Hugh Hardy

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Hugh Hardy (July 26, 1932 – March 17, 2017) was an American architect famous for designing and revitalizing theaters, performing arts venues, and other cultural spaces across the United States. He helped shape many of New York City’s iconic spaces and was praised by critics for his impact on the city’s cultural life.

Early life and education
Hardy was born in Majorca, Spain, to Gelston Hardy and Barbara Walton. The family soon moved to New York, splitting time between Manhattan and Irvington-on-Hudson. He graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1950, earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Princeton in 1954, and a Master of Fine Arts in Architecture in 1956. As a student, he designed sets for Princeton productions and later worked with theater designer Jo Mielziner in New York. He joined the United Scenic Artists union in 1958 and began his career in theater design.

Career and firms
Hardy founded three architectural firms: Hugh Hardy & Associates (1962), Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (1967), and H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture (2004). The firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer won the Architecture Firm Award in 1981, the highest honor from the American Institute of Architects. Hardy was also a Fellow of the AIA and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1993.

Notable projects
A specialist in theater design and renovation, Hardy contributed to the revival of many major venues, including Radio City Music Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Broadway’s New Amsterdam and New Victory Theaters. He also returned to Princeton’s McCarter Theater to design the Berlind Theater addition, completed in 2003.

Awards and honors
Hardy received numerous honors, including the AIA New York Chapter’s President’s Award (2002), the Placemark Award from the Design History Foundation (2001), the Architectural League of New York’s President’s Medal (2010), and the Historic Districts Council’s Landmarks Lion award (2013). He became a full member of the National Academy of Design in 1994. In 2010, he was invited to participate in Vanity Fair’s World Architecture Survey.

Personal life and death
Hardy married fellow architect Tiziana Spadea in 1965, and they had two children. He died on March 17, 2017, in New York City after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage following a fall. He was 84. After his death, lights were dimmed on theater marquees across the United States in his memory.