Martin Raab, New York architect and change agent, dies

Martin Raab - an architect whose influence on design and construction changed the way buildings are produced and architects are compensated, and whose concern about the city's school children lead to then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani's appointing him president and CEO of the School Construction Authority [SCA] - died Wednesday, November 14, on a Palliative Care unit in Hartford Hospital Conn., a program run by his son-in-law, a physician. He was 75 and lived in New York City and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The cause of his death was complications from cancer, according to Gail Leff Raab, an artist and his wife of 51 years. Raab joined what is now called HLW International in 1957, becoming senior managing partner in 1977, and finally chief operating officer of HLW's Services Corporation design/build Division. He left in 1996 to turn around the troubled School Construction Authority. In 2003, he briefly joined Richard Meier & Partners, Architects as its chief operating officer. He was the volunteer Village Architect and chairman of the Planning Commission for Great Neck Estates, where the family previously resided, for 26 years, starting in 1960. Architect Richard Meier recalls his colleague, "Marty was a wonderful leader, one of the most involved and thoughtful architects I've ever met. He was engaged in so many aspects of the profession, not just design. He was always greatly concerned about young people in the profession, and what they would be doing." Born in Brooklyn in 1932 to a New York schoolteacher mother and compensation lawyer father, Martin Raab received his architectural degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955. He was elevated to Fellowship in the American Institute of Architects in 1985, honored for his "pioneering work in the specialized design of research laboratories and high technology buildings which has broadly influenced the conception and execution of contemporary facilities." He was president of the AIA's New York Chapter in 1989. A quintessential architect to the end, Raab had designed a post-modern addition for the Stockbridge family home he originally designed in 1977. During the last three months of his life, reports his daughter, Nina Fox, Raab's entire family, including the grandchildren, worked under his supervision to complete his legacy structure. In addition to his wife, Raab is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Nina and Evan Fox, MD, of West Hartford, Connecticut; his son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan D. Raab, PhD, and Ingrid Raab, PsyD of Boston; and four grandchildren, Mia and Rachel Fox, and Sonya and Joshua Raab. There will be a funeral service before the burial at Finnerty & Stevens in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on Monday, Nov. 19th at 11:00 a.m., followed by a private graveside funeral. A memorial service is planned for January 4, 2008, at the Union League Club in New York City. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, flagging it for the "Raab Family Educational Fund," which will benefit architectural students and also New York City public schools. Donations should be mailed to Raab Associates, Ltd., 12 Farnsworth St., Boston, Massachusetts 02210.