Martin Cohen AR’52

Martin Harvey Cohen was born in Brooklyn in 1932. He attended the Cooper Union and received a certificate in Architecture in 1952.  He then went to M.I.T. where he received a BA in Architecture in 1954.  He received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Milan from 1954-55.  He worked with Studio Architetti BBPR in Milan, Italy.  He went on to spend 25 years with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) rising to Sr. Associate.  He became Senior V.P. Dir of Health Facilities Planning and Design with SMP Architects in 1981. He also worked with Stone, Marraccini and Patterson, New York and Ellerbe Architects and Engineers, PC, also in New York.  In 1966, Martin Cohen represented the NY Chapter of the American Institute of Architects during a hearing of the  NYC Planning Commission.  He presented a proposal to save the old Metropolitan Opera House by allowing the developer to build an office tower above the Opera House.  He remained active in the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission throughout his life.

For more than 30 years, Martin H. Cohen, FAIA, FACHA provided code compliance, project management, value engineering and forensic/expert witness services to hospitals, nursing homes, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living facilities and government agencies.

Martin Cohen is a Founding Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Architects, a Fellow of the AIA, and past President of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health (1985), Cohen is Vice Chairman of the Health Guidelines Revision Committee and Vice President of the Facility Guidelines Institute, which together produce the “FGI Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities”, now referenced by 42 states and several federal agencies.

He served as a Member of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and, since 1995, has Co-Chaired AIA New York State’s Construction Standards Advisory Group for the NYS Department of Health.

His works include:

• 1st Nat. Bank, Ft. Worth, 1961
• IBM Corp. Hdqrs., Armonk, N.Y., 1961-64
• Yale Computer Center, New Haven, 1961
• N.Y.C. Terminal Markets, Hunts Point, 1960-66
• Beekman-Downtown Hosp., N.Y.C., 1963-66
• N.Y. U. Med. Center, N.Y.C., 1965
• Kiewit Computation Center, Dartmouth Coll., Hanover, N.H., 1966
• Otis Elevator Co., Yonkers, N.Y., 1973-76
• New York Hosp., 1977-78
• Wausau (Wis.) Hosp. 1975-79
• Mass. Gen. Hosp., 1978-81
• Bally Park Pl. Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, 1979-80
• Stevens Inst. Engineering. Center, Hoboken, NJ 1980-81
• Hospital. Santo Tomas, Panama City, Panama
• 780 Third Ave Office Building, NYC, 1980-81
• Mfrs. Hanover Trust Co. Hdqrs., NYC, 1980-81
• Presbyterian. Hospital, NYC., 1981
• Manchester (N.J.) Health Park, 1982
• Chest Diseases Hosp., Taif, Saudi Arabia, 1981

Martin Cohen received the Matthew Del Gaudio Award from AIA New York State twice (1978 and 1998).

Martin Cohen was awarded the College’s Hamilton Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Healthcare Architecture in 2006.

Martin Cohen served as an advisor to The Cooper Union School of Art and Architecture from 1967 to 1975.

Martin Cohen received the 1971 Cooper Union President’s Citation and was inducted into the Cooper Union Hall of Fame in 2009.

References

Who’s Who in the East, Marquis Who’s Who®, Berkeley Heights, NJ, 2009.

“Plan Would Keep Met with New Building Over it,” Theodore Strongin, New York Times, March 31, 1966