COURTESY RICHARD MEIER & PARTNERS
The New York Times reports today that Richard Meier, the Pritzker Prize–winning architect, has “stepped back” from his firm’s daily operations. The news follows reports that Meier had sexually harassed colleagues and employees.
“Founder Richard Meier will step back from day-to-day activities and support the leadership transition of the firm he founded in 1963,” Meier’s firm, Richard Meier & Partners, said in a statement, according to the Times report.
The Times reported this past March that five women, four of whom worked at Meier’s firm, had accused the architect of sexual harassment. A second report followed in April in which additional women came forward with accounts of his misconduct. Meier told the Times in March that he would be taking a six-month leave from his firm, and added, “while our recollections may differ, I sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my behavior.”
Meier has long been considered one of the most important architects in the art world. His firm designed the Getty Center in Los Angeles—a campus that includes the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, Getty Research Institute, and the J. Paul Getty Trust—as well as projects for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, New Jersey, the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, and ARTnews “Top 200” collectors Cindy and Howard Rachofsky.