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University Celebrates Edward Durell Stone, Architect of Signature Modern Campus


Hicks Stone, the son of Edward Durell Stone, UAlbany Provost and Officer in Charge Susan Herbst
  From left: Hicks Stone, the son of Edward Durell Stone, UAlbany Provost and Officer in Charge Susan Herbst, and UAlbany Professor Ray Bromley, in front of the new exhibit, "The Architectural Legacy of Edward Durell Stone." Photo by Mark Schmidt

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 9, 2007) -- The University at Albany has mounted an exhibit honoring the designs of UAlbany architect Edward Durell Stone, one of the twentieth century's leading architects and an early exponent of the modernist style. The exhibit highlights Stone's work in a series of images that portray the history of the campus and show several of Stone's many projects around the world.

The exhibit was unveiled today at University Hall, at a celebration that featured Susan Herbst, University at Albany provost and officer in charge; Hicks Stone, the son of Edward Durell Stone and himself the principal of Stone Architecture of New York; and UAlbany Professor Ray Bromley, a Stone researcher and expert.

"We're proud of the campus's extraordinary design," said Herbst, "and proud to lead a wave of renewed interest in Edward Durell Stone's distinct architectural style, which is today simultaneously historic and visionary."

Stone designed the University at Albany main campus in 1961-62, and it remains one of the largest and best-preserved examples of his characteristic modernist style, featuring such elements as open floor plans and spaces, flat roofs with colonnades, patterns of light, fountains, and a connection to modern building materials.

Stone (1902-1978) was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas and studied architecture at Harvard and MIT, as well as numerous spots overseas during a two-year stint on scholarship in Western and Mediterranean Europe. In a career spanning nearly three decades, he built one of the most successful architectural firms of its time, designing the original Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, the Pepsico World Headquarters in New York, and the University at Albany campus.

In addition to the Stone exhibit, also on display in University Hall are many modern works of art from the University Art Museum's collection, including works by such celebrated artists of the twentieth century as Donald Judd, Lowell Nesbitt, Robert Motherwell, James Rosenquist, and Josef Albers, as well as by UAlbany's own talented students, faculty, and alumni.



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