Robert A M Stern, the New York architect celebrated for blending classical elegance with modern precision, has died at 86 at his Manhattan home.
His son, Nicholas, disclosed Stern passed after a brief pulmonary illness.
Stern, long admired within architectural circles but little known to the wider public until late in life, gained international recognition with 15 Central Park West.
Opened in 2008, the limestone-clad building combined a 19-storey prewar-style front tower with a 35-storey modern high-rise, connected by a glass rotunda.
The building sold out before completion, generating over $2 billion in sales and attracting high-profile residents including Sting, Denzel Washington, Norman Lear and hedge-fund executives.
Stern called it his breakthrough. “I still don’t use a computer. I draw everything by hand,” he said.
Born in Brooklyn in 1939, Stern studied history at Columbia College before earning a master’s degree in architecture at Yale.
He founded Robert AM Stern Architects in 1977, designing a wide range of buildings from residential towers and private homes to university dormitories, cultural institutions and corporate skyscrapers, including the Comcast Center in Philadelphia and the George W Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.
He also served as dean of Yale’s School of Architecture from 1998 to 2016, championing a “traditional modern” style that combined function with classical beauty.
Stern’s work often drew on historical forms, merging elegance with contemporary needs.
Critics insisted that his buildings “exert a quiet friction against change,” favouring timelessness over flash.
He was known for his distinctive personal style, butter-yellow socks, suede loafers and chalk-striped suits, and a brisk, energetic presence in classrooms, boardrooms and sales pitches alike.
He is survived by his son, Nicholas; his brother, Elliot; and three grandchildren.
Stern lived in the Chatham, a Manhattan building he designed, and maintained a home in East Hampton, New York.
He wrote more than a dozen books on architecture and hosted the PBS documentary Pride of Place: Building the American Dream.
Reflecting on his youth, he once revealed that he loved walking Manhattan streets, “looking around” at the city’s rich architectural details, a passion that defined a career spanning more than five decades.
Robert AM Stern’s legacy, embodied most famously in 15 Central Park West, leaves a lasting mark on Manhattan’s skyline and the world of luxury architecture, according to reports.
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