2021 年 5 月 10 日，Art Gensler 于美国加利福尼亚州米尔谷家中安详辞世，享年 85 岁。

作为一位极富远见的建筑师，他将一间小型工作室逐步缔造为业内规模最大、享誉最盛的建筑设计公司之一。他是业界楷模，亦是心怀远大愿景的企业家。他认为，我们不仅需要专注于设计空间本身，更要深刻理解空间设计所拥有的力量，它帮助我们构建体验世界的方式，并塑造着身在其中的我们。

长达 65 年的传奇建筑生涯中，Art Gensler 赋予公司最为宝贵的财富是一系列无论面对任何困境，仍能持续发展繁荣的精神信条，包括笃信团队协作、支持设计教育、促进职业发展、尊重个体、全心全意服务客户、不懈倡导可持续设计。这些价值观共同构成了 Gensler 特色鲜明、影响深远的企业文化核心。他极富远见的协作文化强调无私忘我、客户至上的设计理念，如今已成为 Gensler 的强大优势。即使他本人于 2005 年卸任 CEO、2010 年卸任董事长，这一理念依然长久推动着公司强劲增长、走向全球。

Art Gensler 于 1935 年出生在纽约布鲁克林，1958 年获康奈尔大学建筑艺术规划学院（AAP）学士学位，也在此结识了之后相伴近 60 年的妻子 Drucilla (Drue) Cortell Gensler。两人于 1957 年步入婚姻殿堂，1962 年从纽约迁至旧金山生活。1965 年，Art 和 Drue 夫妇联合成立 M. Arthur Gensler Jr.联合股份有限公司，当时只有一位员工 James Follett。凭借一间办公室、一位制图员和账户里的 200 美元，他们开启了创业之路。

2010 年，Art 辞去董事长一职，并确立了联席 CEO 的管理模式，由 Andy Cohen 与 Diane Hoskins 继续领导公司至今。晚年，Art 致力于回馈社区及母校，曾担任巴克衰老研究所（Buck Institute for Aging）、旧金山现代艺术博物馆（San Francisco Museum of Modern Art）和加州艺术学院 CCA（California College of the Arts）理事。辞任董事会岗位后，他依然时常来到公司，以导师的身份悉心培养下一代领导者。无论是当地、国内还是国际社区，他深刻地改变了许多人的生活。放眼同侪，Art Gensler 的企业家才能亦是出类拔萃。由他构建的团队协作实践方式对行业产生了广泛的影响，并将公司打造为经营良好、管理妥善的业界标杆。

近期，Art 与家人赠予康奈尔大学建筑艺术规划学院 1000 万美元，鼎力支持其纽约城复兴项目，完成个人夙愿。与 Art 相伴近 60 年的妻子 Drucilla (Drue) Cortell Gensler 已先于他离世。他们共育有四个儿子，家庭成员包括：David、Alisoun 夫妇，育有 Aaron、Thisbe、Dunia、Pales；Robert、Gillian 夫妇；Douglas、Kinzie 夫妇，育有 Cortie、Cailin、Mamie；Kenneth、Jennifer 夫妇，育有 Morgan、Jake、Sam，孙女 Charlotte（Art 的曾孙一辈）。

Art 大幅提升了室内设计实践的专业程度，获得业界广泛认可，载誉无数。他助力公司巩固建筑行业标杆地位并斩获 2000 年美国建筑师学院（AIA）年度建筑事务所大奖，此奖项是 AIA 表彰团队协作实践的最高荣誉。此外，他荣列美国建筑师学院成员（FAIA）、国际室内设计师联盟成员（FIIDA），以及英国皇家建筑师协会的专业会员。2016 年，他获得未来设计学会终身成就奖（Design Futures Council Lifetime Achievement Award）。他位列《室内设计》杂志“名人堂”创始元年成员，并获得国际室内设计师联盟（IIDA）星光奖（Star Award）、安永终身成就奖（Ernst & Young’s Lifetime Achievement Award）和康奈尔年度创业家奖（Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year Award）。

▼Art Gensler 旧照，Historical Portrait of Art Gensler © Courtesy of Gensler

▼Art Gensler 近照，Portrait of Art Gensler© Emily Hagopian / Courtesy of Gensler

MAY 10, 2021 Art Gensler, an architect and visionary who propelled a small practice into one of the largest and most admired firms in the industry, has passed away peacefully at home in Mill Valley, California. He was 85. Art was an industry icon and entrepreneur with the vision that we not only design spaces, but we do so with the understanding that they have the power to shape how we experience the world and who we become within it.

