Renowned architect Richard Gluckman receives SU’s highest alumni honor

Renowned architect Richard Gluckman receives SU’s highest alumni honorOctober 12, 2006Sara Millersemortim@syr.edu

Nationally acclaimed architect Richard Gluckman ’70, G’71 was honored Oct. 10 with Syracuse University’s highest alumni award, the George Arents Pioneer Medal.

SU presented Gluckman with the Arents Medal at a special dinner Tuesday at Sotheby’s New York, in the 10th-floor gallery space Gluckman designed. The Alumni Association Board of Directors annually selects recipients of the award — the highest alumni honor the University bestows — based on excellence in the recipients’ field of endeavor.

At the dinner, a special video tribute to Gluckman’s professional accomplishments was presented, and American photorealistic painter Chuck Close spoke about the relationship between his art and the gallery spaces Gluckman designs.

Gluckman is a principal of Gluckman Mayner Architects of New York City, the firm responsible for design of SU’s recent Warehouse renovation (http://warehouse.syr.edu/) in downtown Syracuse . A major component of the firm’s practice is the design of art-related facilities, and much of the firm’s work has grown out of an exchange with artists, curators and museum directors. Notable projects include the Mori Arts Center in Tokyo, Japan (2003); Museo Picasso Malaga in Malaga, Spain (2004); Iglesia Evangelica de Co-op City Metodista Unida in the Bronx (2005); the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh (1994); the renovation of the Whitney Museum of American Art (1995-98); the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and Study Center in Santa Fe, N.M. (1997, 2001); and the Dia Center for the Arts in New York City (1987).

Other current projects include a 160,000-square-foot facility for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the renovation and expansion of Kenyon Hall at Vassar College, and the renovation of and addition to the Santa Fe Railroad Depot for the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. In addition to his international practice, Gluckman has lectured at numerous universities, as well as at the Architectural League, Royal Academy and the Dallas Architecture Foundation. He has also presented at Art Basel/Miami, to The American Association of Museum Curators and at New York University’s recent “Strategies for the Future of Culture” conference in Dresden, Germany. He was recently awarded a National Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, a National Honor Award from the AIA and two Merit Awards from the AIA/NYC. A monograph titled “Space Framed: Richard Gluckman Architect” was published by Monacelli Press, New York, in 2000.

“Richard is one of our most distinguished alumni in architecture with a worldwide reputation in our field,” says Mark Robbins, dean of the SU School of Architecture. “As an architect, his work on our own Warehouse has once again demonstrated his sensitivity to urban space. As a visiting professor, his patience and skill have been imparted to our students through his teaching and interaction.”

Gluckman’s work on The Warehouse renovation earned the project the honor of Best of 2006 for Higher Education award presented by New York Construction magazine. The project was one of eight chosen from a list of 125 projects across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The Arents Medal is named for George Arents, former chairman of SU’s Board of Trustees. In 1939, Arents endowed a fund to provide for the Arents Pioneer Medals to be awarded annually.