May 30, 2007
by: Murrye Bernard Assoc. AIA LEED AP

In this issue:
·Passings: Denis Glen Kuhn, FAIA, & Giorgio Cavaglieri, FAIA


Passings: Denis Glen Kuhn, FAIA, & Giorgio Cavaglieri, FAIA
By Rick Bell, FAIA, Executive Director AIANY

Fuori di te nessuno lo ricordava
Non ho fatto ricerche: ora è inutile.
Dopo di te sono rimasto il solo
per cui egli è esistito. Ma è possibile,
lo sai, amare un-ombra, ombre noi stessi.

And no one remembered him except you.
I asked no questions; and now it’s useless.
I’m the only one after you
for whom he ever existed.
But it’s possible, you know, to love a shadow,
we ourselves being shadows.

From Tuo fratello morì giovane:
Eugenio Montale (1975 Nobel Laureate)

The obituaries for Giorgio Cavaglieri, FAIA, and Denis Kuhn, FAIA, were side-by-side in the New York Times Friday, May 18. Written by different writers, the intersecting lines of their lives were not noted in the parallel newsprint columns. Both were presidents of the AIA New York Chapter (Giorgio in 1970, Denis in 1989). Both cared passionately about the adaptive re-use of the architectural legacies found throughout our City, our cities. Both labored together and separately over projects in New York City and elsewhere, including the historic Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.

Not mentioned in either obituary were their mutual respect and affection, and the fact that for over 15 years, Denis worked with Giorgio. Many called Denis “Giorgio’s right arm” at the time. Noted in Giorgio’s Times obituary was his fall, the tumble at age 93 “when he badly injured his right arm” and “then learned to paint watercolors with his left hand, fulfilling his first ambition to be a painter.” Giorgio painted his friends and colleagues, as did Denis in a different way, using words calmly and adroitly to diffuse tension and foster common purpose.

Outside Our Saviour Church in Manhasset where Denis was eulogized by friends and family on May 18, Stanton Eckstut, FAIA, his partner at Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, said that Denis resisted entreaties to slow down or take it easy, to not travel so much or not be so fully engaged in the life of the firm. Denis reportedly shrugged and asked what else would he do, what else was more important to do? Giorgio, too, kept his practice active until he was 93 years old. Two exemplary architects and leaders of the architectural profession, lost, sadly, at the same time.


In conversation, by note and by e-mail, their colleagues have sent remembrances. e-Oculus can be the vehicle for sharing these memories with others, starting with the following thoughts by Carl Galioto, FAIA, Nathan Jerry Maltz, AIA, LeAnn Shelton, Esq., AIA, Linda Yowell, FAIA, and Sarelle Weisberg, FAIA. Other remembrances are welcome and can be sent to e-Oculus.

Giorgio & Denis (Carl Galioto, FAIA, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill)
Giorgio brought creativity, passion, intensity and professionalism into every effort within each project. He carried himself into client meetings with a sense of dignify and greater purpose that helped me to realize that the ideals that I developed in school were not sophomoric dreams that needed to be discarded once in the real world, but could be the fundamental principles of practice. I don’t believe that Giorgio believed that he had a small practice — just a compact one that projected large and important ideas about the rethinking and rebirth of significant historical buildings, and the importance of the relationship between people and their multi-generational, pan-historical urban fabric. It was a very rich and lively vision.

Denis brought humor, stability, pragmatism, and a sense of craft to the work. We needed the humor as there was Giorgio, Denis, five staff, and a receptionist working in a carefully designed space of under 1,000 square feet. At that early stage in my career, Denis was a model of competence and confidence and I admired his ability to seemingly always know the right answer. Even then, Denis was devoted to the AIA as he labored on editions of Oculus. Typical of Giorgio, he sincerely wished the people who worked for him great professional success as they moved and only saw the larger picture of our profession and his adopted city that he loved.

Giorgio (Nathan Jerry Maltz, AIA)
Giorgio Cavaglieri’s spirit was indomitable. At the age of 90 he was still operating his architectural office, and expressed disappointment that some potential clients were concerned about his being able to perform the work. He remained active in the New York region, sketching, painting, designing, and attending many events sponsored by the professional organizations of which he was a member.

Several years ago he suffered an embolism that partially paralyzed his right hand — he was right-handed. Somewhat chagrined, but undaunted, he embarked upon a new “career” of painting watercolors left-handed! He completed numerous lively portraits in his Central Park West apartment, many of his professional colleagues and friends.

His memory will live with us for a long time to come.

A few thoughts on Denis (LeAnn Shelton, Esq., AIA, Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn)
Punta Patilla is the northernmost point of the Dominican Republic. They say it is the first place that Christopher Columbus landed when he came to the New World. The site is almost indescribable — an expanse of ocean running into beaches framed by morning glory-covered dunes, mangrove trees, rolling hills and lush ravines. The program for the site, an eco-resort, was incidental. It was the perfect place for an architect, steeped in historic preservation, to spend his last moments, completing his life and career, imagining a place that would preserve paradise.

Giorgio’s Relevance Today (Linda Yowell, FAIA, Linda Yowell Architects)
“Architects, as professionals responsible for shaping the environment must utilize their skills to reduce pollution through conservation of energy and through design planning” (“Architects Urge Pollution Fight,” New York Times, April 25, 1971). A widely-held belief in 2007 — but daring in 1971, when Giorgio Cavaglieri, then AIANY President, made this statement at a press conference to promote energy conservation goals. The 1971 list of recommendations is remarkably similar to those included in Mayor Bloomberg’s 2030 sustainability plan, including calling for “the massive reduction of private cars from selected areas of the city.”

Giorgio led the way in adaptive reuse of buildings, perhaps the ultimate act of conservation. He respected the work of earlier generations but was not a historicist. By simply believing that good design, elegance, quality and respect for others were timeless, Giorgio Cavaglieri was always ahead of his time.

About Giorgio (Sarelle Weisberg, FAIA)
1. At one of the first AIA National Conventions I attended — it was in Kansas City — Giorgio invited me to go “on his arm” to the big party and I had such a fantastic evening! He knew everyone and they greeted him with great warmth. At that time he was an honored guest speaker at many conventions, discussing with and educating architects on adaptive reuse. He had submitted a proposal for the abandoned train station in Kansas City, which he showed me, but they didn’t move ahead with it, with him. I was in Kansas City last summer and that building now has a museum and a “destination” restaurant. (yes, adaptively reused — but not by Giorgio)

2. He did a wonderful restoration of the New York Public Library Fifth Avenue Periodical Room as the first major rehab/upgrade of that building’s major spaces. He told me at the time, when I complimented him in the space: “Every architect should have one client like that;” the Readers’ Digest people paid for the project and there was no budget limitation for Giorgio!

3. Just a year ago he painted my portrait — a watercolor — done with his good, left hand, in about an hour, in front of his glorious view-window. I regret I didn’t stop in more often, as I so often passed his building. His spirit was extraordinary, in light of the late tragedy of his fall.

4. Did you know, Giorgio did many Modern small projects? I know about several libraries in New York City neighborhoods. Also, by some odd serendipity, Denis Kuhn worked for a number of years for Giorgio before moving on to Cooper Eckstut. I doubt you want to mention that weird coincidence: that their obits were side-by-side in the Times — a generation apart.

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