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Renowned NYC Architect Hugh Hardy Of Irvington, 84

IRVINGTON, N.Y. – Irvington’s Hugh Hardy, an architect known for renovating or designing Radio City Music Hall and other performing arts venues and public venues in New York City, died on Friday, March 17. He was 84.

Irvington's Hugh Hardy, an architect whose work is credited with helping to revitalize Times Square, died Friday. He was 84.

Irvington's Hugh Hardy, an architect whose work is credited with helping to revitalize Times Square, died Friday. He was 84.

Photo Credit: www.tfana.org

The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage, apparently caused by a fall Hardy had earlier in the week, The New York Times reported.

The New Yorker magazine had once dubbed Hardy “the Stanford White” of the late 20th century and said there was “scarcely a cultural icon in the city” he had not had a hand in.

The New York Times noted that Hardy could use the word “pizazz” without irony, and was known for his bushy eyebrows and for greeting colleagues and friends with a cheery “Good morning, sunshine.”

His firm's restoration of the New Victory Theater helped transform Times Square into a family-friendly tourist spot, according to ny.curbed.com.

Hardy was born in Majorca, Spain to the late Gelston and Barbara (Bonestell Walton) Hardy.

He was a graduate of the Deerfield Academy and attended Princeton University, where he earned degrees in architecture and fine arts.

He started as a drafting instructor with the Army Corps of Engineers and later worked in theatrical set and lighting design.

He was a member of the United Scenic Artists and one of his first projects was to work on the Vivian Beaumont Theater, which was designed by Eero Saarinen.

He founded three architecture and design firms and also received the Architecture Firm Award in 1981, the highest honor handed out by the American Institute of Architects.

Hardy was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

He won numerous awards, including the Placemark Award for the Design History Foundation and the Historic District’s Council’s Landmarks Lion Award.

Among the other buildings his firm designed is Casa 74, a 30-story condo complex in New York City’s Upper East Side.

His wife, Tiziana Spadea, is an architect. The couple had two children, Penelope and Sebastian.

To see more of Hardy’s projects, click here.

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