Eamonn Kevin Roche (June 14, 1922 – March 1, 2019) was an Irish-born American Pritzker Prize-winning architect. He was responsible for the design/master planning for over 200 built projects in both the U.S. and abroad. These projects include eight museums, 38 corporate headquarters, seven research facilities,

performing arts center Performing arts center/centre (see spelling differences), often abbreviated as PAC, is used to refer to: * A multi-use performance space that is intended for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. :The ...

s, theaters, and campus buildings for six universities. In 1967 he created the master plan for the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, and thereafter designed all of the new wings and installation of many collections including the reopened American and Islamic wings. Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and a graduate from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

, Roche went to the United States to study with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

. In the U.S., he became the principal designer for

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...

, and opened his own architectural firm in 1967. Among other awards, Roche received the Pritzker in 1982, the Gold Medal Award from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

in 1990, and the

AIA Gold Medal The AIA Gold Medal is awarded by the American Institute of Architects conferred "by the national AIA Board of Directors in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture." It is the Ins ...

in 1993.

Biography

Born in

, but raised in

Mitchelstown Mitchelstown () is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 3,740. Mitchelstown is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains, 12 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Caves, 28 km from Cahir, 50 ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, Roche attended

Rockwell College Rockwell College ( ga, Coláiste Charraig an Tobair), founded in 1864, is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school near Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. The school has a rugby tradition and has won the Munster Schools S ...

and graduated from

in 1945. He then worked with Michael Scott from 1945 to 1946. From summer to fall of 1946, he worked with Maxwell Fry in London. In 1947, he applied for graduate studies at Harvard,

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, and the Illinois Institute of Technology and was accepted at all three institutions, and left Ireland in 1948 to study under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the

. In 1949, he worked at the planning office for the

United Nations Headquarters zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...

building in New York City. In 1950, he joined the firm of

and Associates. His future partner,

John Dinkeloo Roche-Dinkeloo, otherwise known as Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates LLC (KRJDA), is an architectural firm based in Hamden, Connecticut founded in 1966. About The principal designers were 1982 Pritzker Prize laureate Kevin Roche (June 19 ...

(1918-1991), joined the firm in 1951 and this was also where Roche met his wife Jane. In 1954, he became the Principal Design Associate to Saarinen and assisted him on all projects from that time until Saarinen's death in September 1961. In 1966, Roche and Dinkeloo formed Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates and completed Saarinen's projects. They completed 12 major unfinished Saarinen builds, including some of Saarinen's best-known work: the

Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources consider ...

, the expressionistic

TWA Flight Center The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal and hotel complex at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The original terminal building, or head house, operated as a terminal ...

JFK International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and F ...

outside

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, the strictly modern John Deere Headquarters in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island ...

, and the CBS Headquarters building in

. Following this, Roche and Dinkeloo's first major commission was the

Oakland Museum of California The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Cal ...

, a complex for the art, natural history, and cultural history of California with a design featuring interrelated terraces and roof gardens. The city was planning a monumental building to house natural history, technology, and art, and Roche provided a unique concept: a building that is a series of low-level concrete structures covering a four block area, on three levels, the terrace of each level forming the roof of the one below, i.e. a museum (in three sections) with a park on its roof. This kind of innovative solution went on to become Roche's trademark. This project was followed by the equally highly acclaimed

Ford Foundation Building The Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice (also known as 321 East 42nd Street, 320 East 43rd Street, or the Ford Foundation Building) is a 12-story office building in East Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Designed by architect Kevin Ro ...

in New York City, considered the first large-scale architectural building in the U.S. to devote a substantial portion of its space to horticultural pursuits. Its famous atrium was designed with the notion of having urban green-space accessible to all and is an early example of the application of

environmental psychology Environmental psychology is a branch of psychology that explores the relationship between humans and the external world. It examines the way in which the natural environment and our built environments shape us as individuals. Environmental Psychol ...

in architecture. The building was recognized in 1968 by ''

Architectural Record ''Architectural Record'' is a US-based monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design. "The Record," as it is sometimes colloquially referred to, is widely-recognized as an important historical record of the unfolding debates in a ...

'' as "a new kind of urban space". The acclaim that greeted the

Oakland Museum The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Cal ...

and Ford Foundation earned Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates a ranking at the top of their profession. Shortly afterward they began a 40-year association with the

in New York City, for which they did extensive remodeling and built many extensions to house new galleries including the one containing the Egyptian

Temple of Dendur The Temple of Dendur (Dendoor in the 19th century) is a Roman Egyptian religious structure originally located in Tuzis (later Dendur), Nubia about south of modern Aswan. Around 23 BCE, Emperor Augustus commissioned the temple dedicated to the E ...

. Other high-profile commissions for the firm came from clients as varied as

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, Cummins Engines,

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befo ...

