J. MAX BOND JR.

Bio:

J Max Bond Jr. was born in 1935 in Louisville, Kentucky. Max’s interest in architecture developed early as he spent time admiring the campus of Tuskegee Institute, where his father was the academic Dean, and through time spent abroad during his father’s posts in Haiti, Afghanistan, Tunisia and Liberia. Max’s career in architecture formally began with his enrollment at Harvard University at the age of 15. Despite threats and discouragement from his educators to abandon his pursuits because of the color of his skin, Max completed his education in three years, graduating magna cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa, and enrolled in the Harvard Graduate School of Design. After completing a Fulbright fellowship and his early apprenticeships in New York in the early 1960’s, Max relocated to Ghana, and created some of his first landmark works of architecture. During his time in Africa, Max both developed his theory on sustainable development and his belief that architecture should strive to embody humanistic values. Upon returning to the United States, Max Bond would go on to establish a unique and celebrated career. Highlights include director of the Architect’s Renewal Committee in Harlem (ARCH); co-founder of Bond-Ryder and Associates with Donald Ryder; chair of the Graduate School of Architecture and Planning at Columbia University; Dean of the City College of New York School of Architecture and Environmental Studies; and City Planning Commissioner for the City of New York.

Object:

Object Five - Alternative career, volunteer work with organizations not directly connected with the built environment, or service to society

Year of Elevation: 

1995

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Featured Project Name: 

Bolgatanga Library

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Featured Project Location: 

Bolgatanga, Ghana

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Featured Project Completion Date: 

1967

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Role in Featured Project: 

Lead Designer

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Featured Project Description:

The design is based on local building forms, the Fra-Fra houses of the region. The library itself is four separate buildings under a reinforced concrete “umbrella,” with a ventilating space between the underside of this umbrella and the tops of the walls. Each of the four major components is expressed as a separate unit that is entered from a common area. The predominance of solid wall rather than glazed areas, and the sequence of multiple-use spaces are all related to local building practice.

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Photography Credit:

Willis Bell/ Davis Brody Bond