Archinect - News

Richard Meier is retiring as name change signals firm restructuring

2021-06-24T13:34:00-04:00

Architect Richard Meier is retiring from his firm renamed Meier Partners in a restructuring plan that signals an official end to the 86-year-old architect’s involvement with the practice.

Meier has been away from the office since the fall of 2018 after sexual harassment allegations published in The New York Times that spring ensnared him in the Me Too movement sweeping across various high-profile industries at the time.

Meier founded the firm in 1963 after brief stints in the studios of SOM and Marcel Breuer, eventually contributing designs for the Getty Center and San Jose City Hall before stepping down. Richard Meier & Partners Architects was then headed briefly by Bernhard Karpf, who left in July of 2019 to start his own practice in Brooklyn.

Previously on Archinect: Richard Meier steps down

New additions to the firm were also announced as Meier and his daughter Ana continue on in advisory roles. George Miller will become COO and Dukho Yeon is the firm’s new lead designer. Both...

Longtime Richard Meier partner leaves to start new firm

2020-01-30T18:55:00-05:00

Bernhard Karpf, the 30-year veteran of Richard Meier & Partners who helped take over the firm after Meier was accused of sexual misconduct by five women in 2018, has left the office to start his own practice, Karpf Khalili Architects.

Karpf departed Meier & Partners in July of 2019, The Real Deal reports, and took Parsa Khalili, an associate and director of visualization, with him to start the new practice. In an email, Khalili tells The Real Deal, "Karpf Khalili is a collaboration of two architects with complementary skills and expertise. We are interested in all types of ambitious projects with architectural significance.”

Coloma House

According to the Karpf Khalili website, Karpf studied architecture and literature at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, at the ETH Zürich in Switzerland, and at the Technical University Darmstadt, also in Germany. He earned a Master of Architecture and Urban Design from Cornell University. He was elevated to the American Institute of Architect...

Is the AIA doing enough to address sexual harassment in architecture?

2019-08-06T14:05:00-04:00

Post-Meier, the AIA has centered its efforts to stop sexual harassment by affirming good behavior in the profession. It’s using positive reinforcement to address sexual harassment and discrimination by saying the best work emerges from firms that embody equitable practices, and using that as the foundation of its strategy to incentivize better behavior.

Curbed's Diana Budds takes a deep dive into the efforts being undertaken within the architecture community to eradicate sexual harassment in the workplace in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

According to the report, although the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has worked to update its Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, the organization has largely avoided taking punitive measures in their efforts to reform the profession's workplace culture. The report brings into question the effectiveness of AIA's current role in addressing delicate and difficult issues like workplace harassment, and whether architectural workers might be better served through the existence of a more official "secondary avenues" for reporting harassment, abuse, and other ethics issues.

The reactive approach, according to Gabrielle Bullock, director of global diversity at Perkins and Will and a member of the AIA’s Equity in Architecture commission, is to be expected. Bullock told Curbed, “The AIA is g...

The AIA works towards improving how it awards architects in conjunction with the rise of the #MeToo movement

2019-06-06T13:57:00-04:00

The plight of sexual harassment claims and news of misconduct within the profession continues to surface as more practicing architects stress the importance of equity in the workplace, representation, and accountability. The global rise of the #MeToo movement has impacted several industries, the architecture profession included. More women and men have voiced their opinions and stressed the importance of fostering better professional standards as well as reassessing professional character in practice and during award recognition.

On June 5th, the AIA announced it's efforts towards improving review standards on how architects will be selected for awards. "Although the rules and processes governing AIA's awards programs are currently effective at identifying design excellence, the AIA's leadership believes they can be improved to better address issues of professional character, especially related to harassment of any kind, and to send a clear message that inappropriate behavior will n...

Stella Lee's story calls for architecture to adopt a new movement

2018-10-12T15:25:00-04:00

Architectural education is plagued by the mentality that suffering is a necessary part of its practice. [...] The acceptance of suffering easily slips into normalizing sexual misconduct and its suppression as simply part of the practice. Cultlike worship of the star architect only exacerbates this condition, and there are plenty [...] willing to sacrifice their time and integrity because they have been conditioned to believe that this mode of production is normal.

The architecture world is known for many movements that have enabled architects to create iconic works. From bauhaus to brutalist, midcentury modern to contemporary, countless movements have impacted the architectural timeline. But in today's climate of inclusivity and representation is there one movement in particular that architecture is too slow to adopt?

Designing physical spaces that depict an artistic representation of form and function is something many architects strive for. However, have firms and institutions lost their way when it comes to designing a space that evokes "an equitable working environment?"

Bureau V team (left to right) Stella Lee, Peter Zuspan, Laura Trevino Image via BureauV

Stella Lee, architect and founding partner of the inclusive award-winning studio Bureau V, recently shared her experiences while working with Richard Meier. Having been accused of sexual misconduct it was announced early this month that Meier would be stepping down from his leadership...

Richard Meier steps down

2018-10-09T20:08:00-04:00

Richard Meier is officially out at Richard Meier & Partners Architects, the company announced in a statement titled Leadership Changes this morning.

