Born:
Full Name:
Robert Arthur Morton SternFull Name:
Education:
- 1960: Columbia, Bachelor's degree
- 1965: Yale, Master's degree in architecture
Important Buildings:
- 1990: Disney Beach Club Resort, Florida
- 1990: Disney Yacht Club Resort, Florida
- 1993: Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
- 1996: Disney Boardwalk Resort, Florida
- 2005: Jacksonville Public Library, Florida
- 2006: Federal Courthouse for Richmond, Virginia
Product Design:
Urban Planning:
Other Works:
Related People:
- After graduating from Yale, Stern briefly worked as a designer in the office of architect Richard Meier.
- Architect and urban designer Andres Duany once worked for Stern.
About Robert A. M. Stern:
Robert A.M. Stern's Boardwalk at Disney World suggests an American seaside village from the early 20th century. The buildings illustrate the evolution of architectural styles from the Victorian to the Vienna Secessionist movement. The mini-village is not intended to be historically exact -- rather, it presents a dream-like walk past artifacts from several eras. There is an ice cream parlor, a piano bar, a 1930s dance hall, a vintage roller-coaster, and an authentic 1920s carousel.
Across Crescent Lake from Boardwalk, the Yacht and Beach Club hotels were also designed by Robert A.M. Stern. The Yacht Club is modeled after Victorian Shingle architecture, a rustic yet elegant fashion on America's Atlantic coast at the turn of the century. The Beach Club is an informal, sprawling wood structure which also reflects 19th century American resort architecture.
When Stern envisioned the Casting Center, an employee training area on Route I-4 near Orlando, Florida, he wanted to express the spirit of Disney, and also to reflect the Florida locale. The result is a building that resembles a Venetian Palazzo, yet contains whimsical Disneyesque details. Hence, classical columns are topped with gold leaf Disney characters.
