Lewis received her bachelor's degree in architecture from Cooper Union in 1976.
[2] Following her prestigious achievement she was employed at Richard Meier's office from 1977–78, followed by six years at I.M.
[3] In 1993 she became the first female architect to be appointed to the full-time faculty at Cooper Union.
[7] Lewis's built work was limited mostly to interior design most notably the "studiolo" she created for her fellow architects Mark Wigley and Beatriz Colomina.
[8] Lewis is the author of numerous books,[9] including; "Diane Lewis: Inside Out: Architecture New York City" (Charta 2006) which also incorporates contributions by the architects Richard Meier and Anthony Vidler as well as the historian Daniel Sherer and the artist Carl Andre co.[10]