Kevin Roche (June 14th, 1922) is a renowned twentieth century Irish-American architect best known for his work with glass. Born and raised in Dublin, he received his Bachelor of Architecture from the National University of Ireland in 1945. Roche worked with Michael Scott and Maxwell Fry in London from 1945 to 1947. Roche left Ireland in 1948 to study under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Roche was recruited by Eero Saarinen in 1950 and joined the firm of Eero Saarinen and Associates where he met civil engineer John Dinkeloo. Kevin Roche became Principal Design Associate to Saarinen in 1954 and assisted him up until his death in 1961. In 1966, upon completion of Saarinen’s remaining projects, Roche and Dinkeloo changed the firm’s name to Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates. The firm completed many astounding pieces of architecture such as the Oakland Museum of California, the Ford Foundation Building, the Fine Arts Center at University of Massachusetts Amherst, the U.N. Plaza in New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and the Knights of Columbus Building in New Haven, CT. Roche’s completed works include 8 museums, 38 corporate headquarters, 7 research facilities, performing arts centers, theatres, various campus buildings at 6 universities, and the Central Park Zoo.
Dinkeloo passed away in 1981, but Roche continues the firm in Hamden, CT. Roche receieved the Pritzker Prize in 1982 which is bestowed upon “a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture”. He has also received the Gold Medal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1990 and the AIA Gold Medal in 1993.
No comments:
Post a Comment