When New York City’s Rainbow Room closed in 2009 due to the economic recession, everyone reluctantly felt the end of an era. The iconic, swanky destination atop Rockefeller Plaza favored by celebrities and high-profile night owls will be opening again just in time to host the Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation Gala Dinner honoring architectural greats David Adjaye and Phyllis Lambert. When Monday, September 29, arrives and the exclusive gala takes place, it will be just a few days shy of the Rainbow Room’s 80th birthday, October 3, 1934.

The Rainbow Room

Each year the foundation celebrates Sir John Soane’s singular contributions as an architect and educator by bestowing Soane Foundation Honors on remarkable professionals and collaborators who are ardent public advocates for excellence in architecture, design, architectural education or conservation, and are influential transformers in their fields.

Sir Peter Westmacott, British Ambassador to the United States, will host the dinner and this year’s gala co-chairs are Michael Boodro, editor in chief of Elle Décor, and architect Robert A.M. Stern.

David Adjaye and Phyllis Lambert

David Adjaye OBE is a London-based architect whose eponymous firm is currently on the global stage for its design of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. David Adjaye Associates is also greatly admired for the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo (2005) and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver (2007), among an array of other civic, commercial and residential commissions around the world. Adjaye recently completed an affordable housing complex in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem, as well as introducing his first line of furniture for Knoll.

Phyllis Lambert, CC, FRAIC, Hon. FRIBA, has been a driving force in architecture since the 1950s when, as Director of Planning for the Seagram Building, she chose the pioneering modern master Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as architect for the project. Lambert, an author, urban activist and licensed architect, is Founding Director Emeritus of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal. She is the subject of the 2007 documentary film Citizen Lambert: Joan of Architecture. On June 7, Lambert was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

A reception will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, September 29, and dinner will follow at 8:00 p.m. with a black tie dress code. Tickets start at $700. For additional information or to purchase tickets call 212-223-2012 or send an email.