Summary

Robert A. M. Stern: Buildings is the first monograph to focus solely on more than fifteen years of the firm's nonresidential work. Divided thematically, it contains over thirty projects, each thoroughly documented with extensive photography and drawings. The introduction to the book, as well as those to each section, is an unusually personal essay, discussing Stern's education in the era of functionalist Modernism, his efforts to further and even to reestablish traditions, and the social, cultural, and symbolic obligations that must inform all successful buildings. Highlights include the just-completed Colgate Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and the William H. Gates Computer Science Building at Stanford University, as well as a series of commissions for the Walt Disney Company. Other notable works are the Ohrstrom Library at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire; the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, New York.

Author Biography

Robert A. M. Stern, the principal partner of the architectural practice he founded in 1969, is also dean of the Yale School of Architecture. In addition to monographs on the firm's work, Stern has written a series of books on New York's architecture and urbanism, including New York 1880, New York 1900, New York 1930, and New York 1960.

Introduction	p. 7
Architects' Office, New York, New York	p. 12
Center for Jewish Life, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey	p. 16
Spruce Lodge, Colorado	p. 22
Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge, Massachusetts	p. 30
Residence in River Oaks, Houston, Texas	p. 34
Columbus Regional Hospital, Columbus, Indiana	p. 40
Town Square - Wheaton, Illinois	p. 46
Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, New York	p. 50
Anglebrook Golf Club, Somers, New York	p. 56
House at Apaquogue, East Hampton, New York	p. 58
Kiawah Beach Club, Kiawah Island, South Carolina	p. 64
Greenbrier at West Village Golf Resort, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan	p. 70
Residence in the Midwestern United States	p. 78
Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, New York	p. 84
Celebration, Florida	p. 90
Residence in Starwood, Aspen, Colorado	p. 98
Feature Animation Building, The Walt Disney Company, Burbank, California	p. 106
Colgate Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia	p. 116
Red Oaks, Cohasset, Massachusetts	p. 124
Nanki-Shirahama Golf Clubhouse, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan	p. 130
Gap Embarcadero Building, San Francisco, California	p. 132
Residence, Kings Point, New York	p. 136
Aspen Highlands, Aspen, Colorado	p. 138
William Gates Computer Science Building, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California	p. 140
Residence at Skimhampton, East Hampton, New York	p. 148
Residence, Telluride, Colorado	p. 150
Residence in Beverly Park, Beverly Hills, California	p. 152
Additions to Points of View, Seal Harbor, Maine	p. 154
42nd Street Now!, New York, New York	p. 160
East Hampton Library, East Hampton, New York	p. 170
Hotel Melayu, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	p. 174
Moore Psychology Building, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire	p. 176
Disney's BoardWalk, Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida	p. 178
Residence in Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas	p. 190
Concert Hall and Museum, Karuizawa, Japan	p. 192
Celebration Health, Celebration, Florida	p. 194
Product Design	p. 202
Residence, Montecito, California	p. 206
Residence at North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada	p. 210
Smith Campus Center, Pomona College, Claremont, California	p. 212
National Advocacy Center, U.S. Department of Justice, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina	p. 214
Life Dream House	p. 216
Temple Emanu-el, Closter, New Jersey	p. 222
Math/Science Building and Library, Taft School, Watertown, Connecticut	p. 224
Porto Sauipe Marina Village, Bahia, Salvador, Brazil	p. 226
Pacific Heights Residence, San Francisco, California	p. 228
U.S. Courthouse and IRS Complex, Beckley, West Virginia	p. 230
600 Thirteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.	p. 234
Residence in Southampton, New York	p. 240
Prototypical Stores for eighteen 77	p. 242
Saigon Metropolitan Tower, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	p. 244
Navesink Residence, Middletown, New Jersey	p. 246
Residence Hall for Columbia University, New York, New York	p. 248
Residence and Guest House at Katama, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts	p. 254
U.S. Department of State Office Building Chancery, Berlin, Germany	p. 260
Newport Bay Club Convention Center, Paris Disneyland, France	p. 264
Master Plan and Addition to Knott Science Center, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland	p. 270
Bangor Public Library, Bangor, Maine	p. 272
U.S. Courthouse Annex, Savannah, Georgia	p. 278
South Campus Housing, West Quadrangle, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina	p. 280
Spring Valley Residence, Washington, D.C.	p. 286
Union Square South, New York, New York	p. 288
Yawkey Park, Boston, Massachusetts	p. 290
Tribeca Park, Battery Park City, New York, New York	p. 292
Edison Field, Anaheim, California	p. 296
Miller Field, Milwaukee, Wisconsin	p. 300
Residence on Kiawah Island, South Carolina	p. 302
Disney Ambassador Hotel, Urayasu-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan	p. 304
House at the Point, Santa Lucia Preserve, Monterey County, California	p. 306
National Storytelling Center, Jonesborough, Tennessee	p. 308
Mulholland House, Los Angeles, California	p. 310
Wellesley Office Park, Wellesley, Massachusetts	p. 312
Residence, Greenwich, Connecticut	p. 314
Residence, Denver, Colorado	p. 316
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia	p. 318
Heavenly View Ranch, Old Snowmass, Colorado	p. 320
Diagonal Mar Entertainment and Retail Center, Barcelona, Spain	p. 322
Preservation and Development Plan, Heiligendamm, Germany	p. 326
Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Houston, Texas	p. 330
New York Coliseum Site, New York, New York	p. 334
Residence, Mount Kisco, New York	p. 338
Guest House and Tennis Pavilion in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California	p. 340
Residence in Napa County, Oakville, California	p. 342
Residence, Long Island, New York	p. 344
Edgewater Apartments, West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada	p. 346
Belas Clube de Campo, Lisbon, Portugal	p. 348
Welcome Center, Give Kids the World, Kissimmee, Florida	p. 352
Tuxedo Reserve, Tuxedo, New York	p. 354
Maharani Menari Tower, Jakarta, Indonesia	p. 356
Trump St. Moritz Condominiums, New York, New York	p. 358
Office Building and Parking Garage, Yonkers, New York	p. 360
Residence at Maidstone, East Hampton, New York	p. 362
Apartment Tower at Sixty-Fifth Street and Third Avenue, New York, New York	p. 364
River Vue, Tuckahoe, New York	p. 366
The Seville, New York, New York	p. 368
South Station, Boston, Massachusetts	p. 370
Senior Community, Celebration, Florida	p. 372
Animation and Emerging Technologies Building, Sheridan College, Oakville-Trafalgar, Ontario, Canada	p. 374
Arts Center, Denison University, Granville, Ohio	p. 376
Residence, Palo Alto, California	p. 378
House for This Old House Magazine, Wilton, Connecticut	p. 380
Reforma 350, Mexico City, Mexico	p. 382
Public Library of Nashville and Davidson County, Nashville, Tennessee	p. 384
Project Information	p. 390
Illustration Credits	p. 400
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