"Founder Richard Meier will step back from day-to-day activities and support the leadership transition of the firm he founded in 1963," reveals the release. "He will remain available to colleagues and clients who seek his vast experience and counsel. The firm will maintain and develop the rigorous design philosophy that Richard pioneered."

Meier, 83, has been taking a leave of absence since March this year after accusations of sexual harassment were brought forward by five women—four of whom had previously worked with Meier.

The statement lists various senior employees to be taking on leadership positions, most notably Bernhard Karpf as the new Managing Principal of the New York office as well as Vivian Lee, Reynolds Logan, and Dukho Yeon, who were promoted to Principals. Partner Michael Palladino and Jim Crawford will maintain their ...

AIA approves new rules specifically addressing sexual harassment and sustainability

2018-09-12T17:54:00-04:00

The AIA Board of Directors have recently approved new changes to the AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct to explicitly address sexual harassment, equity in the profession, and sustainability.

AIA 2018 President Carl Elefante, FAIA stated, “The architecture profession is at a threshold moment. The Board’s adoption of these changes provides us with another step toward ending sexual harassment in the workplace, advancing equity in our profession, and promulgating sustainable practices. I applaud the members who raised their voices to offer these improvements to the code, and the AIA delegates, Board of Directors, and National Ethics Council who acted on their concerns.”

You can find the full list of new and updated rules on the AIA's website here.

UC Berkeley gives three-year suspension to professor of architecture for pattern of sexual harassment

2018-08-20T14:06:00-04:00

UC Berkeley Professor Nezar AlSayyad has been suspended for three years without pay for engaging in a pattern of sexual harassment and abuse of faculty power, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. AlSayyad, a tenured architecture professor and Middle East scholar, sexually harassed his former student, Eva Hagberg Fisher, from 2012 to 2014.

After an independent investigation determined he was guilty of inappropriate and manipulative behavior, AlSayyad was removed from teaching courses but continued to receive a $211,000-a-year salary. He was also allowed to remain serving on academic committees and continued to advise students. Hagberg Fisher agreed not to sue the school, instead agreeing to an $80,000 settlement.

In November 2016, after the investigation's findings were first reported, protests erupted at the school with Graduate students angered by UC Berkeley's handling of the situation and their lack of transparency. Hagberg Fisher wrote a viral op-ed (and must-read) for the the...

Esther Sperber argues that to end abuse in architecture, stop believing in the creative genius myth

2018-08-07T18:23:00-04:00

But gender bias is not the most dangerous consequence of the lone-wolf image: It is the unspoken permission to abuse that should worry us. For the privilege of working alongside this aggressive and uncompromising genius, we are asked to tolerate his erratic, harsh, and selfish behavior. [...] To fight sexual abuse and abusers, we must first let go of this simplistic and fictitious image of the lone wolf.

In this short opinion piece, Studio ST Architects founder Esther Sperber argues that, in light of the ongoing #MeToo movement, rejecting the prevalent “lone wolf”/creative genius myth and emphasizing a collaborative culture instead are important steps to stopping abuse in architecture.

The Architectural League rescinds Richard Meier's Life Trustee status

2018-04-11T14:18:00-04:00

This is a painful period of reckoning for our community. While we don’t presume to have all the answers, we believe achieving a more just and accountable professional culture moving forward begins with open dialogue and, above all, an unwavering commitment to respecting the human rights of all individuals.

In a statement published on Architect Magazine yesterday, The Architectural League of New York announced that they have revoked Richard Meier's status as a Life Trustee of the League, a month after the architect was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women. In the following weeks after news of the allegations broke, Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning refused Meier's gift to name the chair of the Department of Architecture; Sotheby's closed a solo exhibition of Meier's work at its S2 Gallery; and the AIANY rescinded Meier's 2018 Design Award.

“As we confront allegations of abuses of power in architecture, the League is developing programs and resources to move our community forward to make the goal of equitable, fair, empowering environments a reality across the culture of architecture,” the Architectural League stated. “We also, in specific instances, must make decisions with respect to individuals whose behavior does not meet the standards we bel...

Architecture students at Harvard's GSD pressure the administration to respond to the Shitty Men in Architecture List

2018-04-10T12:41:00-04:00

On Harvard's campus, students in their Graduate School of Design programs are pressuring the administration to respond to an anonymous spreadsheet that catalogued incidences of assault, harassment and other abuses in the industry. The spreadsheet, known as the Shitty Men in Architecture list, was created after Richard Meier was accused by five women of sexual harassment, ushering in a #metoo moment for the industry. Inspired by the Shitty Media Men list that outed numerous predatory journalists back in October of last year, the anonymous creator(s) launched the crowdsourced document to give the architecture community a platform for sharing their own stories of abuse in an anonymous and safe way. They insist, in a disclaimer that is part of the document, that the content should not be seen as "legally true."

According to the school's paper, The Harvard Crimson, the list "contained anonymous accounts of sexual misconduct and racist acts allegedly perpetrated by more than a dozen GSD s...

