Richard Meier
(born October 12, 1934 in Newark, New Jersey) is an influential,
contemporary American architect known for his rationalist designs and
the use of the colour white.
He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University in
1957, worked for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill briefly in 1959, and then
for Marcel Breuer for three years, prior to starting his own practice in
New York in 1963. Identified as one of The New York Five in 1972, his
commission of the Getty Center Museum in Los Angeles, California
catapulted his popularity among the mainstream.
Much of Meier's work builds on the work of the architectural masters of
the early to mid-20th century- especially that of Le Corbusier and, in
particular, Le Corbusier's early phase. In fact, it might be said that
Meier has probably built more using Corbusier's ideas than anyone,
including Le Corbusier himself[citation needed]. Meier expanded many
ideas evident in Le Corbusier's work, particularly the Villa Savoye and
the Swiss Pavilion.
His work also reflects the influences of other master designers such as
Mies Van der Rohe and, in some instances, Frank Lloyd Wright and Luis
Barrag?n (without the colour)[citation needed]. White has been used in
many architectural landmark buildings throughout history, including
Cathedrals and the white-washed villages of the mediterranean region--in
Spain, southern Italy and Greece.
