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FeedThanks for stopping by, Mr. Meier
Richard Meier said “thank you” last night to Buffalo. And Buffalo—specifically its architecturally interested students, public and professionals—said “thank you” back by showing up in SRO numbers to hear one of the world’s preeminent architects, live and free in the auditorium of our own Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
Meier’s thank you to us was his gratitude for our appreciation of and efforts to preserve our architectural heritage. The incredibly accomplished and renowned architect, fresh off a day-long tour of Buffalo’s building bounty, to put it lightly, said that he was impressed.
He kicked off his talk with another compliment, confessing that the critic in him is usually redesigning a room as he enters it. Meier said that he could find nothing wrong with the Albright’s Bunshaft-designed, glass-walled, elegantly sloped event room.
Meier is known for his use of white materials when creating his many stunning buildings—from residential projects in the early 1960s to what is considered his crowning achievement, the Getty Center in Los Angeles to current undertakings like the United States Embassy in London.
One of his other trademark elements, an indelible awareness of the space that his buildings occupy, and their impact not only on the geographical, but also on the emotional and community footprints of their surroundings—was demonstrated again and again in his hour-long, career-overview slide show.
Literally breathtaking are the structures he has created, as is the thought and intellect that go into those creations. Long specializing in designing houses that are also art galleries, and museums, his relationship to art, artists and those who love them is another irreducible factor in Meier’s work.
Meier’s talk was presented by the UB School of Architecture & Planning, in collaboration with AKAG and the Burchfield Penney Art Center. The 75-year-old, internationally renowned, highly decorated artist was introduced by event supporter and Buffalo philanthropist and attorney Wayne Wisbaum, with whom he has been friends since they were undergrads at Cornell.
Later, during the Q&A session, when asked directly about his attitudes about preservation, he gave one of his stock answers: “It’s like motherhood; you can’t be against it.” I hasten to add, also like motherhood, though preservation is usually well intentioned, it can be done well, or not so well. Meier said as much in his reply, suggesting that being old doesn’t necessarily make something worth preserving.
A modernist. A realist. And a wise man. Thank you, Mr. Meier.
