RICHARD MEIER

LIFE AND TIME

Place of Birth: Newark, New

Jersey in 1934

Education: Graduated from

Cornell University
in 1957
Awards:

• Numerous awards include the 1984 Pritzker Prize.

• The 1989 Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute
of British Architects,
• A Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter of the
American Institute of Architects,
• Twelve national AIA Honor Awards,
• Thirty-one New York AIA Design Awards,
and the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize for the
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Architectural practice:

• Meier graduated from Cornell University in

Ithaca, New York; his early experience included
work with the firm of Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill (SOM) in New York City and with
Marcel Breuer, a noted architect.
 PHILOSPHY
Architectural style:

• A common theme runs through Richard Meier's

striking, white designs.
• The sleek porcelain-enameled cladding and stark glass
forms have been described as "purist," "sculptural,"
and "Neo-Corbusian." Listed here are a few of his
most significant works.
• He is noted for his refinements of and variations on
classic modernist principles: pure geometry, open
space, and an emphasis on light.
Quotations:

• "We are all affected by Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd

Wright, Alvar Aalto, and Mies van der Rohe. But no
less than Bramante, Borromini, and Bernini.
Architecture is a tradition, a long continuum. Whether
we break with tradition or enhance it, we are still
connected to that past. We evolve."

• "... I think white is the most wonderful color of all,

because within it one can find every color of the
rainbow."
 MAJOR ARCHITECTURAL WORKS

• Getty Centre in Los Angeles

• City Hall and Central Library in the Hague
• Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona
• Stadthaus (Civic Exhibition and Assembly Building) in
Ulm, Germany
• Hypobank Headquarters in Luxembourg
• North American Headquarters building for Swissair in
Melville, New York
• Museum of Television & Radio in Los Angeles
 GETTY CENTER

• The Getty Center, sometimes referred to as a campus, is

comprised of six buildings: the Auditorium, North and
East Buildings, the Museum, Cafe and Research Institute
on the south and western sides of the site.
• It is also sometimes called a modern "Acropolis" since it
is spectacularly located on a 110-acre hilltop with a view
of Los Angeles and west to the Pacific Ocean.
• Because of height restrictions, much of the Getty Center is
underground and the six buildings are linked to each other
at basement levels.
• The huge complex, in memory of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty,
costed 1 billion dollars.

• Richard Meier, was awarded the commission over two

other finalists, Fumihiko Maki and James Sterling.

• Meier is known for his high tech white buildings but not
all of the buildings at the Getty Center are of white enamel
panels; some are clad in a warm beige textured travertine.

• The site is extensively landscaped, partly because Meier's

building aesthetic demands an interaction with the natural
environment and partly because the site had been
completely disturbed during construction and thus subject
to erosion.
The Courtyard
The Courtyard west end
Exterior of the Rotunda
The Interior of
the Rotunda
The Tram port
Over the Tram
Research Institute
Restaurant
 HIGH MUSEUM OF ART

• Location: Atlanta, Georgia

• Date: 1983
• Building Type: art museum
• Construction System: concrete
frame, enameled steel cladding
• Style: Modern
• Notes: curved facade to sunny
atrium
• The High Museum of Art is characteristic of Meier's
style. Like most of his buildings, it is white, clad in this
case in porcelain-enameled steel panels.

• It uses an exterior ramp (with a square archway) to focus

the eye and an interior ramp for circulation.

• The structure houses not only exhibit space and staff

offices, but an auditorium, cafe, museum shop, and other
spaces.

• The plan has been "based on three cubes occupying the

corners of a square. The building concludes toward the
fourth corner in a generously-glazed quarter circle.
The Curvature
The Front View
The Ramp
 THE ATHENEUM

• Location: New Harmony, Indiana

• Date: 1975 to 1979
• Building Type: community center
• Construction System: steel frame,
porcelain enameled cladding
• Climate: temperate
• Style: Modern
• Notes: three-dimensional play of
disciplined geometries.
• This four-story visitors' center houses
offices, a small auditorium, and exhibit
space.
• On a hill outside the historic village of
New Harmony, it is the starting point for
the tour of this utopian community.
• The brilliant white steel frame building is
clad in square (2'6") porcelain enamel
panels
Exterior Staircase
West side Exterior View
South-West side Exterior View
South side Exterior View
Interior View
 MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS

• Location: Barcelona, Germany

• Date: 1992 to 1995
• Building Type: art museum, art
gallery
• Climate: temperate
• Context: urban
• Style: Modern
• Notes: elegant gridded grids in
white.
• The main entry is paralleled by a pedestrian
passageway between the museum’s rear garden and
a newly created plaza in front of the museum.

• The main entry is framed by an overhanging screen

of planar elements and rectilinear windows,
appearing to slide past a recessed terrace in the
museum’s façade.

• A wall running through the building’s length is

sheathed with white aluminum panels, creating a
division between the entry/ circulation elements and
the main gallery spaces.
Main Entrance
Front facade
Shading devices
Detailed horizontal glass screen covering the ramp
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIOGRAPHY

• Richard Meier – Details

• Microsoft Encarta

• www.archiplanet.com
• www.wikipedia.com
• www.greatbuildingsonline.com