MEIER, RICHARD (ALAN)

born Oct. 12, 1934, Newark, N.J., U.S. U.S. architect noted for his refinements of and variations on classic Modernist principles: simplicity of materials, open space, and avoidance of applied ornamentation. Meier was educated at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; his early experience included work with the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, New York City, and with Marcel Breuer, a noted exponent of the International style of architecture. In 1963 Meier formed his own firm and quickly received attention for a series of starkly spectacular private residences and a competition design for a monumental fountain on the Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia (in collaboration with the painter Frank Stella). Later he designed the Museum of Modern Art in Florence, Italy (1974), and his Bronx Developmental Center in New York (1976) was much admired. Meier's houses typically feature intersecting planese.g., an interior floor may extend through a glass wall to form an exterior deckand in their crisp geometric whiteness provide a sharp contrast with the natural setting. The award-winning Douglas House, overlooking Lake Michigan at Harbor Springs, Mich., is considered a superior example. Meier's works on a larger scale are characterized by the same combination of drama and simplicity. His firm, Richard Meier and Associates, has been represented in numerous exhibitions on architecture and design in major museums.