High Art

When American architect Richard Meier was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1984, he was a mere 49, the youngest recipient in the history of the prize. In his acceptance speech Meier said how he viewed his skill as more master builder than artist, concerned with the concrete making of his buildings, ‘My goal is presence, not illusion. My meditations are on space, form, light and how to make them. My style is something that is born out of culture and profoundly connected with personal experience,’ he said.

This tract is clear to see in his extensive architectural portfolio and goes some way to explaining why he is the architect behind a number of the world’s finest museums and galleries: The Getty Centre in Los Angeles, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta (above), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona and, recently the Ara Pacis in Rome, to name just a few. Clean light and often white buildings, Meier's architecture has a subtle magnificence to it that is unmistakable in its simple, post-modern grandeur.