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Excerpts

From:
Robert A. M. Stern and Paul Goldberger: A Conversation

PAUL GOLDBERGER: Bob, forty years of practice is an extraordinary thing, all the more because you continue at such a rapid pace. I remember the office over the storefront on West Seventy-second Street, which was probably smaller than your reception area is right now. Let me first ask you if there’s anything you miss from those early days when it was a kind of office on a shoestring.

ROBERT A. M. STERN: “Office on a shoestring” sums it up perfectly. What one does miss, of course, from when one is brand new in practice, is the thrill of the first or the second or the third commission or telephone call as it were. And the very close camaraderie of a few people. But there is no question that a larger office—and I’m not sure how much larger “larger” should really be—provides one with all kinds of other things and a more solid professionalism. You avoid some of the horrible mistakes that many small practices make, both technical errors in execution of the work and mistakes in terms of how to position the firm and how to write a contract and a hundred other things.

I was thinking of that, actually, as I was waiting for your arrival. Of course, it was much nicer in some ways when it was smaller and I knew everybody. And I knew them warts and all, and they knew me warts and all. Now I think they know me warts and all and I’m not sure I know them.

But there are people in our practice today who don’t go back to day one but do go back to say, day three. People who have been here thirty years or more and are now partners, and we have a close camaraderie. But of course, many others who came to the practice have become partners and associates as well.

PG: It is remarkable, though, that there are some people who really spent their entire careers here.

RS: I’m always disappointed when people leave. But I recognize that for some people, for many people, it’s a good thing to do. Find their own way. Sometimes people don’t work better in a different environment than the one they’re leaving, but they think it’s going to be better, that the grass will be greener. Sometimes, they think they’re going to be able to do it on their own, and they suddenly discover that independent practice is not for everyone or not for them. Some chose to return to the nest. But we’ve spawned a lot of firms.

PG: You know, for a while, it seemed right to compare Robert A. M. Stern Architects to a practice like Delano & Aldrich or John Russell Pope or James Gamble Rogers, great eclectic firms of the 1920s, ’30s, and so forth.

But given that they were less concerned about formal innovation than they were about careful, conscientious re-use of historical form and given the sheer volume of work you now have, larger than any of those firms, I think even in their heyday, I wonder to whom would you want to be compared, ideally?

RS: There were no really large firms in the time of the architects you mentioned, to my knowledge. None that was very large. McKim, Mead & White and Daniel Burnham set the model, but it was just the model for big practice, not the reality. It’s only since the founding of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in the late 1930s and after that the large firm taking on many different kinds of work began to emerge.

I like to think that we are able to compete with different firms for different kinds of work, that we can compete with a KPF or a Skidmore for a corporate project and other firms for other kinds of work. Maybe we’re sui generis, egomaniac though such a claim might be.

PG: We all know you are sui generis, so the question is therefore, perhaps the firm also is?

RS: We run our practice differently. First of all, we run side by

Excerpted from Robert A. M. Stern: 1993-1998 by Robert A. M. Stern
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.