Hugh Hardy

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Hugh Hardy
Hardy in his New York office in 1981
Born(1932-07-26)July 26, 1932
Majorca, Spain
DiedMarch 17, 2017(2017-03-17) (aged 84)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materPrinceton University
OccupationArchitect
SpouseTiziana Hardy
ChildrenTwo
Category:Articles with hCards

Hugh Hardy (July 26, 1932[1] – March 17, 2017) was an American architect,[2] known for designing and revitalizing theaters, performing arts venues, public spaces, and cultural facilities across the United States.

The New Yorker writer Brendan Gill called him "the Stanford White of our fin de siècle".[3] In 1995, Julie Iovine of The New York Times wrote, "There is scarcely a cultural icon in the city with which Mr. Hardy has not been involved."[4]

Biography

Hugh Gelston Hardy was born on July 26, 1932, in Majorca, Spain, to Gelston Hardy and the former Barbara Bonestell Walton. His father, who worked for Young & Rubicam advertising agency, had traveled to Spain to write a novel. The family soon returned to New York, dividing their time between Manhattan and Irvington-on-Hudson.[5]

Hardy graduated from the Deerfield Academy in 1950. He then attended his father's alma mater, Princeton University, where he studied under Jean Labatut and earned a Bachelor of Architecture in 1954 and a Master of Fine Arts in Architecture in 1956.[6][5] As a student at Princeton, he designed sets for productions by Princeton's Theatre Intime and Triangle Club at the McCarter Theater.[7] After serving as a drafting instructor in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, he began working with the theatrical set and lighting designer Jo Mielziner in New York.[2] One of his first projects was the Vivian Beaumont Theater, designed by Eero Saarinen; he painted a hotel-room set for the original stage production of the musical Gypsy.[4] Hardy joined Local 829 of the United Scenic Artists in 1958.[5]

Over the course of his career, Hardy founded three firms: Hugh Hardy & Associates in 1962, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates in 1967, and H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture in 2004. Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer received the Architecture Firm Award in 1981, the highest honor bestowed on a firm by American Institute of Architects for distinguished work. Hardy was also a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.[8]

He was named a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1993. He won the Placemark Award from the Design History Foundation (2001), the AIA New York Chapter's President's Award (2002), the General Services Administration Commissioner's Award for Excellence in Public Architecture,[9] the Architectural League of New York's President's Medal (2010),[10] and the Historic Districts Council's Landmarks Lion award (2013).[11] In 1981, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an associate member; he became a full academician in 1994. In 2010, Hardy was one of 52 leading architects invited to participate in Vanity Fair's 2010 World Architecture Survey.Category:All articles with unsourced statementsCategory:Articles with unsourced statements from March 2017[citation needed]

One of Hardy's specialities was the design and renovation of theaters. In New York City, Hardy had a hand in the renovation and revitalization of many of the New York's most iconic historic performance spaces, including Radio City Music Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (formerly the Majestic Theater), and Broadway's New Amsterdam Theater and New Victory Theater. Decades after Hardy had designed sets for student productions at Princeton's McCarter Theater, he returned to design the Berlind Theater addition (completed in 2003).[12][13] On March 22, 2017, theaters in New York City and across the United States dimmed the lights of their marquees in memory of Hardy.[14]

Personal life

Hardy married the architect Tiziana Spadea in 1965.[15] They had two children.[5]

On March 16, 2017, Hardy fell and hit his head while getting out of a taxi in Manhattan.[5] Later that evening, he attended a performance at the Joyce Theater, a building he had undertaken renovations on.[5] He lost consciousness there, and was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, where he died from a cerebral hemorrhage the following day, at the age of 84.[5]

Work

Select examples of his firm's work include:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Marter, Joan M. (2011). The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533579-8.
  2. 1 2 Emmanuel, Muriel (1980). Contemporary Architects. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 342–344. ISBN 0-312-16635-4.
  3. ↑ Category:All articles with dead external linksCategory:Articles with dead external links from May 2015[dead link] Archived July 13, 2011, at the Wayback MachineCategory:Webarchive template wayback links. Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired.
  4. 1 2 Iovine, Julie V. (December 12, 1995). "Tenacity in the Service of Public Culture; New Victory Theater Is Latest Icon on Which Architect Leaves His Mark". The New York Times. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dunlap, David (March 18, 2017). "Hugh Hardy, Architect Who Lent Pizazz to New York Landmarks, Dies at 84". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Goldberger, Paul. "Brash, Young and Post-Modern". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Lives: Hugh Hardy '54 *56 | Princeton Alumni Weekly". paw.princeton.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Hugh Hardy". Interior Design. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  9. 1 2 "Hugh Hardy, FAIA". Theatre for a New Audience. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008.
  10. 1 2 "Archive for 'Hugh Hardy'". Municipal Art Society of New York. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Landmarks Lion Award 2015-Pride of Lions". Historic Districts Council. June 20, 2014. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  12. ↑ "POSTINGS: NAMED FOR THE BROADWAY PRODUCER ROGER S. BERLIND; For Princeton's McCarter, A New 350-Seat Theater". Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Drawings unveiled for new theater at McCarter". Princeton University. July 5, 2000. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  14. ↑ Gunts, Edward (March 23, 2017). "Theaters nationwide dim lights in honor of architect Hugh Hardy". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  15. ↑ Iovine, Julie V. (May 15, 1997). "For a Master Builder, It's Hands Off at Home". The New York Times. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  16. ↑ Propst, Andy (February 3, 2010). "Lincoln Center Theater to Build Hugh Hardy-Designed LCT3 Above Vivian Beaumont Theater". TheaterMania. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Archived copy" (PDF). Design Observer. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Category:CS1 maint: archived copy as title
  18. ↑ "Yale School of Architecture Announces Its Spring Lectures". Yale University. December 20, 1999. Archived from the original on July 27, 2010.
  19. ↑ Gardner, James (July 17, 2009). "255 East 74th Street — a condo not worth more than a glance". The Real Deal. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
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