During a 65-year career, his gift to the firm was an ethos that has allowed Gensler to continue to grow and prosper. That ethos was distinguished by a belief in collaboration, support of design education and career advancement, respect for individuals, dedication to clients, and endorsement of sustainable design. All these values blended to form the unique and lasting culture he established at his namesake firm. His vision of a collaborative culture that emphasizes a selfless client-first design approach has become a characteristic Gensler trait, and has helped propel the firm to global prominence long after Art stepped down as CEO in 2005 and Chairman in 2010.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1935, he completed his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning in 1958, during which time he met his wife of almost 60 years, Drucilla (Drue) Cortell Gensler. The couple married in 1957 and moved from New York to San Francisco in 1962. In 1965, Art and Drue co-founded M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates, Inc. with James Follett. They started the business in a one-room office with just one draftsman and $200 in the bank.

Art started the firm with a focus on work that fell below the radar screen for many architects — space planning and interiors. In the process, he virtually created interior design as a new category of architectural practice, bringing it to a new level of professionalism.Under his leadership, the firm was pioneer in the practice of interior architecture, playing a significant role in developing client understanding of the value of the profession. Early in his career, he recognized the need for a new architectural discipline that came to be known as tenant development. Beginning with the Alcoa Building in San Francisco, the firm developed the programming practices that have become the framework for interior architectural projects throughout the profession.

In 2010, Art stepped down as the firm’s chairman — putting the Co-CEO model in place that still exists today with Andy Cohen and Diane Hoskins leading the firm. Art spent his later years giving back to the community and his alma mater, serving as a Trustee of the Buck Institute for Aging, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the California College of the Arts. After Art’s retirement from the board, he remained a constant presence in the firm, renowned as a mentor to our next generation of leaders. Art made a profound difference in the lives of many people in the firm and the local, national, and international community. Of all the architects of his generation, Art Gensler stands out as the preeminent firm-builder. He founded and built a collaborative practice that has had wide influence on the profession and become the industry benchmark for a well-run, conservatively managed business.

Recently Art, along with his family, gifted $10 million to Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) — a gift that will sustain AAP’s thriving New York City-based program, which was a longtime dream of Art’s. Art was predeceased by his wife of nearly 60 years, Drucilla (Drue) Cortell Gensler. He is survived by his four sons and their families: David and his children (Aaron, Thisbe, Dunia, and Pales) with Alisoun; Robert and his wife Gillian; Douglas and his children (Cortie, Cailin, and Mamie) with Kinzie; and Kenneth and his children (Morgan, Jake, and Sam) with Jennifer and grandchild (and Art’s great-grandchild) Charlotte.

Art is widely credited, awarded, and recognized with elevating the interior design practice to professional standing. The reputation he helped the firm secure as a model for the architectural profession led to its being the Year 2000 recipient of the American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Firm of the Year, the Institute’s highest honor to a collaborative practice. Accomplishments throughout his storied career include being named a Fellow of both the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) and the International Interior Design Association (FIIDA), and a professional member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He received a Design Futures Council Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. A charter member of Interior Design magazine’s Hall of Fame and a recipient of IIDA’s Star Award, he also received Ernst & Young LLP’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Gensler 部分代表作品回顾

Review of Gensler’s Representative Projects

上海中心大厦 / Gensler

▼项目概览，project overall view©Blackstation

▼上海中心的设计垂直地呈现了上海独特的“里弄”布局，Shanghai Tower draws on the planning concept of Shanghai’s narrow alleys and courtyards in a vertical way©Courtesy of Gensler