Doris Duke

She returned in August as a featured guest of Indigenous Enterprise.

In 2024, she was awarded the Doris Duke Artist Award.

In summer 2026, Akasia Redilk performed on the Henry J. Lear stage.

My archival scholarship and practice has been inspired by Indigenous ways of knowing, and so it was an honor to be able to record Akasiyah Red Elk's stories.

Separation leads to war and conflict.

And so we do have a responsibility.

And when I won the Doris Duke Award in 2024, which was...

I'll get into that in a second.

Danielle holds a Master of Architecture from Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Miami University, where she has also served as a visiting studio professor.

The project we're talking about today is the Doris Duke Theater at Jacob's Pillow in Beckett, Massachusetts.

But before we get started, don't forget to take a look at the project photos and drawings as you listen along.

You can click the link in our show notes or visit www.rcat.com slash podcast.

The new Doris Duke Theater at Jacob's Pillow replaces the original venue, which was destroyed by fire in 2020, with a contemporary performance space that preserves the warmth and intimacy of its predecessor.

Designed to support dance, education, and creative collaboration, the theater draws on indigenous design principles to strengthen its connection to the site and the community.

First of all, the site is absolutely spectacular.

And it really transformed from that into this incredible center for dance.

So, if you like your coffee hot but your bones chilled, sit back and start your day with a morning cup of murder.

Doris Duke was born on November 22, 1912, in New York City to tobacco and hydroelectric power tycoon James Buchanan Duke and his second wife, Nanalene Holt Inman.

Their only child, she spent her entire childhood on her father's 2,700-acre estate in New Jersey.

known as Duke Farms, and after his death in 1925, she and her mother inherited the majority of his $60 to $100 million estate, roughly $1 to close to $2 billion in today's money, as well as an additional $17 million, meaning that in addition to being a debutante from a very well-known family, from whom Duke University was named, She was now being referred to as the world's richest girl.

An exotic public display, she situated the elaborate greenhouses on Duke Farm and created 11 interconnected gardens that all had a theme designed by Doris based on her extensive international travels.

Working hard on these installations, the truly magnificent spectacle was a source of great pride and amongst the largest botanical displays in America.

This was all in addition to a few opulent real estate holdings, art acquisitions, and other large purchases, like a Boeing 737, to travel back and forth, purchased by Doris Duke during her lifetime with the seemingly endless pool of her wealth.

She had an incredible life, a life that many could only dream about, and though she had more money than she knew what to do with and spent it well, she also gave it to causes that meant something and helped many in need.

There you go.

Well, I thought since we're here in Doris Duke's mansion, and it's almost 60 years to the day of a famous death here at the mansion, that we might chat about that.

Do you

know anything about

Well, at first, you know, and I can fill in the blanks if you can.

Go ahead.

Why don't you tell everybody a little bit about Doris Duke and who she was, known as the richest girl in America, right?

Right, right.

The goal is to look like a person with a private world, not like a person whose landlord is assembling a case against you.

And then we have a counterpoint, Doris Duke.

Doris inherited a massive tobacco fortune.

She could have spent her life in conventional high society, but instead she pursued curiosity.

She didn't just buy beautiful things.

She studied a subject and built an environment that reflected her particular fascination.

Doris Duke reminds us that resources can help a person pursue an obsession deeply enough for it to become a body of knowledge.

Her eccentricity wasn't simply being strange.

...

Doris Duke, The Poor Little Rich Girl.

I, uh, you're right.

All of a sudden Howard's praising Sea Morning Zoo guys.