|
Barton Myers (born November 6, 1934) is an American and Canadian architect and president of Barton Myers Associates, Inc. in Los Angeles, California. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Myers is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a former member of the Ontario Association of Architects while working in Canada earlier in his career. Barton Myers was born in Norfolk, Virginia, graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and served as a jet fighter pilot for five years in the United States Air Force, based in the western United States and then for three years in England. Following this period he attended architecture courses at Oxford and Cambridge University and returned to the United States to study architecture. He received his Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently worked with Louis Kahn from 1964 to 1966. He established his own practice in Toronto in 1968, where he was principal in the firm of Diamond and Myers from 1968 until 1975, when he formed Barton Myers Associates in Toronto. In 1984, he opened an office in Westwood district of Los Angeles that is now the firm's base. In 1986, Barton Myers was the recipient of the first Toronto Arts Award for Architecture in recognition of his contribution to the city, and in 1994, he received the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal. In 2002 Barton Myers was awarded the 2002 American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles Chapter Gold Medal². Myers is also a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA), "one of Canada’s most enduring cultural institutions."11,12 Founded in 1880, the RCA celebrates the exceptional achievements of professionals working in Canada in multiple disciplines and under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada. Barton Myers has taught architecture and planning at both the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo. He has also served as the Thomas Jefferson Professor at the University of Virginia, the Graham Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and has been a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Barton Myers has held a continuing appointment as Professor of Architecture at University of California, Los Angeles School of Architecture and Urban Design since 1980. in 1994, Barton Myers' architectural body of work was published as part of the "Masters of Architecture" book series. Mainly in colour, the Myers monograph contains 52 projects illustrated with over 350 photographs. Other volumes in this series include: Norman Foster, Cesar Pelli, Murphy/Jahn, Peter Eisenman, Terry Farrell, Arup, Kisho Kurokawa and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.5 == Design themes == One of the themes running through Myers' work is the theme of urban consolidation. The infill projects he completed in Toronto (Dundas Sherbourne Housing and Hydro Block Housing) served as prototypes for an even distribution of urban density seen in Europe and earlier in his hometown of Norfolk, and opposed the increasing trend of dense, high-rise city centers surrounded by urban sprawl, exemplified in cities like Dallas. His philosophy for urban renewal was published in "Vacant Lottery", with University of Toronto professor George Baird, and led to a renewed interest in city planning and offered a strategy for increasing population densities within cities while preserving the existing residential fabric. Another architectural theme that Myers helped reintroduce to North American architecture is the idea of the urban room. Myers believes that the success of a building lies in its ability to define the surrounding streets, squares, forecourts and courtyards that make cities livable. This idea is evidenced in many of Myers' designs including the Phoenix Municipal Government Center, Woodsworth College, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and the Art Gallery of Ontario, Stage III Expansion. Myers' work often makes use of off-the-shelf components, or ready made industrial products that can be readily assembled on site. His early studies with steel and aluminum products with companies such as DOFASCO and Steclo resulted in prototypes for mass-produced housing. The factory produced steel houses built in Hamilton, Ontario by DOFASCO (1971) are still standing and in good condition. Myers continued this exploration of off-the-shelf components with the Wolf House, Toronto (1974) and commercial projects such as the Alcan office headquarters in Toronto. This exploration has been constant throughout his career and can be seen in projects ranging from single family residential to large civic developments. As of 2007, four of Myers' steel house projects have been built and continue to be recognized by architectural peers for their innovation.1,4 In 2006, Barton Myers wrote a book "3 Steel Houses" which chronicles his explorations of steel house design throughout his career and its historical context. Myers' work is also identifiable by his commitment to adaptive reuse and his approach to old/new architectural combinations. His sensitivity to the existing urban fabric supports the idea that additions should openly relate to the existing structure and context rather than mimic architectural style. The Myers residence (1971) became an architectural example for modernist infill housing relating to the historic Victorian neighborhood. Later in his career, Myers' work in adaptive re-use was honored by the California Preservation Foundation (2002) for a modern steel and glass addition to the Sacramento Hall of Justice, an example of early Beaux-Arts Classicism in Sacramento.5 In 2007, Barton Myers' House in West Los Angeles design was honored with the highest award level by the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles. The jury referred to the house as "the most promising concept in residential".1 This work continues 30 years of research in steel house design, first inspired by Myers' early experiences on naval aircraft carriers, and the work of Charles Eames, Le Corbusier, Rudolph Schindler and Pierre Koenig. In 2007, Barton Myers' Wolf House was arawrded the Prix du XXe siècle from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada which "recognizes the enduring excellence of nationally significant architecture, such as landmark buildings in the historical context of Canadian Architecture".4,6 Myer's design for the Seagram Museum in Waterloo, ON was considered an "icon of Canadian Postmodernism and initiated a metamorphosis of the area."³ 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Barton Myers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|