[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 59 (Thursday, April 12, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO BRENDA LEVIN--28TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT WOMAN OF THE YEAR

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                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 12, 2018

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Women's History Month. Each 
year, we pay special tribute to the contributions made by our nation's 
women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making 
a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a 
remarkable woman, Brenda Levin of Los Feliz, a unique neighborhood of 
Los Angeles, California.
   Born in New Jersey, Brenda Levin lived on the East Coast until she 
was 30 and never expected to leave. After studying graphic design at 
Carnegie Mellon and earning her undergraduate degree at New York 
University, she worked for a few years before returning to school to 
earn a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University's Graduate 
School of Design in 1976. There she met her future husband, David Abel, 
who was determined to go west and convinced Brenda there would be more 
opportunities for women in male-dominated fields such as architecture. 
Her first job in California was working with prominent residential 
architect John Lautner on his design of a Palm Springs house for 
entertainer Bob Hope.
   From that day forward, Ms. Levin has touched the historic and 
cultural spirit and complexity of Los Angeles, significantly shaping 
the city skyline as we know it. For over 20 years her architecture and 
urban planning firm, Levin & Associates Architects, has pioneered, in 
collaboration with innovative developers, the process of historic 
preservation by the polishing the riches of the city with a new sheen, 
and her success in this effort has helped to energize the preservation 
movement in Los Angeles. Among the landmarks she has helped to preserve 
and revitalize are Grand Central and Chapman markets, the Oviatt, Fine 
Arts and Bradbury Buildings, the Wiltern Theater and Los Angeles City 
Hall. In the revitalization/preservation process are the Griffith 
Observatory, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings at Barnsdall Art 
Park and the Japanese American National Museum's National Center for 
the Preservation of Democracy, among others.
   In the spring of 2000, the Boone Gallery designed by Brenda opened 
at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San 
Marino and Art, Design & Architecture Museum at the University of 
California, Santa Barbara. Ms. Levin's housing projects include the 
nationally-recognized Downtown Women's Center for mentally-ill, 
homeless women in Los Angeles and the Adams Congress affordable 
apartments in south Los Angeles.
   Ms. Levin's exceptional work has been recognized with numerous 
awards. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the 
AIA/LA selected her as recipient of the 2010 Gold Medal for her 
contributions in the preservation and revitalization movement in Los 
Angeles. In addition, in 2014, she received the Rose Award from the Los 
Angeles Parks Foundation, and in 2017, Brenda was the recipient of the 
Los Angeles Architectural Angel Award from Project Restore.
   I ask all Members to join me in honoring an exceptional, well-
respected woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Brenda 
Levin.

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