Richard Awarded Clara Fox Lifetime Achievement Award

Dattner Architects is proud to announce that our Founding Principal Richard Dattner has been awarded the Clara Fox Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Housing Conference (NYHC) in recognition of the transformative impact on affordable housing his work has had, and the inspiration he has provided so many to design the much-needed quality housing that our city deserves.

Richard is the first architect to receive this recognition and was honored at the NYHC’s award luncheon on December 4.

Richard received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from MIT in 1960 and founded Dattner Architects four years later. Under his leadership and creative direction, the firm was built on a strong foundation of civic architecture. Today, Dattner Architects’ portfolio includes a wide array of project types from residential, education, healthcare, and recreation to transportation, infrastructure, institutional, and commercial. Our work has enriched the ever-growing urban fabric with distinctive, innovative, and inspiring buildings—positively impacting countless residents

Ranging from small to mid-rise to high-rise affordable, supportive, and market-rate for rental and ownership, including micro or compact units, Dattner Architects has designed more than 14,000 apartments in New York City. Richard has long promoted the term ‘Social Housing’ to replace the ‘affordable’ and ‘public’ designations currently used, believing that quality housing should be accessible to all. He talked about this very notion during his acceptance speech saying, “The simple—but essential—prerequisite for ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’ is a decent place to live within one’s means.”

“I’m … thankful to New York City for the opportunities—unequalled in any other American city—which enable the creation of a dignified, varied, and inclusive civic environment. The talented architects working in our firm—from 20 countries and as many states—reflect the remarkable diversity of our great city. They all share my enthusiasm for creating new buildings, restoring existing ones, and enhancing New York’s neighborhoods,” Richard Dattner FAIA.

Recognizing that it “takes a village” to build even a single affordable residential project in this city, Richard thanked the firm’s partners, fellow NYHC award honorees, and all those in attendance.