, The

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

, and the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

. In 1982, Kevin Roche became one of the first recipients of the Pritzker Prize, generally regarded as architecture's equivalent to the Nobel prize. Following this accolade, Roche's practice went global, receiving commissions for buildings in Paris, Madrid, Singapore, and Tokyo. He completed his first and only Irish project, The Convention Centre Dublin, in 2010. Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates has designed numerous corporate headquarters, office buildings, banks, museums, art centers, and even part of the

Bronx Zoo The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and is the largest metropolitan zoo in ...

. Roche served as a trustee of the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...

, president of the

, a member of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

, and a member of the

U.S. Commission of Fine Arts The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction with ...

. Roche died on March 1, 2019, at his home in

Guilford, Connecticut Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the Connecticut seacoast. The population was 22,073 at the 2020 census. History Guil ...

, aged 96.

Prizes and awards

The work of Kevin Roche has been the subject of special exhibitions at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, the

Architectural Association of Ireland The Architectural Association of Ireland is an organisation dedicated to architecture in Ireland. It is not a professional accredited organisation but is open to all. Its activities include the organisation of a public lecture series, an annual ar ...

in Dublin, and the

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headq ...

. A 2012 exhibition, ''Kevin Roche: Architecture as Environment,'' opened at the

Yale School of Architecture The Yale School of Architecture (YSOA) is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University, and is generally considered to be one of the best architecture schools in the United States. The School awards the degrees of Master of Arc ...

in New Haven, Connecticut, and has been viewed at The Museum of the City of New York, the Building Museum in Washington, and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. In addition to the Pritzker Prize, Roche was the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

Gold Medal Award, the

Gold Medal Award for Architecture, and the ''French Academie d'Architecture'' Grand Gold Medal.

Film

A feature documentary called ''Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect'' was released in 2017. It was directed by Irish filmmaker (and former architecture student) Mark Noonan.

Buildings

*1966 –

, Oakland, California *1968 – The

, New York, New York *1969 – Administration, Student Union & Physical Education Buildings,

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...

, Rochester, New York *1969 – The Knights of Columbus Building Headquarters, New Haven, Connecticut *1969 – United States Post Office, Columbus, Indiana *1969 – Aetna Life and Casualty Company Computer Headquarters, Hartford, Connecticut *1971 – Power Center for the Performing Arts,

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, Ann Arbor, Michigan *1972 – Cummins Inc. Irwin Office Building Arcade, Columbus, Indiana *1972 -

New Haven Coliseum New Haven Coliseum was a sports and entertainment arena located in downtown New Haven, Connecticut. Construction began in 1968 and was completed in 1972. The Coliseum was officially closed on September 1, 2002, by Mayor John DeStefano Jr., and d ...

, New Haven, Connecticut, (demolished 2002) *1973 – Center for the Arts,

, Middletown, Connecticut *1973 – Cummins Midrange Engine Plant, Columbus, Indiana *1974 – Fine Arts Center,

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

, Amherst, Massachusetts *1974 – The Pyramids, College Life Insurance Company of America headquarters, Indianapolis, Indiana *1978 –

John Deere World Headquarters The John Deere World Headquarters is a complex of four buildings located on 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of land at One John Deere Place, Moline, Illinois, United States. The complex serves as corporate headquarters for agricultural heavy equipme ...

, West Office Building, Moline, Illinos *1979 –

Denver Performing Arts Complex The Denver Performing Arts Complex (also referred to as the "Arts Complex") is located in Denver, Colorado and is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. The DCPA is a four-block, site containing ten performance sp ...

, Denver, Colorado *1982 – The Corporate Center, Danbury, Connecticut (originally the

Corporate Center) *1982 – Moudy Visual Arts and Communication Building,

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

, Fort Worth, Texas *1983 – 2 United Nations Plaza, New York, New York *1983 – General Foods Corporate Headquarters, Ryebrook, New York *1983 –

Cummins Corporate Office Building The Cummins Corporate Office Building in Columbus, Indiana, Columbus, Indiana is a Modern architecture, modernist office building designed by Kevin Roche. Constructed in 1983, the building serves as the corporate headquarters of the Cummins engine ...

, Columbus, Indiana *1985 – Cummins Engine Company Corporate Headquarters, Columbus, Indiana *1985 –

DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum (DWDAM), is a museum dedicated to British and American fine and decorative arts from 1670-1840, located in Williamsburg, Virginia. Situated just outside the historic boundary of Colonial Williamsburg, D ...

, Williamsburg, Virginia *1986 – Conoco Inc. Petroleum Headquarters, Houston, Texas *1988 – Central Park Zoo, New York, New York *1988 – Bouygues World Headquarters, Saint-Quentin-Yvelines, France *1989 – Leo Burnett Building Company Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois *1990 – 750 7th Avenue, New York, New York *1990 – Metropolitano Office Building, Madrid, Spain *1992 – J. P. Morgan Headquarters, New York, New York *1993 –

Corning Incorporated Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company that specializes in specialty glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The co ...

