James Stewart Polshek (February 11, 1930September 9, 2022) was an American architect based in New York City. He was the founder of Polshek Partnership, the firm at which he was the principal design partner for more than four decades. He worked as design counsel to the legacy firm

Ennead Architects Ennead Architects LLP (/ˈenēˌad/) is a New York City-based architectural firm. The firm was founded in 1963 by James Polshek, who left the firm in 2005 when it was known as Polshek Partnership. The firm's partners renamed their practice in mid- ...

, as well as being actively engaged as design lead on multiple projects.

Early life

Polshek was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

, on February 11, 1930. His father, Max, was the owner of an army-navy store; his mother, Pearl (Beyer), was a housewife. Polshek initially intended to study medicine, enrolling in premed at Case Western Reserve University's Adelbert College in 1947. He began taking a variety of courses, including a course on the history of

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

. After deciding to study architecture, he transferred to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1950 and studied under

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whi ...

, graduating five years later with a

Master of Architecture The “Master of Architecture”(M.Arch or MArch) or a “Bachelor of Architecture” is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation (internship, exams) that res ...

degree.Ringel, Susan
"The Test of Time"
, ''CWRU Magazine'' (2002) He was also a Fulbright/Hayes fellow in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, and received several grants from the Graham Foundation. After Polshek became dean of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation in 1973,

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

granted his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in 1973, forgiving the eight credits he was short.

Professional career

Polshek first worked for I. M. Pei, Ulrich Franzen, and other architects, before establishing his firm – James Stewart Polshek Architect – in 1963. Some of the first projects he worked on were two research facilities in Japan, as well as collaborating with Walfredo Toscanini to design a Midtown Manhattan community center. The majority of his firm's projects were in the United States, with many in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. These included the

Ed Sullivan Theater The Ed Sullivan Theater (originally Hammerstein's Theatre; later the Manhattan Theatre, Billy Rose's Music Hall, CBS Radio Playhouse No. 3, and CBS Studio 50) is a theater at 1697–1699 Broadway, between 53rd and 54th Streets, in the Theater ...

, Seamen's Church Institute at the

South Street Seaport The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District, in Lower Manhattan. The Seaport is a designated historic district ...

, Sulzberger Hall at

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine and Residence Tower at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, and the refurbishment of Carnegie Hall. Polshek became the dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at

in 1973, serving in that capacity until 1987. Under his leadership, the curriculum was revised and extended to encompass urban planning, real estate, and historic preservation. Polshek was unusual among top-tier architects for taking the position that architecture is more craft than fine art and that architects have some measure of social responsibility. After retiring from his firm's partnership in 2005, Polshek maintained the title of design counsel to Ennead Architects (the new name of that firm). He served as the architect commissioner on the NYC Design Commission during the mid-2010s. His book, ''Build, Memory'', was published in April 2014 by Monacelli Press.

Personal life

Polshek married Ellyn Margolis in 1952. Together, they had two children: Peter and Jennifer. He maintained an apartment in Paris during his later years. Polshek died on September 9, 2022, at his home in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He was 92 and suffered from kidney disease before his death.

Awards and honors

Polshek was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), and the 2018 recipient of the organization's highest honor, the AIA Gold Medal. He earlier received the Gold Medal award from the New York City chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

(AIA) in 1986. In 2002, he was honored with the Municipal Art Society's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal, and was inducted into the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. Three years later, he was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. Polshek received

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

s from Pratt Institute (1995), the New School University Parsons School of Design (1999), the

New Jersey Institute of Technology {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

(2002), and

(2022).

References

External links

James Stewart Polshek websiteJames Stewart Polshek TumblrEnnead Architects HomepageCWRU article
about Polshek, his firm, and the Clinton Center design.
Controversy over design for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polshek, James 1930 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects Architects from Ohio Architects from New York City Case Western Reserve University alumni Columbia University faculty Deaths from kidney disease Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters People from Akron, Ohio Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal Yale School of Architecture alumni