Von Glinow, AIA is an architect and co-founder of Kwong Von Glinow, a Chicago-based architecture practice. Kwong Von Glinow’s work draws on familiar architectural elements to create designs that are innovative yet accessible, blending forward-thinking concepts with familiar and identifiable forms. The practice’s optimistic and exploratory approach focuses on designing inventive living environments, cultural and institutional spaces, urban public environments, and contemporary workplaces.
Notable completed projects include: Ardmore House, which received the 2021 AIA Chicago Small Projects Honor Award, an AIA Chicago Distinguished Building Award, an AIA Illinois Award for Excellence in Interiors, and was published in Architectural Record as “House of the Month”; the Swiss Consulate Chicago, which received an AIA Chicago Interior Architecture Award; the renovation of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Flaxman Library which received an AIA Chicago Design Excellence Honor Award; and most recently, the Rice University School of Architecture MD Anderson Hall Renovation that received the AIA Houston Award for Restoration and Renovation.
Current projects include the renovation and expansion of a 18,000-square-foot Howard Van Doren Shaw home in Highland Park, IL; a rooftop gallery addition to a historic Chicago greystone; a three-flat with a commercial storefront in Chicago; a 10-car garage for a countryside estate; a masterplan for multi-family and senior housing for the Chinese American Service League in Bridgeport, Chicago; and, Forget-Me-Not Pavilion, a commission by the 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial to repair and re-use the 2015 Chicago Horizon Pavilion designed by Ultramoderne.
As a practice, Kwong Von Glinow has received numerous awards, including the 2022 Spotlight Award by Rice Design Alliance, an awarded grantee from the Graham Foundation, and a recipient of the 2017 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Designers. The office has been recognized by design publications that including being named as 1 of 400 creatives shaping America by Wallpaper* Magazine in 2024, named by AN Interior Magazine as a top 50 architect and design in 2024, 2022, and 2021, named a “Next Progressive” by Architect Magazine, and named in 2017 as one of the top 20 emerging practices by Wallpaper* Magazine.
Alison earned her Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design and her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College. Prior to co-found Kwong Von Glinow, Alison worked with globally recognized firms, including Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, Switzerland; SOM in Chicago and New York; Toshiko Mori Architect in New York; and Svendborg Architects in Copenhagen, Denmark. Alison is a licensed architect in Illinois. Alison is a licensed architect in Illinois. Alison has taught options design studios at Harvard University GSD, Rice University, and Princeton University.
Courses
Events
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Margaret McCurry Lectureship in the Design Arts
SHIFT: The GSD at the 6th Chicago Architecture Biennial
