Robert Stern, a leader in traditional architecture and urbanism
Robert A.M. Stern, who was highly influential in the movement to restore urbanism to America, died Thanksgiving Day at the age of 86.
Stern was one of only 20 winners of the Athena Medal, given by CNU to those who have “cast a lasting and enduring influence on the practice and thought of New Urbanism.” Stern’s “forte is combining historical styles with contemporary contexts and successfully melding buildings with their surroundings,” CNU observes.
In awarding the 2007 medal, Andres Duany said of Stern: “He combines impeccable academic credentials with brilliant administration and first-rate design. At Yale, he navigated the treacherous waters, making it possibly the only truly open-minded architecture school in the world. He’s also fostered a practice of excellence and groomed the next generation. These achievements and qualities are all too rare.”
Robert A.M. Stern Architects, based in New York City, has been a long-time leader in US traditional architecture. The Washington Post reported that Stern was “one of the most prolific architects of the past 60 years, whose historically detailed buildings conferred gravitas on individuals and institutions.”
The late, eminent architectural historian Vincent Scully—who taught Stern at Yale in the 1960s—credited Stern with helping to lead American architecture out of an ideological Modernist period, sometimes risking the wrath of the profession’s intellectual leaders. In a 1994 City Journal article called “Urban Architecture Awakens from a Bad Dream,” Scully reported that “Stern was (Robert) Venturi’s first backer outside of Philadelphia. He dragged me, protesting, down to Philadelphia to see Venturi’s work in 1964 or so. … When Stern himself came to design, he based his work very closely on the Shingle Style. Then he took that idea of using the vernacular and projected it one step more, in what I think is almost his most important project: his Subway Suburb for the South Bronx of 1976.” From early in his career, Stern was an urbanist as well as an architect, and the two disciplines informed each other.
In the 1970s, Stern became an outspoken proponent of postmodernism, “on his path toward what he called ‘modern traditionalism:’ an architecture fit for contemporary use but informed by time-tested precedent,” notes Architectural Record. “Stern’s efforts were not without benefit—especially in the long term. It was work for the Walt Disney Company, then led by CEO Michael Eisner, that allowed the firm to grow from a small coterie of former students to a larger, more-established practice.” In that capacity, Stern was hired along with Cooper Robertson to plan Disney’s Town of Celebration in 1994. Although highly controversial, Celebration brought New Urbanism to a wider audience.
Robert A.M. Stern Architects has designed a number of well-known buildings, including the 973-foot Comcast Center in Philadelphia. Unusual among Stern Projects, it is a modernist glass tower, yet elegantly proportioned, situated over the city’s major downtown transit hub and employing sophisticated street-level urban design. “But it was 15 Central Park West (2008), for brothers Arthur and William Zeckendorf, that set a new benchmark for luxury apartment houses in New York and around the globe,” states Architectural Record.
Stern was a prolific writer and academic, serving as dean of the Yale School of Architecture from 1998 to 2016. He won the Seaside Prize in 1999 and the Driehaus Prize in 2011, the most noted award in traditional and classical architecture and urbanism.
His firm was recognized four times by the CNU Charter Award jury from 2006 to 2019. One winner, the UConn Hartford campus, combined new and restored traditional buildings to define streets and public spaces. “The campus is designed to contribute to the revitalization of Adriaen’s Landing, a 30-acre area at the easternmost part of downtown, by locking into adjacent commercial development and developing synergistic relationships with nearby cultural institutions,” according to the project team.
The Upper King Street Gateway project combines Courier Square and the Line Street Development, totaling 3.6 million square feet in Charleston, South Carolina. Noteworthy for its strikingly well-detailed mid-rise traditional architecture in a City with loads of good historical architecture, Upper King Street Gateway won a Charter Award in 2019.
CNU’s President Mallory Baches summed up Stern’s impact: “It is difficult to overstate his influence on our understanding of cities and the buildings within, and we are thankful for his wisdom and the passion for the built environment which he leaves as a lasting legacy.
“... He authored numerous books, including New Directions in American Architecture (1969; revised edition, 1977); George Howe: Toward a Modern American Architecture (1975); and Modern Classicism (1988). His particular interest in the development of New York City's architecture and urbanism can be seen in the books he co-authored: New York 1900, (1983); New York 1930, (1987); New York 1960 (1995); and New York 1880, (1999).
“... Never one to shy away from a debate, CNU will warmly remember the way that Bob challenged our movement to think more critically about our built work, and recognize the excellent examples he set for us throughout his portfolio including the 2019 Charter Award winning project: Upper King Street Gateway in Charleston SC.”
