This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: College of Fellows and Regional and Urban Design Committee .
-------------------------------------------
New Haven is the home of Kevin Roche, a living legend of modern architecture. Pritzker, AIA Gold medal, there is hardly a prize that hasn't been bestowed on him. Roche, a successor of Eero Saarinen, has been running his firm, Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo Associates (KRJDA) in New Haven since 1962. He gave the town some of its more controversial structures. One, the Coliseum, has already been demolished; the Knights of Columbus building stands, a stark reminder of Roche's boldness. His office, though, is located out of town in a bucolic park, in a historic structure aspiring to be English. Now 90 years old, is Roche a monument of an unloved past, or is he still a relevant architect? New Haven hardly qualifies as a quaint or pretty American city. Even though it is the home of Yale, with its world famous architecture department and a series of modernist architectural monuments, one hardly finds accolades praising New Haven's urban design. On a grey December morning, I boarded an early Azela train to New Haven. The train was a little late so we arrived at 20 Davis Street, a veritable castle on Whitney Lake, a bit after the appointed time of ten. Our van pulled up under the porte cochere. For decades KRJDA must have relished the surprise of their visitors, who find the modernist architect residing in this old fashioned decorative burg. It happened that I emerged first and walked up the few steps to the grand entrance. An almost bold man, with his remaining thin white hair kept long around the ears and back, stood behind the glass door, opened it, then pressed my hand firmly, looked me in the eyes and introduced himself: Kevin Roche. I was glad I recognized him from pictures; it was such a surprise to have him open the door in person! Continue reading -------------------------------------------
Klaus Philipsen FAIA
Archplan Inc. Philipsen Architects
Baltimore MD
-------------------------------------------