Symposia
Putting Architecture in Its Place: Robert A.M. Stern and His Scholarship
The Yale School of Architecture will host a day-long symposium honoring former dean Robert A.M. Stern (1939–2025), who led the school from 1998 to 2016. This convening will reflect on Stern’s prolific scholarly output, reverence for history, and legacy as an educator.
Sessions will explore Stern’s formative experiences as a young architect, from his time at Yale as a student to the stylistic debates of the 1970s and ’80s, and investigate the long-held convictions that undergirded Stern’s scholarship and built work.
Organized by Edward P. Bass Dean and J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture Deborah Berke and Architectural Record managing editor Leopoldo Villardi, this symposium brings together academics and practitioners in the spirit of its titular subject. Participants include Barry Bergdoll, Joe Day, Melissa DelVecchio, Kyle Dugdale, Mark Foster Gage, Sam Jacob, Níall McLaughlin, Mary McLeod, Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, M. Surry Schlabs, Robert Simonson, Jennifer Stone, A. Krista Sykes, and Graham Wyatt.
Symposium Schedule
All attendees must register for the symposium. Seating will be limited and registration does not guarantee a seat in the lecture hall. Overflow spaces will be available.
9:30–10:30 a.m.
Tours of Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray Colleges
(limited to first 60 registrants)
Melissa DelVecchio, Robert A.M. Stern Architects
Jennifer L. Stone, Robert A.M. Stern Architects
Graham Wyatt, Robert A.M. Stern Architects
Symposium Program
McNeil Auditorium
Yale University Art Gallery
1111 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT 06511
11:15 a.m.
Introductory Remarks
Deborah Berke, Edward P. Bass Dean and J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture, Yale University
11:30 a.m.
Talk: Apropos Robert A.M. Stern—The Making of an Architect
Leopoldo Villardi, Architectural Record
12:00 p.m.
Panel: The Anxiety of Influence
A. Krista Sykes, Harvard University
Joe Day, Southern California Institute of Architecture
Mary McLeod, Columbia University
Moderated by M. Surry Schlabs, Yale University
2:00 p.m.
Talk: Pluralism, with Style
Mark Foster Gage, Yale University
2:30 p.m.
Panel: Persistent Preoccupations
Barry Bergdoll, Columbia University
Sam Jacob, University of Applied Arts Vienna
Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Yale University
Moderated by Kyle Dugdale, Yale University
4:00 p.m.
Keynote Lecture: On Continuity
Níall McLaughlin, Níall McLaughlin Architects
4:45 p.m.
Talk: A History of the Vodka Martini
Robert Simonson, New York Times
Concluding Remarks
5:00 p.m.
Reception
Yale Architecture Gallery
Paul Rudolph Hall, Second Floor
190 York Street
New Haven, CT 06511
This symposium is supported by the J. Irwin Miller Endowment.