Richard Meier

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For the American urban planner and Liechtensteiner politician, see Richard L. Meier and Richard Meier (politician).

Richard Meier
Meier in 2009
Born (1934-10-12) October 12, 1934 (age 90)
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma materCornell University
OccupationArchitect
AwardsPritzker Prize (1984)
AIA Gold Medal (1997)
PracticeRichard Meier & Partners
BuildingsBarcelona Museum of Contemporary Art
City Hall and Central Library, The Hague
Getty Center, Los Angeles
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Websitewww.richardmeier.com

Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white.[1] A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, Meier has designed several iconic buildings including the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and San Jose City Hall. In 2018, some of Meier's employees accused him of sexual assault, which led to him resigning from his firm in 2021.[2]

Early life and education

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Meier was born to a Jewish family,[3][4][5] the oldest of three sons of Carolyn (Kaltenbacher) and Jerome Meier, a wholesale wine and liquor salesman,[6] in Newark, New Jersey.[7] He grew up in nearby Maplewood,[8] where he attended Columbia High School. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University in 1957.[9]

After graduating, Meier traveled to Israel, Greece, Germany, France, Denmark, Finland, and Italy, among other places, to network with architects.[6]

Meier is also a second cousin of Peter Eisenman, an architect, theorist, and fellow member of The New York Five.

Career

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Richard Meier (1986)

In New York City, Meier worked briefly in 1959 for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, and then for three years for Marcel Breuer before starting his own firm in 1963.

In 1972, he was identified as one of The New York Five, a group of modernist architects: Meier, Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, and John Hejduk. Early in his career, Meier worked with artists such as painter Frank Stella and favored structures that were white and geometric.[1]

Meier first gained recognition for his designs for various houses, for The Atheneum, a visitors center in New Harmony, Indiana (completed 1979), and for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia (completed 1983).

Getty Center

Although Meier was an acclaimed architect for years, his design for the Getty Center, a large museum complex in Los Angeles (completed 1997), brought him an elevated level of recognition. Other notable commissions from this period include museums such as the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art in Spain (completed 1995) and the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, California (completed 1996); The Hague, The Netherlands City Hall (completed 1995) and San Jose City Hall (completed 2005); commercial buildings such as the reconstruction of City Tower in Prague, Czech Republic (completed 2008); and residential buildings such as 173 and 176 Perry Street in the West Village of Manhattan (completed 2002) and Meier on Rothschild in Tel Aviv, Israel (completed 2015).

Today, Richard Meier & Partners Architects has offices in New York and Los Angeles, with projects ranging from China and Tel Aviv to Paris and Hamburg.

Much of Meier's work builds on the work of architects of the early to mid-20th century, especially that of Le Corbusier, particularly his early work. Meier is considered to have built more using Corbusier's ideas than anyone, including Le Corbusier himself.[10] Meier expanded many ideas evident in Le Corbusier's work, particularly the Villa Savoye and the Swiss Pavilion.

His work also reflects the influences of other designers such as Mies Van der Rohe and, in some instances, Frank Lloyd Wright and Luis Barragán (without the colour).[11] White has been used in many architectural landmark buildings throughout history, including cathedrals and the white-washed villages of the Mediterranean region, in Spain, southern Italy and Greece.

The Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, included in his campaign platform a promise to tear down the large travertine wall of Meier's Museum of the Ara Pacis.[12] Alemmano had agreed with Meier to modifications including drastically reducing the height of the wall between an open-air space outside the museum and a busy road along the Tiber river. The city plans are to build a wide pedestrian area along the river and run the road underneath it. "It's an improvement," says Meier, adding that "the reason that wall was there has to do with traffic and noise. Once that is eliminated, the idea of opening the piazza to the river is a good one." The mayor's office said Alemanno hoped to complete the project before the end of his term in 2013.[13]

The new project of the underpass along the river Tevere has not progressed since then and in 2024 the area is unchanged.

Recognition

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In 1984, Meier was awarded the Pritzker Prize.[14] The jury citation declared that Meier has "created structures which are personal, vigorous, original."[15] In 2008, he won the gold medal in architecture from the Academy of Arts and Letters[16] and his work Jesolo Lido Village was awarded the Dedalo Minosse International Prize for commissioning a building.[17] Meier is a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council.[18] He was awarded the AIA Gold Medal in 1997.[19] In 2013, he was awarded the A+ Lifetime Achievement Award.[20] In 1996, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[21] In 2010, Cornell established a new professorship named for Meier.[22]

Paying tribute Meier on the occasion of his firm's 50th anniversary, the Fondazione Bisazza presented the exhibition “Richard Meier: Architecture and Design” in Vicenza, Italy.[23]

In 2014, Meier opened a 15,000-square-foot exhibition space museum at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City.[8] The space gathers much of his life's work under one roof, and replaces a much smaller version that opened in 2007 in Long Island City, Queens, and that until 2013 was open only by appointment to students and tour groups. The new venue provides room to show his own sculptures, architectural drawings and collages for the first time, and is planned to include a research library.[8]

Getty Center.

