Art Lubetz with a group of students from the fall 1995 second year studio. Former student Lori Fitzgerald (center row second from left) recalls, “He was a fiercely passionate person and architect, and his heart was in the work."
This past July, we lost an enigmatic figure in the Carnegie Mellon Architecture community: Art Lubetz. The visionary architect, educator and alumnus had a profound impact on the lives of those he taught, worked and collaborated with. In the weeks following his passing, we collected memories of him from his former students, fellow faculty, mentees, colleagues and those whose lives he touched. We invite you to reflect and remember Art through these stories, as told in the words of our community.
As part of this year's Pittsburgh Architecture Week, we're hosting Architecture Night @CMU. In addition to showcasing student work, CMU Libraries' Architecture Archives will highlight Art Lubetz's oeuvre — a tangible opportunity to remember Art’s legacy. The event takes place on Tuesday, October 7 from 5:30 to 7:30pm in the College of Fine Arts Great Hall. Please join us.
Art Lubetz and Gerard Damiani, in 2006. “He believed in an Architecture of the highest intellectual level,” Damiani said.
Art will be clearly missed by all those who met him. He cherished ideas and those who had them. As he said, make more Art. He lived and practiced this mantra and held everyone accountable to achieve this very high level. He believed in an Architecture of the highest intellectual level.
"We don't actually fear death, we fear that no one will notice our absence, that we will disappear without a trace." — T. S. Eliot
Art lives through his works, his exchanges with his peers, and the students he taught.
— Gerard Damiani Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon Architecture
Sad to hear Art has passed. He was my second year professor back in 1999. What he taught me most was to have an opinion, he certainly had his. Mostly that we all needed to use ex-lax to loosen up. After my semester with Art, I decided to have my own opinions about what is good in architecture, to my detriment sometimes, but I was put on my own path which I follow to this day.
My favorite moment with him is we were doing a desk crit and somehow the synagogue on Fifth and Morewood, Rodef Shalom, came up. He said, "Heiman, you're Jewish right?" (He was, too, I guess.) "What does the design of that synagogue say?" I answered meekly, "I don't know, the glory of God's grace coming through the oculus?" He replied, "No! It says that we Jews — " and banged his fist on the desk — "ARE HERE TO STAY!"
— Eric Heiman, B.Arch '92 Principal / Creative Director, Volume Inc.
Art was my second year studio professor and two of the things he told us on the very first day of school have stuck with me for my entire career: #1 - "Nobody cares what you want." As a 19-year-old at the time I didn't truly appreciate what this meant and found it rather pessimistic. Years later, I understand that architecture is grounded as a service profession and while it is important to feel a sense of ownership and pride in our work, ultimately we are not designing for ourselves but for others. We must learn to consider the needs, desires and experience of others in our practice. #2 - "You are not here at Carnegie Mellon to learn architecture." Art went on to explain that we were at Carnegie Mellon to learn from others and how to think critically about the world around us.
To this day I am grateful for his advice (even though I felt quite intimated by him at the time) and hope that his legacy at Carnegie Mellon will live on for generations to come.
So many memories of Art... before having him as a studio professor, he kinda scared me. But once I was fortunate enough to get assigned to his studio, I realized how gentle and kind he really was. His nickname for me was "BS" — he said I could spin gold out of s**t during my reviews (I was lucky, he had worse nicknames for others in my class). He loved turning my models upside down and saying, "Isn't that better?" And whether I responded "yes" or "no," he would then quickly ask me "WHY?!" He believed fully in the notion of the embodied mind and experiential architecture. Art did not mince words. And he didn't care if you were offended by his methods. Whatever it took, to get through to us students, he would do it. He always wore black. He would show up unannounced on weekends and in the late hours just to check on us as a deadline approached. We heard his cane, and his uneven gait echoing down the hall, before we saw him. I still hear his voice in my head regularly when considering how people will interact with the buildings I design. One of the best professors and mentors I ever had.
Art's greatest quality was honesty — which informed his integrity. He never shied away from a worthy argument, and could take a punch as well as he could land one. A great Pittsburgher who will be remembered with great frequency in his absence.
— John Folan Architecture Department Head, Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, University of Arkansas
I've had the privilege of knowing Art since 1988 when I interned for him, then as a faculty colleague at CMU. He was a one of a kind who influenced many and will be missed for sure.
— Kristen Kurland University Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
I did not know Art personally, but I would think it would be very interesting to find out how many future firm owners passed through Art's studio as interns. Scores, I'm guessing.
— Steven Hawkins, B.Arch '73 Retired Architect
I definitely count myself as part of the students he influenced. Whenever I hear an architect say something like, "What I wanted to do is…" I can almost hear him say "I don’t care what you wanted to do, tell me what you did." A similar answer you got when talking about how your architecture "represented something," — architecture doesn’t represent, it IS. Lucky to have had him as a teacher.
