Howard Elkus, FAIA, RIBA, LEED AP, cofounder of the Boston-based architectural firm Elkus Manfredi Architects, died on April 1 in Palm Beach, Fla., 11 days before his 79th birthday. The firm announced his passing on April 3 but did not disclose the cause of death or information about survivors.
“We grieve the loss of Howard as a co-founder of our firm, as a visionary architect, as a mentor, and as a friend. We extend our condolences to his wife, children, and immediate family,” the firm stated.
A graduate of Stanford University (B.S. mechanical engineering) and Harvard University (M.Arch with Distinction), Elkus began his five-decade-long career with the Walter Gropius-founded Architects Collaborative, where Elkus met his future partner David Manfredi. (The Architects Collaborative disbanded in 1995.)
In a statement, Manfredi referred to Elkus as “an extrordinary friend and business partner. He uniquely brought joy to every endeavor, made everyone he met feel special, and lived life fully every day.”
Howard Elkus, who cofounded the Boston firm Elkus Manfredi Architects with David Manfredi in 1988, died on April 1 at the age of 78. Image: Bruce Rogovin
His architectural and interior design work with Elkus Manfredi Architects ranged widely across myriad building typologies. In recent years, the firm has designed headquarters for New Balance, WS Development, and Blue Cross Blue Shield; as well as the Verb Hotel in Boston, and Linq Hotel & Casino (a reimagining of Caesar’s Imperial Palace) and City Hall in Las Vegas.
Other recent major projects Elkus was involved in include Miami Worldcenter, a redevelopment of 27 acres in downtown Miami that will expand the city’s central business district by between 12% and 15%, and create a vibrant walkable pedestrian environment. The first phase build-out includes three residential towers over 1 million sf of podium retail.
The firm also designed the podium retail component of the Hudson Yards project in New York that’s currently under construction. Elkus referred to HudsonYards as “the biggest mixed-use project in the United States, and one of the most impressive in the world.”
Elkus was the grandchild of Felix Kahn, one of the Master Builders of the West, and grandnephew of Albert Kahn, the foremost American industrial architect of his day. In a 2004 interview, Elkus told Visual Merchandising and Store Design (VMSD) that his first real design assignment was Copley Place, which in the mid 1980s was Boston’s largest urban mixed-use project.
He revealed during that interview that his inspiration for projects came from “the world out there. Like music, I get it from the simplest notes to a resounding orchestra. Nature does it for me and so, too, does man’s wondrous works, perhaps most of all the heroism of less-fortunate souls.”
Elkus saw Hudson Yards are part of a broader global urbanization, which he viewed as “wildly exciting and the potential is off the charts.” In a 2015 interview with Interior Design magazine, he said the “great question” of that movement continues to be “how do we maximize quality of life?”
Related Stories
| Apr 29, 2013
Chicago Faucets redesigns website, adds Product Configurator for mix-and-match components and savings calculator
Chicago Faucets has redesigned its website at chicagofaucets.com, which embodies the company's innovation and commitment to the growing needs of its customers.
| Mar 21, 2013
Sloan president Jim Allen makes the case for the business of building green at Congressional Briefing
“The business case for green building has been proven,” said Jim Allen, President and CEO of Sloan, at a recent Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Mr. Allen was invited by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to give his unique perspective as an American manufacturer supplying products to the Green Building Industry on what the green building movement has meant to his company.
| Oct 12, 2012
New HyTronic Edge from Chicago Faucets brings funky, modern aesthetics to restrooms
The Edge spout is cast entirely from ECAST low-lead brass to meet current lead reduction requirements as well as the forthcoming 2014 federal lead reduction law.
| Jul 3, 2012
TOLK now called Dewberry
The renaming indicates a simplification in Dewberry’s corporate naming conventions.
| Jun 1, 2012
New BD+C University Course on Insulated Metal Panels available
By completing this course, you earn 1.0 HSW/SD AIA Learning Units.
| May 31, 2012
AIA Course: High-Efficiency Plumbing Systems for Commercial and Institutional Buildings
Earn 1.0 AIA/CES learning units by studying this article and successfully completing the online exam.
| May 29, 2012
Reconstruction Awards Entry Information
Download a PDF of the Entry Information at the bottom of this page.
| May 24, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Awards Entry Form
Download a PDF of the Entry Form at the bottom of this page.