The following is a June 23 press release from Meier Partners, the new name for the New York office formerly known as Richard Meier & Partners Architects. The restructure coincides with the official retirement of Richard Meier, FAIA, who was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women in March 2018, from the firm. Ana Meier, his daughter, remains an adviser to the firm and will lead a new research effort with newly named partner and lead designer Dukho Yeon, AIA. George H. Miller, FAIA, has also been named a partner as well as chief operating officer. Meanwhile, the firm's Los Angeles office will become its own entity, Studiopractice, and be led by design partner Michael Palladino, FAIA, and partners James Crawford and Alex Wuo, AIA.
Signaling an important new phase in the evolution of one of the world’s best-known architecture firms, Richard Meier & Partners Architects today announced a new name—Meier Partners—and a new leadership structure.
Dukho Yeon, AIA, who has 30 years of distinguished work at the firm, has been named a Partner and Lead Designer of Meier Partners. George H. Miller, FAIA, the former managing partner of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, has been announced as Partner and Chief Operating Officer.
Richard Meier, FAIA, FRIBA, who founded Richard Meier & Partners Architects in New York in 1963, has retired from the firm. Over nearly six decades, he nurtured its growth from a one-man studio into a globally renowned office with more than 130 buildings completed on four continents. He will be available for consultation by clients upon request.
As leaders of Meier Partners, Yeon and Miller will expand on the firm’s rich legacy of more than half a century of visionary design. They remain committed to creating uplifting architecture, distinguished by the features that have long been the hallmark of the practice: an emphasis on lyrical composition, a passion for exquisite materiality, and a reverence for natural light. Each Meier Partners building will continue to engage in an eloquent dialogue with its surroundings, striving for a positive social and environmental impact on the community in which it is built.
Ana Meier will continue to serve as an advisor to Meier Partners and will spearhead a new research initiative in collaboration with Dukho Yeon. The signature initiative will evaluate the effects of daylight on health and emotion, beginning with an analysis of Meier spaces. Meier Partners believes that natural light is not only critical to good design but is deeply connected to health and vitality. This initiative is undertaken to inspire a larger conversation about the importance of light. Building on the firm’s longstanding belief that its buildings should be good citizens of the communities in which they are constructed, this initiative will be guided by Meier Partners’ commitment to making a meaningful contribution to the future of its field.
Along with the restructuring of the New York firm, the Los Angeles office of Richard Meier & Partners will now become an independent firm named STUDIOpractice. The new firm will be led by Michael Palladino, FAIA, and Jim Crawford, who helmed Richard Meier’s Los Angeles office for 25 years. Palladino will continue to collaborate with Meier Partners on select projects as a consulting partner.
The restructured Meier Partners is staffed by a diverse team of talented employees with an unmatched range of experience, positioned to offer comprehensive design services—from urban planning and architecture to interior and product design—to clients anywhere in the world. The firm has projects recently completed and currently on the boards in South America, Europe, Asia, and across the United States, including 685 First Avenue and 1 Waterline Square in New York City; a corporate headquarters tower in Seoul; a resort master plan in Marbella, Spain, with hotels, condominiums, townhouses, and villas; residential buildings in Jesolo, Italy; and Solol Museum for Modern Art in Gangneung, Korea.
Meier Partners’ intensely collaborative, studio-driven approach will benefit from the depth of experience and leadership skills of core team members Stefan Scheiber-Loeis, Guillermo Murcia, Hans Put, David Davila, and Sharon Oh. The young and vibrant studio is uniquely poised to combine a passion for craft and a deep knowledge of tradition with cutting-edge expertise in new building technologies and materials science, creating designs that elevate and inspire.
George Miller said, “It is an honor to have the opportunity to help lead this legendary firm. Meier Partners stands for a design ethic that remains as vital as ever, realized today by a diverse, energetic, and extraordinarily talented staff of professionals who are enthusiastic about applying the firm’s deep base of knowledge to forward-looking purposes. I am excited to see the remarkable work being done under a vanguard of designers led by Dukho Yeon.”
Dukho Yeon said, “The future we envision at Meier Partners will build on our proven record of exceptional architecture to create work that is both relevant for our time and meaningful to society. We are committed to creating studio-crafted designs that become immersive architectural experiences that bring back optimism and inspiration, especially after the past year of global challenges. Our talented and fast-growing, reinvigorated team is working on a new generation of projects that I am confident will evolve our legacy and redefine the firm and the industry as we move forward.”
Michael Palladino said, “Over the last two decades, our Los Angeles studio has designed a broad range of buildings in the United States and overseas. Along with state-of-the-art drawing, modeling, and rendering tools, our team relies heavily on sketches and hand-crafted models to communicate our vision through all phases of the design. The name change to STUDIOpractice represents a way of working and is an acknowledgment of our dedicated team of architects and designers, who have worked together for years with a shared vision for inspiring architecture. We look forward to continuing the relationship with our colleagues in New York through targeted opportunities and collaborations.”
