Paul Goldberger named Vincent Scully Prize laureate
Joseph Urban Professor of Design at Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments named awarded Vincent Scully Prize. Photo by Conway Liao.
Paul Goldberger, the Joseph Urban Professor of Design at The New School, was recently named the fourteenth laureate of the prestigious Vincent Scully Prize. Awarded by the National Building Museum, the prize recognizes excellence in practice, scholarship, or criticism in architecture, historic preservation, and urban design.
Paul Goldberger served as Dean of Parsons from 2004 through 2006, in his current role he serves on faculty in a number of programs in the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons. He has written extensively on architecture for both The New Yorker and The New York Times. In 1984, his work at the latter outlet was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He is currently a contributing editior at Vanity Fair.
Goldberger is able to “explain architecture to the popular readership in a way that bridges the perceiver and the designer,” said architect and author Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, who served on the jury which awarded him the prize. Joining her were chair David Schwarz of David M. Schwarz Architects; Deborah Berke of Deborah Berke & Partners Architects; Ned Cramer, editor-in-chief of ARCHITECT; and Gary Haney, a design partner at Skidmore Owings and Merrill Architects.
“A long time ago, Vincent Scully convinced an eager Yale undergraduate that architecture was not just about buildings, but about all of culture and community, and that writing about it could be a meaningful pursuit,” Goldberger told the National Building Museum upon learning of his award. “In a very real way I owe my career to the lessons I learned from him, which is why, for me, there could be no higher honor than to receive the prize that carries his name. I am truly grateful to the jury and to the National Building Museum for selecting me to receive the Vincent Scully Prize.”
A public award ceremony to celebrate Goldberger’s receipt of the prize will be held at the National Building Museum on Thursday, November 15, 2012 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. During the public program, Goldberger will deliver a talk on the state of architecture criticism today, the changing role of mainstream media in a digital world, and the rise of citizen journalists. The Vincent Scully Prize has been awarded to one outstanding architecture scholar annually since 1999, when the first prize was awarded to Vincent Scully himself. Past winners include: Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Robert A.M. Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture; and His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.