Art Gensler, Founder of World s Largest Design Firm, Dies at 85
May 12, 2021
Art Gensler, industry titan and
Interior Design Hall of Fame member, passed away May 10 at his home in Mill Valley, California, at age 85. During his 65-year career as an architect and an entrepreneur, he transformed what started out as a three-person practice in San Francisco into the world s largest design firm. Launching offices around the globe, he and Gensler the firm forever changed the profession by elevating the practice of interior design and inviting client collaboration.
Since opening its doors in 1965, Gensler has amassed an unwavering reputation of excellence stemming from its “one-firm firm” culture, which values “we” over “me,” stressing the importance of teamwork. This ethos has won and guided countless projects worldwide, starting with such early clients as The Gap and expanding to office headquarters including TikTok’s and the Motion Picture Association’s airports, s
Architecture news & editorial desk
Art Gensler, celebrated architect and founder of international architecture practice Gensler, has died aged 85.
Born Millard Arthur Gensler Jr. in Brooklyn, New York City in 1935, he studied architecture at Cornell University s College of Architecture, Art and Planning, earning a B.Arch degree in 1958. He subsequently moved to the west coast to found M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates, Inc. in 1965 alongside his wife Drucilla and their business partner James Follett.
Over the next five-and-a-half-decades, he would turn the small interiors shop into the world’s largest architecture firm. Gensler is widely credited with elevating the practice of interior design to professional standing, steadfastly putting people and clients first, eschewing the ‘starchitect’ concept by keeping a low profile, and taking a collaborative approach to design with a focus on user experience.
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.
Gensler
Art Gensler, co-founder of the San Francisco-based global architecture design and planning firm now called Gensler, died May 10 from an ongoing illness at home in Mill Valley, California. He was 85.
In 1965, Art Gensler, his wife, Drue, and James Follett co-founded M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates, Inc. in a one-room office with just one draftsman and $200 in the bank. It focused on work that fell below the radar screen for many architects space planning and interiors, the firm said in a statement. In the process, Gensler virtually created interior design as a new category of architectural practice, bringing it to a new level of professionalism.
Art Gensler, Founder of World s Largest Design Firm, Dies at 85
May 12, 2021
Art Gensler, industry titan and
Interior Design Hall of Fame member, passed away May 10 at his home in Mill Valley, California, at age 85. During his 65-year career as an architect and an entrepreneur, he transformed what started out as a three-person practice in San Francisco into the world s largest design firm. Launching offices around the globe, he and Gensler the firm forever changed the profession by elevating the practice of interior design and inviting client collaboration.
Since opening its doors in 1965, Gensler has amassed an unwavering reputation of excellence stemming from its “one-firm firm” culture, which values “we” over “me,” stressing the importance of teamwork. This ethos has won and guided countless projects worldwide, starting with such early clients as The Gap and expanding to office headquarters including TikTok’s and the Motion Picture Association’s airports, s