James Polshek

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Personal information
James Polshek, FAIA
Image:Clinton pres library.jpg William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center
Name	James Polshek, FAIA
Nationality	United States
Birth date
Birth place	Akron, Ohio
Work
Practice name	Polshek Partnership Architects
Significant buildings	William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center
Awards and prizes	AIA Medal of Honor (1986) AIA Architecture Firm Award (1992)

James Polshek (born 1930, Akron, Ohio) is an American architect currently living in New York.

Polshek served 15 years as the dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. He received his undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University, and his Master of Architecture degree from Yale School of Architecture. He was also a Fulbright/Hayes fellow in Denmark and received a number of grants from the Graham Foundation.

Polshek's firm, Polshek Partnership Architects, was founded in 1963 and is best known for its renovations and expansions of public buildings. Polshek himself is 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.

1 Education & Background
2 Design projects completed
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Education & Background

Polshek enrolled in premed at Case Western Reserve University's Adelbert College 1947, with thoughts of becoming a psychiatrist. He struggled with school and began taking a variety of courses, including a course in the history of modern architecture. After deciding to study architecture he enrolled at Yale University, and graduated in 1955 with a Master of Architecture degree.^[1]

After becoming dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in 1972, Western Reserve University granted his bachelor of science degree in 1973, forgiving the 8 credits he was short.^[1]

Polshek worked for I.M. Pei prior to starting his own firm in 1963.

[edit] Design projects completed

1978 to 2003: Carnegie Hall, New York. Involved since 1978 in four phases of the Hall's renovation and expansion including the creation of a Master Plan in 1980; the actual renovation of the main hall, the Stern Auditorium, and the creation of the Weill Recital Hall and Kaplan Rehearsal Space, all in 1987; the creation of the Rose Music Museum, Rohatyn Room and Shorin Club Room, all in 1993; and, most recently, the creation of Zankel Hall in 2003.
1986 to 1993: Brooklyn Museum. Along with architect, Arata Isozaki, his firm was selected to design the first Master Plan in 1986 for the renovation and expansion of the Museum, including the glassy redesign of the museum's historic façade and entrance, the creation of the Cantor Auditorium (1991), and the Shapiro Wing (1993).
1993: Ed Sullivan Theater in New York renovated and a television studio created for CBS's Late Show with David Letterman.
1998: The Santa Fe Opera's Crosby Theater in New Mexico.
2000: Rose Center for Earth and Space (the planetarium cube) expansion of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, which opened February 19
2001: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Interior re-design.
2001: Scandinavia House - The Nordic Center in America, located on 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY. Design of the 27,000 sq. ft. building.
2004: William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.
2006: Paresky Center at Williams College, Massachusetts.