On November 7th, the College of Architecture and Design hosted a massive alumni event which saw several graduates return to their alma mater. The reunion featured a lecture by celebrated architect and Pritzker prize winner, Richard Meier.

Meier’s lecture focused on his current project, Teacher’s Village. Meier was born in Newark, but raised near Maplewood, NJ. He graduated from Cornell in 1957, and was recognized as one of the New York Five, a group of modernist architects, in 1972. In 1984 Meier won the Pritzker prize, the equivalent of a Nobel Peace prize for architects. He was the youngest architect to ever win it, receiving it at the age of 49.

His firm, Richard Meier & Partners Architect LLP has taken on the project of making Teacher’s Village into a “mixed-use development”. Teacher’s Village is located in downtown Newark, south of Market Street and west of Broad Street.  On his website, Meier talks about how Teacher’s Village will have “200 residential units for teachers, three charter schools, a daycare center, and a variety of retail spaces.” In his lecture at NJIT, Meier talked about his works and projects, and more specifically what he is currently doing with Teacher’s Village. His work is still on display in the College of Architecture and Design.

After the lecture, alumni and current students were invited to a reception which flowed throughout all of the CoAD building, which showcased Meier’s work.