Alexander gorlin biography

Gorlin is also a noted architectural critic and scholar.
Alexander Gorlin is a noted architect, design critic, author and scholar.
Early in his professional life, Alexander Gorlin, a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture and The Cooper Union, worked with two industry icons—Richard.

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Alexander Gorlin

Early in his professional life, Alexander Gorlin, a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture and The Cooper Union, worked with two industry icons—Richard Meier and I. M. Pei. He is Principal of Alexander Gorlin Architects, established in 1987 after he returned from a Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. Gorlin received the 1998 President’s Citation and the 2008 John Q. Hejduk Award. His design portfolio spans all levels of society, from high-end residences to affordable housing, places of worship to educational institutions.

While a student of architecture at Cooper Union and later, while earning his master’s degree at Yale, Gorlin began to assemble a comprehensive architectural library, which continues to be a work in progress. Collections of drawings and photographs spanning the recent and distant past and the historical and critical texts that go with them are as much a source for his design ideas as existing buildings, interiors and landscapes. Gorlin, who has authored many books about architecture,

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Architect Alexander Gorlin has led his Manhattan-based firm for over 25 years. Recent projects include a renovation of Louis Kahn’s Temple Beth El in Chappaqua, New York, and a contemporary glass-and-concrete home in Nova Scotia.

“As a child I played with building and train sets at home, specifically Kenner Girder and Panel building sets, which had miniature red-plastic columns and beams along with panels to create a whole city. In school I was good in science and art, so my mother was inspired to suggest architecture as a practical yet creative career choice."

“There was also a strange family Kabbalistic astrologer, Mr. Obloe, who said I would do well in real estate. Looking back, I suppose it was all a terrible misunderstanding on my part, as I thought that meant architecture was the right direction. Now I see I could have been Donald Trump!”

Gorlin’s drawing (done at age nine) of the SC Johnson Wax Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Photo courtesy of Alexander Gorlin Architects

“There was also the 1964 World’s Fair—in Flushing, near my home in Forest Hills

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Alexander
Gorlin
Architects

Alexander Gorlin Architects is an award-winning design firm that embraces a diverse range of clients for whom we apply the same degree of design excellence. Our firm is renowned for its ability to create comfortable, welcoming spaces with a Modernist aesthetic.

Our practice is founded on the belief that excellent design should be applied to all realms of society. To that end, we have applied our creativity and expertise to housing across the social spectrum, as well as to schools, religious institutions, and commercial buildings. We believe in rigorous analysis, synthesis and creativity at every level. Our designs are clean, modern, sophisticated and fun. Clients can expect thorough research, intensive design development, and responsive solutions to their needs.

Our work has received numerous accolades, including multiple Design Excellence Awards from the American Institute of Architects, and has been published in Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, the New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Additionally, Alexander Gorlin wa