Max Abramovitz - Biography

Max Abramovitz (May 23, 1908, Chicago - September 12, 2004, Pound Ridge, New York) was an architect best known for his work with the New York City firm Harrison & Abramovitz.

Life

Abramovitz was the son of Romanian Jewish immigrant parents. He graduated in 1929 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Architecture. He later received an M.S. from Columbia University's architecture school in 1931. He also was the recipient of a two-year fellowship at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts in Paris before returning to the US and becoming partners with Wallace Harrison from 1941-1976. In 1961, he won the Rome Prize.

Abramovitz died in September 2004 in Pound Ridge, New York, at the age of 96. His drawings and archives are held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. Abramovitz also received an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from the University of Illinois in 1970.

Work

for work from 1941 through 1976, also see Harrison & Abramovitz

• Avery Fisher Hall (at Lincoln Center, originally the Philharmonic Hall), New York City, 1962
• three buildings for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, including the 1963 Assembly Hall ($8.5M), at its time the world's largest edge-supported dome, which is 400 feet in diameter and rises 128 feet above the floor, the 1969 Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and the Hillel building
• Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Building, Hartford, Connecticut, 1963
• Temple Beth Zion, Buffalo, New York, 1967 images
• the U.S. Steel Tower (aka USX Tower) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1970
• National City Tower, Louisville, Kentucky, 1972
• the Tour Gan, La Defense, Paris, France, 1974
• the Learning Research and Development Center building, University of Pittsburgh, 1974
• One SeaGate, Toledo, Ohio, 1982 (as Abramovitz, Harris & Kingsland)
• AEP Building, Columbus, Ohio, 1983 (as Abramovitz, Harris & Kingsland)
• Capitol Square, Columbus, Ohio, 1984 (as Abramovitz, Harris & Kingsland)
• the Hilles Library, a new home for the Radcliffe College Library at Harvard
• the Three Chapels at Brandeis University

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External links

• Obituary from New York Times, 15 Sep 2004
• New York Architects Profile
• Information on Harrison, Abramovitz, & Abbe - from Emporis.com
• Information on Harrison & Abramovitz (the firm's earlier incarnation) - from Emporis.com
• Max Abramovitz Architectural Records and Papers, 1926-1995. Held in the Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York City
• Architect Max Abramowitz, Designer of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Dies (Architectural Record, September 17, 2004)