Robert Louis Geddes, (born December 7, 1923) is an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, planner, writer, educator, former principal of the firm Geddes Brecher Qualls Cunningham (GBQC), and dean emeritus of the

Princeton University School of Architecture Princeton University School of Architecture is the name of the school of architecture at Princeton University. Founded in 1919, the School is a center for teaching and research in architectural design, history, and theory. The School offers an und ...

(1965-1982). As principal of GBQC, select major projects include Pender Labs at the

Moore School of Electrical Engineering The Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania came into existence as a result of an endowment from Alfred Fitler Moore on June 4, 1923. It was granted to Penn's School of Electrical Engineering, located in the Towne ...

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, the Philadelphia Police Headquarters, the

Liberty State Park Liberty State Park (LSP) is a park in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey City opposite Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with United States Bicentenn ...

master plan, the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Center City master plan, and his best-known work, the Dining Commons, Birch Garden, and Academic Building at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

. He is a

Fellow of the American Institute of Architects Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) is a postnominal title or membership, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Fellowship is bestowed by the institute on AIA-member ...

; recipient of honorary doctorates from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

, and the New Jersey School of Architecture/NJIT; recipient of the Topaz Award from 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 ...

and the

Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

, and, along with his firm, is the recipient of the

Architecture Firm Award The Architecture Firm Award is the highest honor that The American Institute of Architects can bestow on an architecture firm for consistently producing distinguished architecture. Prior recipients of the AIA Architecture Firm Award include: *202 ...

Early life and education

Geddes was born Robert Leon Goldberg on December 7, 1923 in

, the only child of Louis J. Geddes (born Goldberg) and Kate Geddes (born Malmed), both of Ukrainian-Jewish families settled in

Woodbine, New Jersey Woodbine is a borough in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 2,128, a drop of 344 from the 2010 Census count ...

Maurice de Hirsch Moritz Freiherr von Hirsch auf Gereuth (german: Moritz Freiherr von Hirsch auf Gereuth; french: Maurice, baron de Hirsch de Gereuth; 9 December 1831 – 21 April 1896), commonly known as Maurice de Hirsch, was a German Jewish financier and phila ...

. He grew up and attended elementary school in

Ventnor City, New Jersey Ventnor City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,210, a decrease of 1,440 in the preceding decade."With an eye on the human element, an architect gives substance to ideas"
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', May 6, 1984. Accessed August 8, 2018. "Born in Philadelphia in 1923, he grew up in Ventnor." John Burroughs Middle School in the

Hancock Park, Los Angeles Hancock Park is a neighborhood in the Wilshire area of Los Angeles, California. Developed in the 1920s, the neighborhood features architecturally distinctive residences, many of which were constructed in the early 20th century. Hancock Park is ...

neighborhood of Los Angeles; and graduated from

Atlantic City High School Atlantic City High School (ACHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. It is the lone secondary school of the Atlantic City School District. The current school building opened i ...

in 1941. He started university studies at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, transferring to

Yale University 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 wo ...

in the fall of 1942 due to concerns over transcontinental travel after the start of World War II. His university studies were interrupted by three years in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

from 1942 to 1945. He left Yale in 1947 for the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...

, where he earned an M. Arch. in 1950.

