CCNY To Dedicate Spitzer School Of Architecture's New Home September 16

The City College of New York (CCNY) will hold a ceremony and reception to dedicate the new home of The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture 6 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, in the building’s atrium gallery.  The facility, the first new academic building on the CCNY campus since 1982, opened for classes at the start of the fall 2009 semester.

The naming of the architecture school in honor of Mr. Spitzer, a member of CCNY’s Class of 1943, and his wife was approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees April 27, 2009.  The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust has given a $25 million gift to City College for the architecture school’s benefit.

The invitation-only event will recognize Mr. and Mrs. Spitzer as well as others who have supported development of the architecture school.  Attendees will include: CUNY trustees and officials, elected leaders, college presidents and architecture deans and City College architecture faculty, students and alumni.

In addition to presentations to the honorees, the program will feature remarks by Dr. Gregory H. Williams, President of The City College of New York; Dr. Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor of The City University of New York; George Ranalli, Dean of the Spitzer School of Architecture, and Frank Sciame Jr., ’74, Chief Executive Officer of Sciame Construction and Chair of the Dean’s Advisory Committee.  After the ceremony, visitors will be able to tour the building.

Designed by Rafael Viñoly, the 118,000 square-foot facility houses studios, offices, classrooms, an auditorium, a digital design laboratory, an amphitheater, a model shop, a library and an exhibit area in the five-story atrium.  It was constructed over the framing and foundation of a building erected in the 1950s to house the College’s Cohen Library, which later moved to the North Academic Center building.

The Spitzer School of Architecture is the only public school of architecture in New York City.  The school, which was established in 1968, has approximately 300 undergraduate architecture students and 100 graduate students in its three graduate programs: architecture, urban design and landscape architecture.

Bernard Spitzer, a professional engineer, is a prominent New York City real estate developer and commercial property owner. He and his wife Anne, an Adjunct Professor of English Literature at Manhattan Marymount College, reside in Manhattan and Rye. The Spitzers had previously given $2.1 million to endow the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Chair in Political Science at The City College of New York.

Additional Resources

Profile of the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture

Backgrounder on the new building