I had the privilege of having him as a studio professor in 2007 and as my thesis advisor in 2010.
While I've had many great professors and mentors over the years, the lessons I learned from Art are among the ones that I return to most often as they extend beyond just architectural practice. From his insistence on making his students explain why for every decision, to making us pay-up 25 cents to the pizza party fund anytime someone said "kind of" or "sort of" in a review, he had a special way of gracefully blending rigor and humor.
His advice was often repetitive to the point of annoyance, but nearly two decades later, I can attest that his strategy was effective. I still regularly hear his voice in my head asking me "why" and encouraging me to "question the obvious." I'm grateful to have had him as a professor and know he will be deeply missed by his family and CMU community.
— Jared Friedman, B.Arch '10 Computational Product Manager & Associate Principal, Walter P Moore
I only met Art in the past year or so and he took great effort to attend a retirement for a colleague. So many people visited with him at the event it was clear what an impact he had on his students who were decades past graduation themselves.
— Melinda Hungerman Johnson Formerly Senior Director of Development, CMU College of Fine Arts
I remember seeing Art slowly making his way up the grand stair of the CFA main building to get to studio, cane in one hand and handrail in the other. I think I may have asked him if he needed any assistance, which he resolutely refused, and then we talked about how the experience of movement up and around that Beaux-Arts stair is the best part of the CFA building. Many of my spry young classmates would regularly chose to take the elevator up to studio rather than make the tiring trip up the stairs, but, like me, Art loved the experience of the stairs, and evidently his love made the struggle worth it!
Later, I asked Art if he would sponsor me for an independent study on phenomenology, and once a week for an entire semester he'd generously share his time and insights as we discussed the readings he gave me on neuroscience, phenomenology, and the experience of movement.
I never got to have Art as a studio instructor, and yet I always felt like he was a great supporter of my work. He's the one who told me that you should always have a name for your project, and not be shy to tell people what it is. I followed that advice in my portfolio for many years after.
— Alexandre Kinney, B.Arch '14 Architect & Educator, New Hampshire
Almost a decade ago, during my first year as a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon, I was lucky to co-teach the architecture thesis studio with Art Lubetz. His passion for architecture as an imaginative, creative, and uplifting human endeavor was profoundly inspiring both to the students and to me personally. When I visit his Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill — a playful celebration of knowledge and civic life thoughtfully inserted in the neighborhood's urban fabric — I am reminded of and feel grateful for the clarity of this vision. Heartfelt condolences to his family and close friends.
— Daniel Cardoso Llach Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon Architecture
Hard news to receive on hearing of the loss of Art Lubetz. The world certainly feels dimmer today in his absence. Not just because of the buildings he helped shape, but because of the way he moved through the profession, the community he served in Pittsburgh, his humility, conviction, and an unwavering belief in the value of good design and good people.
— Anton Germishuizen Principal and Founder, Theseus Advisory
I'm heartbroken to hear about Art Lubetz's passing. He wasn't just a former employer — he was a true mentor who had a profound impact on my life and career. Art's tenacity was unmatched — he never backed down from a bold idea or a challenging conversation, and he expected the same courage from those around him. Working with him early on shaped how I approach design, creativity and conviction. He was a force — brilliant, fearless and uncompromising. I'll always be grateful for the time I had with him. He was a legend, and he'll be deeply missed.
I did not know Art and sorry for the loss of Art, because he sounds wonderful. He kept chiropractors in business because you could almost snap your neck when you came in surprise upon one of his projects. May he be well-remembered.
— Michael Staresinic
I was in Art's second year studio in the fall of 1995. Our entire class took a field trip to Toronto, and Art accompanied us. Art treated his studio students to an amazing dinner at some cool restaurant. I had lived a very sheltered life until then, and the restaurant felt very swanky and cosmopolitan. Somehow, the larger group all went out after that and then we all ended up in this photo [cover image above] taken in one of our hotel rooms' bathroom, with Art in the center. I'm still in touch with most of the people in the photo, and none of us really remember how we ended up in a hotel bathroom with Art. In the actual bathtub no less. We're pretty sure this would violate all sorts of university policies and cultural norms now. Probably violated building codes of the time in some way too. But it was all very wholesome, good-natured fun and camaraderie.
Art had a profound impact on me personally too. Of course, as an architect, he helped me learn design, art, artists, philosophy, and a new way of seeing everything. But more importantly, as a young person, by pushing me, he taught me how to hold my ground. He helped me find my voice. I grew exponentially in my confidence, determination, and in my self. Because I was from Pittsburgh, like him, I think there was an affinity bias. He knew McKeesport where I had gone to high school too, and he knew it was a gritty place. He knew my context. He knew that if he pushed me, I was born and bred to push back. He challenged me in ways I had never been challenged before, and that was exactly what I needed right then to grow. I'm grateful for all Art gave to his students, his work, and his community. He was a fiercely passionate person and architect, and his heart was in the work.
