How Robert A.M. Stern Resurrected Architectural History


Stern, at the Yale School of Architecture, via Dan’s Hampton. Image Courtesy of Common Edge

Stern, at the Yale School of Architecture, via Dan’s Hampton. Image Courtesy of Common Edge

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, I was lucky enough to get a summer job with Robert A.M. Stern while I was in graduate school. Stern’s new memoir, Between Memory and Invention: My Journey in Architecture (MonacelliPress, 2022), has prompted my own mini-memoir, with some relevant details not included in the book.

I arrived at the office in the early summer, not long after the dissolution of Stern & Hagmann and then Bob’s divorce. I found two young architects-to-be, a sweet but disorganized secretary-receptionist-bookkeeper, and Bob. The office grew during the summer and beyond—and today there are over 200 in the office, including 16 partners in Robert A.M. Stern Architects (aka RAMSA).

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