Professional career

Architect In 1953, he co-founded a collaborative practice, Geddes Brecher Qualls Cunningham: Architects (also known as GBQC Architects), in Philadelphia, later adding an office in Princeton. Prior to founding GBQC, he worked briefly for Hugh Stubbins, Jr. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. GBQC won national and international competitions and awards, starting with being runner-up in the Sydney Opera House design competition (1955). He was GBQC design partner or co-partner for the Pender Labs at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania; the Police Headquarters of the City of Philadelphia; Richard Stockton College in New Jersey; Hill Hall at Rutgers University-Newark; the College of Liberal Arts of Southern Illinois University; the Architects Housing in Trenton, New Jersey; Princeton Community Housing's Griggs Farm neighborhood; and probably best known, the Dining Hall and Birch Garden quad at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Design, and GBQC was awarded the highest professional honor of the American Institute for Architects, the Architecture Firm Award (1979), for “design quality, respect for the environment, and social concern.” Urbanist He was the urban design consultant for the Center City Plan of Philadelphia (1988), and for the Third Regional Plan of New York for the Regional Plan Association (1996). GBQC won first prize in the international design competition for Vienna-South urban extension (1972), and the GBQC master plan for Liberty State Park was exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art (1979). He worked with the City University of New York's Newman Institute on alternatives for the Hudson Yards in midtown Manhattan. He co-founded the civic association, Princeton Future, which created the concept design for the new plaza, housing and parking in downtown Princeton, New Jersey. For the United Nations Center for Human Settlements, he directed the “UNCHS Conference on Cities in North America”, produced its report “Cities in Our Future”, published by Island Press, and wrote for the journal American Prospect, “Metropolis Unbound: The Sprawling American City and the Search for Alternatives.” Educator After studying at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in the post-war Walter Gropius and Joseph Hudnut era, he taught architecture and civic design at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design (formerly University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts) from 1951 to 1965. He moved to Princeton University in 1965 to become the first Dean of the School of Architecture, and is now William Kennan Professor Emeritus. Under his leadership over 17 years, the School of Architecture emerged as a major center for the exchange of architectural ideas, while retaining its small size and close connections with the rest of the university. During his time as Dean, the School admitted women for the first time in 1968, its first female graduate was Aliye Pekin Çelik in 1970. In 1990, he was appointed the Henry Luce Professor of Architecture, Urbanism, and History at New York University, and was elected a Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities. He pioneered in connecting architecture with the humanities and social sciences, and with public affairs and urban design, and is best known for his undergraduate course at Princeton and NYU, Architecture 101, “Buildings, Landscapes, and Cities.” He was co-author of the Princeton Report on Architectural Education for the American Institute of Architects (1967).

Selected works: Architecture

• Pender Labs,

(1958, demolished 2003)
•

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

, Sydney, Australia. Second place in an international design competition (1955)
• Philadelphia Police Headquarters (1960)
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Caesar Rodney Residence Hall Complex

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

(1966)
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Hill Hall

Rutgers University–Newark Rutgers University–Newark is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's State University. It is located in Newark. Rutgers, founded in 1766 in New Brunswick, is the eighth oldest college in the United States and a me ...

(1967)
•

. Dining Commons, Birch Garden, and Academic Building. Princeton, New Jersey (1970–72)
• Corning, New York Main Street Renewal (1972)
•

Stockton University Stockton University is a public university in Galloway Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. It is named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence ...

(then Rickard Stockton College). Master plan and building design (1970–76)
• Architects Housing Company,

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Rutgers University–New Brunswick Rutgers University–New Brunswick is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's public research university. It is located in New Brunswick and Piscataway. It is the oldest campus of the university, the others being in ...

, Piscataway campus. Psychology building (1975)
•

Rutgers University–New Brunswick Rutgers University–New Brunswick is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's public research university. It is located in New Brunswick and Piscataway. It is the oldest campus of the university, the others being in ...

, Livingston campus. Student Center (1985)
• Trexler Library,

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German patriarch of Luthera ...

. Allentown, Pennsylvania (1988)
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Princeton Community Housing.
Affordable housing (1989)
• Environmental and Health Science Laboratory, Mobile Oil Corporation Technical Center, Hopewell, New Jersey (1989)

Selected works: Urbanism

• Vienna-South urban expansion (1972)
•

, Jersey City, New Jersey (1974–84)
• Philadelphia City Center. Master plan (1988)

References

*https://www.robertgeddesarchitect.com *https://soa.princeton.edu/content/robert-geddes *https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ar_display.cfm/23846 ;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Geddes, Robert 1923 births American architecture writers American male non-fiction writers American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Architects from Philadelphia Architectural theoreticians Architecture educators Atlantic City High School alumni Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Harvard University staff Jewish architects Living people Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts People from Ventnor City, New Jersey Princeton University faculty UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design faculty UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty Urban theorists Modernist architects Modernist architects from the United States Yale University alumni Yale University faculty