Drawing, designing, developing

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 1, 2003

MARVIN H. MELTZER CO-FOUNDER & VICE PRESIDENT MELTZER/MANDL ARCHITECTS

The chrome and glass lobby of Meltzer/Mandi Architects is but steps away from the wintry circus of Union Square, with its Greenmarket stalls filled with the harvest of apples, pears and potatoes and its booths set up for the upcoming Christmas holiday. Marvin H. Melizer, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Society of Architects on Nov. 20, glories in the patchwork feel of this part of the city.

"One of the reasons I like working in this neighborhood," says Meltzer, who is a vice president at the firm that he co-founded with partner David Mandl in 1995, "is that everybody is young. There's a vibrancy here that's very exciting."

Although Meltzer describes his life -- and his work -- as very direct and simple, one gets the feeling that this man, who has designed over 3,000 units of luxury, affordable and special needs housing, as well as child care, educational, community facility and commercial projects, is anything but simple. In his office, among the photos of his children, Rachel and Eli and wife, Dale, are renderings and photos of Meltzer's projects. In a corner pile, with nothing on top of it, is a thick pad filled with drawings done by Meltzer in 1971, during a trip with a friend to Europe. This is clearly one of Meltzer's cherished belongings.

"It was really cool to go to Europe to sketch great architectural treasures," Meltzer recalls of the time. "My friend was a photographer and we'd both set up to capture the image of a building. He'd take his photo in 15 minutes while my sketch would take an hour." Meltzer challenged himself to develop a technique for sketching in the same 15 minutes as his colleague and the result is the pad with 83 drawings that capture the essence of great architecture. Meltzer has brought this same simplicity to his work as an architect.

Born the son of an Orthodox rabbi in St. Paul, Minnesota, Meltzer was sent to a Chicago yeshiva at age 13, only to return home two years later. Public school and then the University of Minnesota beckoned, and in 1961, Meltzer received a bachelor's degree in architecture. "I could always draw well. That was the key to being an architect, at least in those times before computers did the drafting."

A stint in the Army landed the young architect at Governor's Island in New York City during the early 1960's. "One of my life defining moments was when I realized that I was waiting to be drafted," he says of that time, which was during the Berlin Wall Crisis. "I believe that I thought the only way for me to leave the Twin Cities without disappointing my parents was to go into the Army."

Meltzer has never left the city and relishes that most of his work has been constructed in the five boroughs of New York City. A book of Meltzer's work, published in late 2002 and entitled "City As Poetry" celebrates Meltzer's adopted home; he says in the preface that "the landscape of New York City, primarily Manhattan, presents opportunities for urban architects that no other place in the country offers."

Meltzer's earliest architectural projects were nursery schools on Long Island and homes in New Jersey. By the late 1970's, Meltzer felt that "I couldn't bring in work. My sister-in-law was living with a CPA and he had clients looking to invest in real estate. We decided to do development" Within a short time, the development duo of Britton Development had created buildings in the 20's and 30's on the East Side of Manhattan. Meltzer was the architect on all of the projects. "We got a lot of publicity," he recalls. When a new building on 81st Street and Columbus took off, Meltzer had built the architectural portfolio he had been lacking. "It was the most exciting time of my life."

"When the market fell out in the mid-1980's," Meltzer says, "I began designing housing of all kinds for non-profit agencies throughout the boroughs. As an architect/developer, I made a point of developing multi-family residential buildings that were cost-effective, yet distinctive pieces of architecture. I realized that if I used simple materials, straightforward structural systems and off the shelf products, I could capitalize on my skills as an architect and put them together in exciting, innovative ways. The only difference for me was that, instead of building in midtown Manhattan, I was now building in the South Bronx and other similar communities in the outer boroughs."

In 1994, Meltzer won an award for "Best in the Country" for Melrose Court, a 265-unit affordable for-sale housing condominium in the South Bronx. These were times of significant growth and fulfillment for me as an architect, and they served me well when the economy started to turn and I, once again, was designing market rate housing in the mid 1990's."

The year 2002 brought Meltzer a design award for Bradhurst Court, a mixed-use, affordable housing and retail complex in Harlem as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award. But Meltzer, with his zest for excitement is nowhere ready to stop. "I'm always looking for new horizons," he says. "I've got to be out there shaking the trees."