Corporate Headquarters, Corning, New York *1993 – Merck & Co. Inc. Headquarters, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey *1993 – NationsBank Building (now Bank of America Plaza), Atlanta, Georgia *1993 – Borland International Corporate Headquarters, Scotts Valley, California *1993 – Tanjong and Binariang Headquarters/

Menara Maxis Maxis Tower ( ms, Menara Maxis) is a 49-storey, office skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The tower serves as headquarters of Maxis Communications and Tanjong Plc Group of Companies. Maxis Tower was developed by ...

, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia *1994 – Pontiac Marina Millenia Tower and Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Singapore *1995 –

Dai-ichi Life , or Dai-ichi Life for short, is the third-largest life insurer in Japan by revenue, behind Japan Post Insurance and Nippon Life. Founded on September 15, 1902, Dai-Ichi was one of the oldest mutual insurance companies in Japan until a motion to ...

Headquarters/ Norinchukin Bank Headquarters,

DN Tower 21 DN Tower 21"D" stands for Dai-ichi Life and "N" stands for the Norinchukin Bank is an office building in Tokyo, Japan. It includes the former Dai-Ichi Seimei Building, in which Douglas MacArthur had his headquarters during the occupation of J ...

, Tokyo, Japan *1996 – Cummins Columbus Engine Plant Expansion, Columbus, Indiana *1997 – Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts *1997 –

Shiodome City Center is a skyscraper in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan managed by Mitsui Fudosan and Alderney Investments Pte Ltd., a subsidiary of the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited. Fujitsu's worldwide headquarters are in Sh ...

, Tokyo, Japan *1997 – Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for University Life/

Skirball Center for the Performing Arts The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, generally known as NYU Skirball, is an 850-seat theater at 566 LaGuardia Place in Manhattan, New York, owned by New York University. It was named after philanthropist Jack H. Skirball. The th ...

, New York University, New York, New York *1997 – Lucent Technologies, Lisle, IL/Naperville, Illinois *1997 – Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, New York *2000 – Ciudad

Grupo Santander Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (, , Spanish: ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centre ...

, Madrid, Spain *2001 – Securities and Exchange Commission Headquarters, Washington, D.C. *2002 – Bouygues SA Holding Company Headquarters, Paris, France *2003 – 1101 New York Avenue, Washington, D.C. *2003 – Renovation to Greek and Roman Court at

, New York, New York *2005 – Lafayette Tower, Washington, D.C. *2007 – Renovation to American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York *2008 – Renovation to American Wing at

, New York, New York *2009 – David S. Ingalls Rink Restoration and Addition, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut *2010 –

Convention Centre Dublin The Convention Centre Dublin () is a convention centre in the Dublin Docklands, Ireland. The Convention centre overlooks the River Liffey at Spencer Dock. It was designed by the Irish-born American architect Kevin Roche. Construction started i ...

, Dublin, Ireland *2011 – Renovation to Islamic Wing at

, New York, New York

Awards and honors

Roche was the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including: * Pritzker Prize * American Institute of Architects –

American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals Two American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals are awarded each year by the academy for distinguished achievement. The two awards are taken in rotation from these categories: *Belles Lettres and Criticism, and Painting; *Biography and Mus ...

– Gold Medal Award for Architecture * Academie d'Architecture – Grand Gold Medal * Total Design Award,

American Society of Interior Designers The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes the profession of interior design. It has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout all of the associatio ...

* Medal of Honor, New York Chapter of the AIA * American Institute of Architects Twenty-five Year Award * Classical America's Arthur Ross Award * Brendan Gill Prize of the Municipal Art Society of New York * R. S. Reynolds Memorial Award * New York State Award * California Governor's Award for Excellence in Design * Albert S. Bard First Honor Awards, City Club of New York * Brandeis University Creative Arts Award in Architecture * Brunner Award of the American Institute of Art and Letters * New York Chapter American Institute of Architects Award Honorary Degrees: *

, Doctorate of Fine Arts * National University of Ireland, Doctorate of Fine Arts *

Albertus Magnus College Albertus Magnus College is a private Catholic university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded by the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs (now Dominican Sisters of Peace), it is located in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of New Haven, ...

, Doctorate of Fine Arts *

Iona College Iona University is a private Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochelle and a campus of in Bronxville, ...

, Doctorate of Fine Arts *

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, Doctorate of Fine Arts

References

External links

Profile.
archiseek.com

yurgeles.net

PritzkerPrize.com
Yale School of Architecture Honors Kevin Roche with Exhibition, Symposium.

Kevin Roche's six buildings in Columbus, Indiana
columbus.in.us
Oral history interview with Kevin Roche, 1995 Jan. 4
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives, New York. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roche, Kevin 20th-century Irish architects 1922 births 2019 deaths Alumni of University College Dublin Illinois Institute of Technology alumni Pritzker Architecture Prize winners People from County Dublin Irish emigrants to the United States People educated at Rockwell College Members of the Académie d'architecture Presidents of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal