Tigerman, Stanley

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TIGERMAN, STANLEY

TIGERMAN, STANLEY (1930– ), U.S. architect. Born in Chicago, Tigerman studied at mit, and by his own admission "flunked out." From 1950 to 1954, Tigerman served in the U.S. Navy. After his return to civilian life in 1954, he worked for a number of architectural firms. He returned to study architecture at Yale University and graduated with a master's degree in 1961. His first venture on his own was a small firm in Chicago, Tigerman, Rudolph and Young. In 1962 he established a partnership with Norman Koglin, which lasted two years. After 1964 he was the principal of Stanley Tigerman and Associates Ltd., in Chicago and by 2004 was a principal in the Chicago architectural firm of Tigerman McCurry. He has also taught at several universities in the United States.

Tigerman is best known as founding member of the "Chicago Seven" group of architects who challenged the teachings of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Tigerman spoke out about the arrogance and prejudices of the American architectural leaders, especially the American Academy in Rome, which resisted having women members for its first 70 years, as well as no Catholics, Jews or people of color as members.

Tigerman was first recognized for his skill with line and later with organic shapes. From the beginning, he was concerned with the social and political aspects of architecture. The housing project Woodlawn Gardens was sensitive to the issue of density and political empowerment of racial minorities who were the presumed tenants of the complex. Tigerman's firm became known for having a large number of people of color on the permanent professional staff. One of his latest commissions was the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Educational Center in Skokie, the home of many Holocaust survivors in the second half of the 20^th century. Tigerman also served on the jury for the Jewish Heritage Community Center to be built near Babi-Yar, a Holocaust killing site in Kiev.

He is the author of several books, including Architecture of Exile, The Chicago Tribune Tower Competition and Late Entries; Versus: An American Architect's Alternatives; Stanley Tigerman: Buildings and Projects 1966 – 1989; and The California Condition: A Pregnant Architecture.

Tigerman was chosen to represent the United States at the 1976 and 1980 Venice Biennales and was part of the "New Chicago Architecture" exhibition at the Museo di Castelvecchio in Verona. He received Yale University's first Alumni Arts Award in 1985. In 1976 he was both chairman of the aia Committee on Design and coordinator of the exhibition and book entitled Chicago Architects. In 1989 he was awarded the Dean of Architecture Award, and in 1992 he received the Illinois Academy of Fine Arts Award. In 1996 he received the American Jewish Committee's Cultural Achievement Award. The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers honored Mr. Tigerman with the Louis Sullivan Award in September 2000. In 1990, his work was exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1994, Tigerman and his wife, Eva Maddox, established Archeworks – the multidisciplinary design school in Chicago. Its aim is to bring a social consciousness to the realm of architecture and design.