Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white.

Early life and education

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

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

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).

thumb|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, MeierPartners 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. 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). 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. 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.

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

Recognition

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

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.

In 2014, Meier opened a 15,000-square-foot exhibition space museum at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City. 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. 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. On October 9, 2018, the firm announced that his resignation was permanent.

Works

thumb|Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art

thumb|The Atheneum in New Harmony, Indiana, United States

thumb|Museum, 465 Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California

thumb|High Museum of Art in Atlanta

thumb|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

Further reading

  • Tom Grotta (ed.): The Grotta Home by Richard Meier. A Marriage of Architecture and Craft. arnoldsche Art Publishers 2019, .
  • Frampton, Kenneth, Rykwert, Joseph: Richard Meier, Architect, Rizzoli, 1998,
  • Frampton, Kenneth: Richard Meier, Phaidon, 2012,

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  • Meier Partners
  • Richard Meier in the National Gallery of Australia's Kenneth Tyler collection
  • Official "Meier Tower" website
  • Ara Pacis Museum, Rome
  • Burda Museum website
  • Rachofsky House website
  • An appreciation of the Hague City Hall
  • Collages by Richard Meier
  • Over 100 photographs of the Richard Meier designed Rachofsky House which received AIA honor award in 2002
  • Official "Bodrum Houses" website
  • "The Surf Club" website
  • Richard Meier video at Web of Stories