Richard Meier names the Chair of the Department of Architecture at Cornell University

The chair of the Department of Architecture in Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) will bear the name of Richard Meier (B.Arch. 1956). The Richard Meier Chair of the Department of Architecture was announced by the college and by Richard Meier & Partners Architects today.

Cornell University Weill hall. Image by Scott Frances. Courtesy of Richard Meier Architects

Meier honors his training at Cornell with the endowed position. Andrea Simitch (B.Arch. '79), associate professor and chair of architecture, will be first to hold the title.

Kent Kleinman, the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of AAP, said: "Architecture at Cornell is widely recognized as the preeminent program of its kind, and Richard's renown spans every corner of the globe and has no equal. The Richard Meier Chair of the Department of Architecture at Cornell University is a match of perfection. Indeed, it seems that the department chair position, which has been unnamed since the founding of the program almost 150 years ago, has waited for just such a pairing."

Meier, whose architectural style is instantly recognizable and internationally respected, designed Weill Hall, the life sciences technology building that opened on campus in 2008. He is the only Cornellian to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered the field's highest honor.

"Richard Meier's work as an architect and an artist has inspired me profoundly over the years," Simitch said. "From the time he made an appearance in the book Five Architects (1975), where he presented an architecture that had a clarity and connected the past to the present, Meier had a way of explaining, of diagramming architecture that inspired pedagogic strategies around the world, and especially at Cornell."

The Meier family's previous support of the department's students and faculty has included the Richard Meier Assistant Professorship in Architecture for young faculty, established in 2010 (first held by Caroline O'Donnell and now Luben Dimcheff [B.Arch.'99]). Their support also includes the Richard Meier Graduate Scholarship and the Ana Meier Graduate Scholarship for promising students in the Master of Architecture program, as well as regular contributions to the Cornell Annual Fund.

"Richard Meier's support for Cornell is extraordinary," said Jan Rock Zubrow '77, chair of the Board of Trustees Executive Committee. "The board is grateful and honored that this legendary architect has given so generously of his time, wisdom, creativity, and treasure to ensure that Cornell's architecture program remains a benchmark of excellence worldwide."

Meier established his practice in New York City in 1963, and his career has included major civic commissions such as courthouses, city halls, museums, and corporate headquarters in the United States., Europe, and Asia. His most well-known projects include The Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Jubilee Church in Rome, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona. Richard Meier & Partners is currently completing various projects in Germany, Taiwan, Colombia, and Mexico.

"In the ranking of architecture schools throughout the country, Cornell invariably comes out on top in terms of undergraduate education in architecture," Meier said. "That's a wonderful thing. I think that's a great tribute to the faculty and to the chair of the department." He added that AAP "has a fairly diversified student population. They learn from other students as much as they learn from the faculty, and it creates a wonderful give-and-take throughout their education."

Meier said he valued the opportunity to take electives at Cornell while he was an architecture student, "to sort of branch out a little bit and learn things in other departments. When I was there I was in a class with [Vladimir] Nabokov in Russian literature, and Arch Dotson in the government department became a great friend." Meier designed the house that Arch and Esther Dotson (then a professor of the history of art) built in Ithaca in 1966.

In addition to the Pritzker Prize in 1984, his numerous awards include the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal in 1997, the Praemium Imperiale for lifetime achievement in the arts from the Japanese government in 1997, a Medal of Honor from the AIA New York Chapter in 1980, and a Gold Medal from the Los Angeles Chapter in 1998.

Meier is a fellow of the AIA and of the Royal Institute of British Architects, which awarded him its Royal Gold Medal in 1989. The French government named him a Commander of Arts and Letters in 1992, and he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995. He has served on the boards of trustees of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the American Academy in Rome, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which gave him the Gold Medal for Architecture in 2008.

"Architectural pedagogy at Cornell is fundamentally rooted in processes of making, and Richard Meier's creative process — one that moves freely between art and architecture, drawings and sculpture, collages and models — is one that has deeply informed that pedagogy," Simitch said. "His capacity to imagine architecture both as abstract composition and occupiable space is a continuing part of his legacy today at Cornell."

Richard Meier at a studio final review with students from Cornell University. Image courtesy of Cornell University

Portrait of Andrea Simitch. Courtesy Cornell University

Detail. Cornell University Weill hall. Image by Scott Frances. Courtesy of Richard Meier ArchitectsCornell University Weill hall. Image by Scott Frances. Courtesy of Richard Meier Architects

Detail. Cornell University Weill hall. Image by Scott Frances. Courtesy of Richard Meier Architects

Richard Meier at a studio review with students from Cornell University. Image courtesy of Cornell University

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RICHARD MEIER

Richard Meier is well known and respected around the world for his architecture and designs. He has been awarded major commissions in the United States and Europe including courthouses, city halls, museums, corporate headquarters, housing and private residences. Some of his best-known projects include The Getty Center in Los Angeles, the High Museum in Atlanta, the Frankfurt Museum for Decorative Arts in Germany, the Canal Plus Television Headquarters in Paris, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, The Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, and the Atheneum in New Harmony, Indiana.

Recognized with the highest honors available in architecture, in 1997 he received the AIA Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects as well as the Praemium Imperiale from the Japanese Government, in recognition of a lifetime achievement in the arts. In 1995, he was elected Fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received the Deutscher Architekture Preis in 1993 and in 1992 the French Government awarded him with the honor of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1989, the Royal Institute of British Architects, of which he is a Fellow, awarded him the Royal Gold Medal.

In 1984, Mr. Meier was awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, considered the field's highest honor. He was the youngest recipient of this award in the history of the prize. In the same year, Mr. Meier was selected architect for the prestigious commission to design the $1 billion Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.

Since receiving his architectural education at Cornell University, he has been awarded honorary degrees from the University of Naples, New Jersey Institute of Technology, The New School for Social Research, Pratt Institute and the University of Bucharest.

Mr. Meier has given numerous lectures throughout the world and participated in many juries. He has written and been the subject of many books and monographs and innumerable newspaper and magazine articles. In addition to being on the Board of Directors of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and the American Academy in Rome, he is also a Fellow of the French and Belgian Academies d'Architecture, and a member of the Bund Deutscher Architekten and the American Academy of Arts & Letters, from which he received the Brunner Prize for Architecture in 1976.

Mr. Meier has taught at Cooper Union, Princeton University, Pratt Institute, Harvard University, Yale University and UCLA. He currently holds the Frank T. Rhodes Class of 1956 University Professorship at Cornell University. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and received a Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter in 1980 and the Gold Medal from the Los Angeles Chapter in 1998. His numerous design awards include 29 National AIA Honor Awards and 53 Regional AIA Design Awards.

Published on: January 31, 2018

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