Sexual harassment accusation and resignation

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See also: MeToo movement

On March 13, 2018, The New York Times detailed allegations from women that Meier had sexually harassed or assaulted them. Meier responded by saying that he would take a leave of six months from his firm.[24] In response to the allegations and Meier's apology, his alma mater Cornell University declined his intended endowment of a named chair and instituted a review of his previous donations.[25][26] On April 6, 2018, an additional four women who formerly worked at Meier's architecture firm came forward with allegations against him. The most recent allegations dated to 2009.[27] On October 9, 2018, the firm announced that his resignation was permanent.[28]

Works

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Main pages: List of works by Richard Meier and Category:Richard Meier buildings
Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art
The Atheneum in New Harmony, Indiana, United States
Museum, 465 Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California
High Museum of Art in Atlanta
San Jose City Hall, from 4th Street

Major works by Meier include the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, the Getty Center, Meier on Rothschild, and On Prospect Park.

References

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  1. ^ a b Jodidio, Philip (2005). Architecture: Art. New York: Prestel Verlag. p. 138. ISBN 3-7913-3279-1.
  2. ^ Block, India (June 28, 2021). "Richard Meier retires and studio rebrands as Meier Partners three years after sexual harassment allegations". DeZeen.
  3. ^ Ivry, Benjamin (October 2, 2009). "Architect Richard Meier's Jewish Inspirations". Jewish Daily Forward. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  4. ^ Architectural Digest: "Q+A: ARCHITECT RICHARD MEIER" Archived July 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Interview by Henry Urbach – May 2013
  5. ^ Jewish Currents: "A Golden Age of Jewish Architects" by Abbott Gorin[permanent dead link] Spring 2015
  6. ^ a b Pranay Gupte (November 17, 2005), Lunch at The Four Seasons with: Richard Meier[usurped] New York Sun.
  7. ^ Tempest, Rone. "America's Designs on Europe Top quality U.S. architectural firms, feeling the pinch at home, are finding work in Europe-and are snapping up some of the most sought-after projects." Archived April 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Los Angeles Times, August 25, 1992. Accessed September 19, 2008. "When the Canal Plus building was under construction, Meier said he had 17 American staffers on the ground supervising the work. But the lopsided European proportion of his recent workload has concerned the silver-haired, Newark, N.J.-born architect."
  8. ^ a b c Hilarie M. Sheets (January 24, 2014), Architect Goes Home, to Recall and to Work The New York Times.
  9. ^ Fiell, Charlotte; Fiell, Peter (2005). Design of the 20th Century (25th anniversary ed.). Köln: Taschen. p. 459. ISBN 9783822840788. OCLC 809539744.
  10. ^ "Richard Meier | American architect". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  11. ^ "The Pritzker Architecture Prize". www.pritzkerprize.com. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  12. ^ "Rome mayor aims to tear down Richard Meier museum". U.K. Archived from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  13. ^ "Modern 'scar' housing Roman altar to be modified". France 24. April 7, 2010. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  14. ^ "Richard Meier – The Pritzker Architecture Prize". Archived from the original on January 10, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  15. ^ "Jury Citation: Richard Meier | The Pritzker Architecture Prize". www.pritzkerprize.com.
  16. ^ "Academy of Arts and Letters Announces Award Winners", Artinfo, April 17, 2008. accessdate=2008-05-19
  17. ^ "Dedalo Minosse International Prize 2008". Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  18. ^ "Senior Fellows :: DesignIntelligence". November 6, 2007. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007.
  19. ^ "Gold Medal". www.aia.org. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  20. ^ "Richard Meier: Architizer Lifetime Achievement Award Winner".
  21. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  22. ^ "New Richard Meier Professor of Architecture established | Cornell AAP". aap.cornell.edu.
  23. ^ Ellie Stathaki (May 17, 2013), Richard Meier exhibition and installation at Fondazione Bisazza Wallpaper.
  24. ^ Robin Pogrebin (March 13, 2018). "5 Women Accuse the Architect Richard Meier of Sexual Harassment". The New York Times.
  25. ^ Hadley Keller (March 14, 2018). "Cornell Refuses Gift from Richard Meier". Architectural Digest.
  26. ^ Amy Frearson (March 14, 2018). "Cornell severs ties with Richard Meier following harassment claims". Dezeen.
  27. ^ Robin Pogrebin (April 5, 2018). "Women Say Richard Meier's Conduct Was Widely Known Yet Went Unchecked". The New York Times.
  28. ^ Eleanor Gibson (October 9, 2018). "Richard Meier steps down following sexual harassment allegations". Dezeen.

Further reading

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Media related to Richard Meier at Wikimedia Commons

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