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 leading roles at the Los Angeles office.
According to the New York Times, the firm will continue to carry the name Richard Meier & Partners Architects. It remains to be seen if or how quickly the tainted brand can regain its reputation now that the founder has stepped aside.
43 Comments
Took long enough
"He will remain available to colleagues and clients who seek his vast experience and counsel."
Just a friendly reminder that stepping down is not the same as stepping out. I would not be surprised if he didn't have access to staff while he works on hobby projects.
"access to staff"
Wasn't that the problem?
ziiiiinngg!
We Do Color Now Partners LLP
The noble thing would be to help the new partners transition to a new title, not staying on board in name and shadow. Cut your losses!
Let's see.., an architect with a Pritzker, many gold medals, tons of prestigious honors, and important buildings on white goes into that good night with a remote control in his hands.
I don't know...The entire leadership should "step down" in my opinion. They either knew about it–and did nothing–or should have known about it in their position. Either way they are complicit in my opinion and created, nurtured or profited from that toxic environment. They should close up shop.
Is the DMV complicit for drunk drivers killing people in traffic? Let's not take away the responsibilities from the people and put them in the hands of anonymous abstract licensing systems.
To use your analogy, if some of the DMV employees conspired to get people drunk while driving they should be fired. If you remember, there was a whole system in the office for "Feeding" young girls to meier.
Therefore they should close up shop, the entire ecosystem in the higher echelons there is rotten, they either actively fed young girls to Meier, they knew about it and let it happen or they are so bad at their job that they didn't even know what was going on. Either way, totally unfit. I wouldn't even trust them with digging the pit for my outhouse.
Architecture versus sexual harasegment, well it's all about the business of erecting something. What a mess that an architect with the caliber of RM gets sucked into something stupid like this, why didn't the lady that accused him of exposing himself to her come forward at the time, probably she was not up to the standard and she was fired.Really sickening.
Fuck off.
Meier's behavior was talked about in architectural circles literally for decades before the social environment made it possible for these women to come forward. And yes. Richard Meier can fuck off - ditto for anyone who tries to find an excuse to defend him.
What a mess that an architect with the caliber of RM gets sucked into something stupid like this.
I agree. It's despicable that he'd be such a fucking creep.
meier was sucked into this? like he harrased people against his will? Are you for real or is this a grammar problem? Women dont come forward because the system is set up against them and because being a woman in modern society is to make decisions based on fear as often as not.
Correct.
Close up shop now. These offices once the founding principal steps down are never the same. It was a good run. Move on.
i feel for the people still at the office. but yea, you are probably right.
6 ft down?
only presidents and supreme court justices can get away with this behavior.
The patriarchy is the problem. We need more women in power period. If you notice, men are the ones to lean into racist or bullying behavior. Not that a woman can't kick ass, they just don't seem to reach for that response with the same speed and ignorance as men. It would be sweet justice to see a woman beat president Trump, as this kind of behavior rolls down hill and infects others.
Individual exceptions do not change statistical likelihoods.
Not exactly statistical anomalies: Nikki Haley, Nancy Pelosi, Condolezza Rice, Hillary Clinton, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Rice, Maxine Waters, Corrine Brown, Harriet Miers, Lurita Alexis Doan, Darleen A. Druyun, Julie MacDonald, Janet Rehnquist, etc., etc. Look 'em up.
You name corrupt women, I'll name corrupt men. We'll see who runs out first.
Nevermind that I happen to disagree with your inclusion of several of those women on the 'bad ' list.
The women in power that I've had to deal with are just as bad as the men. It's not a gender issue, it's corruption issue. Power corrupts. Money = power. Imagining that somehow women will be less corrupt than men ... nice fantasy. Hello, human condition.
He is a fucking predator... has been for years...we've all heard the stories. I feel relieved for the people who choose to work there or around him. The "work" has nothing to do with this ... at all!!! architecture pales in comparison to his actions and brutality toward women.
good riddance.
All he wanted was a piece of glass...
A piece of glass left in beach.
*A piece of glass left in a beach.
^this is meta?
meta?
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