Architect Day: Richard Meier | Abduzeedo
Architect Day: Richard Meier by Marcelo Seferin on Abduzeedo.
Richard Meier’s work is easily recognized in most cases by the use of white and its uses. He established his own pattern of work, which today serves as the inspiration for great architects, forming a school of his architecture.
Photos from richardmeier.com.
Richard Meier was born in Newark, New Jersey on October 12th, 1934. He studied architecture in Cornell University, graduating in 1957.
“I believe that architecture has the power to inspire, to elevate the spirit, to feed both the mind and the body. It is for me the most public of the arts.”
Influences
After college, Meier worked in several architecture offices. In 1959, he worked briefly for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, after working for 3 years for Marcel Breuer.
In 1963 he started his own work in New York and already in 1972 was identified as one of The New York Five, together with Peter Eisenmanm, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey and John Hejduk.
Richard Meier was greatly influenced by architect Le Corbusier, using many of his ideas in his work. Mies Van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright were also extremely important for his career.
Works
Meier has a concept of designing very clear and his works are easily recognized. Over time one can see the consistency and dedication in his work which forms his philosophy in all works. His more recent works, however, show a greater refinement compared with his first projects.
Richard Meier has done countless residential projects, all with interesting variations on the theme while every solution maintaining a great aesthetic quality and functionality. In 1984 he received the Pritzker Prize, rewarding a great career and a great variety of work performed.
“White is the most wonderful color because within it you can see all the colors of the rainbow. The whiteness of white is never just white; it is almost always transformed by light and that which is changing; the sky, the clouds, the sun and the moon.”
Lambert House, New York, USA.
Smith House, New York, USA
Saltzman House, New York, USA
Bronx Development Center, New York, USA
Douglas House, Michigan, USA
Museum for the Decorative Arts, Frankfurt, Germany
Siemens Headquarters Building, Munich, Germany
The Getty Center, California, USA
Siemens Office and Research Facilities, Munich, Germany
Richard Meyer & Partners New York Office, New York, USA
Barcelona Museum of Contemporany Art, Barcelona, Spain
KNP Headquarters, Hilversum, The Netherlands
Camden Medical Centre, Singapore
Rachofsky House, Texas, USA
United States Courthouse, New York, USA
Gagosian Gallery, California, USA
United States Courthouse, Arizona, USA
Ara Pacis Museum, Rome, Italy
Jubilee Church, Rome, Italy
Tan House, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Peek & Cloppenburg Department Store, Düsseldorf, Germany
Southern California Beach House, California, USA
UCLA Eli & Edythe Broad Art Center, California, USA
Burda Museum, Baden-Baden, Germany
Joy Apartment, New York, USA
Arp Museum, Rolandseck, Germany
Malibu Beach House, California, USA
9900 Wilshire, California, USA
Tianjin Villa, Tianjin, China
On Prospect Park, New York, USA
About the author
My name is Marcelo Seferin, I’m an architect from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I’m the chief architect at Seferin Arquitetura, an office that works with architecture, interior design and sustainability projects. You can check our work at http://www.seferinarquitetura.com.br and you can follow me at twiiter http://www.twitter.com/mseferin.
