Paul Spencer Byard (August 30, 1939 – July 15, 2008) was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

to Dever Spencer Byard, a lawyer and Margaret Mather Byard, a teacher of English Literature at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Byard graduated from

Milton Academy Milton Academy (informally referred to as Milton) is a coeducational, co-educational, Independent school, independent, and College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts, educating students in g ...

in Massachusetts in 1957, from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1961 and went on to receive degrees from

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, and from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture.

Law career

In 1966, having completed law school, Byard joined the law firm of Winthrop & Stimson, where he remained for three years. He also acted as

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

to the Roosevelt Island Development Corporation and as an associate counsel to the

New York State Urban Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). ...

. Combining law with architecture, Byard supported the legal defense of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Law.

Architecture career

In 1977, Byard received an architectural degree from the Graduate School of Architecture and Planning at Columbia University, after which he joined James Stewart Polshek & Associates in 1977. In 1981, he was made a partner in the firm. In 1989, Byard joined Charles A. Platt Partners (later known as Platt Byard Dovell White). While working as an architect, Byard was involved in the

renovations Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, o ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, the old Custom House on Bowling Green, the State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division Courthouse on

Madison Square Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, the fourth president of the United St ...

, the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

Foundation Building, and the

Villard Houses The Villard Houses are a set of former residences on Madison Avenue, between 50th Street (Manhattan), 50th and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States. Designed by ...

. He also helped to design the New 42nd Street Studios, the Channel 57 building, and a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

and

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope, Brooklyn, South Slope/Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn, Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, Win ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, all of which were of contemporary design. Byard was highly involved in the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construct ...

and served as president from 1989 to 1994. While working as an architect, Byard wrote ''The Architecture of Additions: Design and Regulation'' (W.W. Norton, 1998), in which he discusses the renovations of many historic buildings and exhibits his knowledge of blending old and new styles of architecture. At the time of his death, Byard was working on a book to be entitled ''Why Save This Building? The Public Interest in Architectural Meaning''. In keeping with his architectural interests, Byard directed the

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

program at Columbia for ten years until his death. He also developed a third-year studio and workshop for architecture and preservation students.

Personal life and death

Byard married Rosalie Starr Warren in 1965 and had two children. He lived in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, where he died on July 15, 2008, of cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byard, Paul 1939 births 2008 deaths Harvard Law School alumni Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni Yale College alumni 20th-century American architects Deaths from cancer in New York (state) People from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

Law career

Architecture career

Personal life and death

See also

References