The Historic Preservation and Community Planning program in the Department of Art history presents the Albert Simons Medal of Excellence to classical architect Allan Greenberg, author of George Washington, Architect. The Simons Medal of Excellence was established in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the College of Charleston School of the Arts. Albert Simons pioneered the teaching of art at the College, and the medal honors individuals who have excelled in one or more of the areas in which albert simons excelled, including civic design, architectural design, historic preservation and urban planning. Please join us in honoring Greenberg on Thursday, March 21, 2013, when he will also give a lecture on his work. [event info]

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Allan Greenberg was educated at the University of Witwatersrand, where he trained in classical, Gothic, and modern architecture. He worked for leading Scandinavian modernist architect Jørn Utzon, with whom he worked on the Sydney Opera House. After receiving his Master of Architecture degree from Yale University in 1965, he spent two years in the City of New Haven’s Redevelopment Agency and later served as Architectural Consultant to Connecticut’s Chief Justice from 1967 to 1979. He received his U.S. citizenship in 1973.

In 1972 Greenberg established his firm which currently has offices in New York City, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Alexandria, Virginia. The firm has an international reputation for combining contemporaryconstruction techniques with the best architectural traditions to create solutions that are both timeless and technologically progressive.  Projects include master plans, feasibility studies, new construction, renovations, restorations, and interior and furniture design for academic, institutional, religious, commercial, residential, and retail clients. Completed projects are found throughout the United States, as well as in Europe and the Middle East.

Greenberg’s articles, teaching, and lectures have exerted a strong influence on the study and practice of classical architecture. He has taught at Yale University’s School of Architecture and School of Law, the University of Pennsylvania, the Division of Historic Preservation at Columbia University, and the University of Notre Dame. He has written books and articles, both scholarly and popular, on the dynamic and enduring qualities of traditional architecture and design. A monograph of his work was published in 1995, followed by George Washington, Architect, in 1999. His recent books include The Architecture of Democracy: American Architecture and the Legacy of the Revolution, published by Rizzoli in July 2006, and Lutyens and the Modern Movement, released by Papadakis Publisher in 2007. In the October 2013, Rizzoli will publish a monograph of his recent work.

In 2006, Greenberg was the first American to be awarded the Richard H. Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture, in recognition for built work and scholarship that has enriched the American architectural and cultural landscape.