richard meier celebrates his 50th year practicing architecture

richard meier: 50 years of architectureportrait: 475 10th avenue officeimage © richard phibbs

‘to be an architect has been a life-long dream. little did I know when asked at the age of 14 “what do you want to do when you grow up?” I said I wanted to be an architect. after 50 years I am still learning all what that means. working together with so many people has been enormously gratifying. being an architect means being a member of a fantastic team.’

– richard meier

few architects get the privilege to celebrate the golden anniversary of a long and prolific career in architecture. this year, noted american architect richard meier joins the ranks of the few who have maintained a thriving career for half a century and impacted so many peopleall around the world. known for his stark white projects, meier labors through a strenuous process to create carefully detailed structures that manipulate and celebrate natural light with careful regards to its surroundings. after receiving his education in cornell university,he went on to open his own firm in 1963 in new york from which he would complete some of his most recognized works today: the getty center in los angeles; the jubilee church in rome, italy; the high museum of art in atlanta, georgia; perry and charles street condominiums in new york, new york; the canal+ television headquarters in paris, france; and the museum of contemporary art in barcelona, spain.

since then, meier has received the prestigious pritzker prize in 1984, the AIA (american institute of architects) gold medal and the praemiumimperiale from japan both in 1997, 30 national AIA awards and over 50 regional AIA awards, a medal of honor from the new york chapter ofthe AIA in 1980 and a gold medal from the los angeles chapter in 1998, as well as the royal gold medal from the royal institute of british architectsin 1989. throughout his lifetime he has become a fellow for of the royal institute of british architects and the american institute of architects,he has been honored as the commander of arts and letters by the french government in 1992, and elected fellow to the american academy of arts and sciences in 1995. he has also received honorary degrees from several acclaimed universities around the world including the university of naples, new jersey institute of technology, the new school for social research, pratt institute, the university of bucharest, and north carolina state university.

the jubilee church, rome italyimage © scott frances

richard meier & partners architects, as the firm is internationally recognized today, shows no signs of slowing down. their repertoire of work isinstantly recognizable around the world, and include projects such as the bodrum houses in turkey, the shenzhen clubhouse, the jesolo lido condominium in italy, and the US embassy in london.

in order to recognize his long standing career, his practice has organized a series of events illustrating his work and process. currently at the arp museum, ‘richard meier: building as art’ is exhibiting his entire work history. in addition, he will be giving a series of lectures in los angeles,new york city, and italy to talk about his more recent projects.

the shenzhen clubhouseimage © roland halbe