Why Richard Meier's behavior was known and went unchecked

2018-04-05T15:27:00-04:00

After a report last month by The New York Times detailing a pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Meier, more women have come forward to share their own upsetting encounters with him. But in recounting such experiences, these women said they had also been disturbed by a sense of helplessness that pervaded the firm. Mr. Meier’s behavior was common knowledge, they said, but no one seemed to have the power to stop it.

With the #metoo movement, women have come forward exposing Richard Meier's abusive behavior to his employees. Further investigation has explored why this behavior of powerful men harassing or assaulting women went unchecked at their organizations. The common thread is fear of losing a job.

Many women did not lodge formal complaints with the company for fear of being fired (although some were fired regardless soon after an incident). Other employees in the company who knew what was going on did nothing to stop it for fear of losing their own jobs.

Looking for a job at a women-led firm? Check out our latest job roundups featuring current (at the time of writing) opportunities at firms powered by amazing women.

The Architecture Lobby's statement on #metoo in architecture

2018-03-26T18:28:00-04:00

The Architecture Lobby released the following statement with regards to the #metoo movement in architecture. The organization invites firms to join their Solidarity Network in support of those who speak up against sexual harassment or abuse.

"We, The Architecture Lobby, stand with victims of sexual harassment and assault in school and in the workplace. We decry in no uncertain terms the use of positions of power to perpetuate abominable conduct. We ask all members of the architectural community to join us, and the many victims of harassment, in calling for fundamental change of our culture.

The issue of harassment in the workplace is not limited to any gender, employment status, or age. It has its roots in the relationship between workers and their bosses, as well as teachers and their students, in the power differential created by that relationship that allows harassment and abuse to go unchecked. For too long we have allowed the architecture profession to structurally elevate me...

Blair Kamin discusses architecture's #metoo moment — “The moral and professional [responsibility] is simply to bear witness”

2018-03-26T14:02:00-04:00

In other words— you ask, will there be a revision of canon? Should we revise the canon? I would say, it’s not so much that we’re going to revise the canon, but that there will certainly be a revised narrative of architects who contributed to the canon.

In light of the sexual harassment allegations against Richard Meier, architectural writer Eva Hagberg Fisher interviews Blair Kamin about writing and reporting on architecture's about-time-it-happened #metoo moment.

“So the first responsibility, the moral and professional is simply to bear witness. If you don’t confront, you just let it slide,” Kamin says to Eva Hagberg Fisher. “By not taking up the issue, you signal that it’s not important. So, yeah, the point is to bear witness and to put this issue in the public conversation. I also think it’s worth stressing that you don’t have to be a woman to do that...”

AIANY revoke 2018 Design Awards from Richard Meier and Peter Marino

2018-03-23T02:35:00-04:00

... given allegations of inappropriate and unacceptable behavior by two AIANY 2018 Design Award Recipients—Richard Meier and Peter Marino—the AIANY Board of Directors has made the decision to rescind the honors that were announced in January 2018 and were to be celebrated at the Honors and Awards Luncheon next month.

AIANY executive director Benjamin Prosky issued a statement on their decision to revoke Design Awards from Richard Meier and Peter Marino. Prosky states, “Our decision does not speak to the design quality of the projects or the contributions from the respective firms’ design teams, rather we cannot in good conscience confer these awards under these circumstances.”

The full statement by AIANY can be read here.

Richard Meier, accused by 5 women of sexual harassment, to take a six-month leave of absence

2018-03-13T14:00:00-04:00

In a story published by the New York Times this morning, five women—four of whom worked with Meier and another who encountered him through the Getty—have gone on record with their stories of sexual harassment and assault at the hands of Richard Meier. The behavior ranges from grabbing a woman's "underwear through her dress at a firm holiday party," to exposing himself to unwilling employees. In one instance, according to the Times, Meier forcefully pulled a women into bed, causing her to flee his home in Los Angeles.

With these women going public, Mr. Meier has decided to take a six month leave from his firm, which is a rather short amount of time considering the severity of these accusations. He has issued the following statement: “I am deeply troubled and embarrassed by the accounts of several women who were offended by my words and actions. While our recollections may differ, I sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my behavior. I am leaving the company in the hands of...

Daniela Soleri accuses father, Paolo Soleri, of sexual abuse

2017-12-20T14:17:00-05:00

But speaking out is just a beginning. Others undergoing experiences similar to mine need assurance that protecting themselves and demanding fairness will be supported, regardless of who the perpetrator is, or how his work is perceived. They need to know that strengthening society’s capacity for fair, thoughtful treatment of everyone is also a valuable contribution, and not a threat.

Danila Soleri, in a poignant and exposing open letter published on Medium, titled "Sexual abuse: it's you, him, and his work" has accused her father, Paolo Soleri, of sexual abuse.

The open letter walks us through the psychological, emotional and tangent emotions and repercussions of such an experience while detailing the inner and outward struggle of living with a father who on the one hand had become notorious for his architectural marvels but who on the other hand had forgone human values in the search of creative greatness.