The world of public design is mourning the loss of an influential figure at the news that former General Services Administration chief architect Ed Feiner passed away on July 1st at his home in suburban D.C. Feiner was known as the GSA’s first chief architect and a “driving force” behind some of its most successful programs, including his spearheading of the acclaimed Design Excellence Program, which is now in its 28th year.
"He changed the design and construction of public buildings," Feiner’s former colleague Leslie L. Shepherd remembered last month in the Engineering News-Record.
Among the GSA projects Feiner’s influence was cast over were Thom Mayne’s Wayne Lyman Morse United States Courthouse and San Francisco Federal Building; the Oklahoma City National Memorial design and subsequent Carol Ross Barney-designed Federal Building; and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners pot-stirring John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston. The list of architects he worked directly with include Robert A.M. Stern, Julie Snow, Thomas Phifer, and many prominent others. Feiner was also instumental in selecting the first federal courthouse designed by a woman (Carol Ross Barney) and Black architect (Ralph Jackson).
Other than the buildings he helped commission, Feiner's legacy is seen in the GSA's annual Design Awards program as well as in the arena of sustainability, where he further influenced the development of performance standards and other important green building initiatives. His reputation led Esquire magazine to declare him as "the most powerful architect in America" in 2003.
After stepping down from the GSA, Feiner worked in the offices of SOM and Perkins&Will, where was the founding director of the firm's Design Leadership Council. He had also previously worked in Victor Gruen’s office and came to the GSA in 1981 following a stint working in the Navy's Facilities Engineering Command. Prior to entering the professional field, Feiner studied at the Cooper Union and the Catholic University of America.
He leaves behind his wife Frances, two children, and a legacy that could not be annulled by the conservatism of his successor, Thomas Gordon Smith, or by the misbegotten will of a president. “This is not the end of anything: Especially not the end of Design Excellence,” the Bronx native said at his retirement in 2005.
Ed Feiner was 75 years old.
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