Hugh and Tiziana Hardy were awarded the 2013 Historic District Council's Landmarks Lion Award at the Empire State Building.
On Tuesday night my RAND colleagues and I had the pleasure of celebrating two New Yorkers who have enriched the city’s historic preservation movement.
The Historic Districts Council honored Hugh and Tiziana Hardy with its Landmarks Lion Award for the couple’s significant contributions preserving and adapting the city’s historic buildings and neighborhoods. Among Hugh’s impressive array of projects are such world-class landmarks as Radio City Music Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, and New Amsterdam and New Victory Theaters. His rowhouse designs also helped shape the makeup of the Greenwich Village Historic District.
Tiziana led community efforts to preserve the architectural character of NoHo, and she has renovated a number of historic brownstones in Harlem. She has also served on the boards of several preservation and cultural organizations.
The venue for the award ceremony and dinner was fittingly enough the Empire State Building, celebrated by the Historic Districts Council for embodying the organization's ideals as an iconic historic structure. Two years ago the landmark building completed a $550 million renovation, which included $120 million on adaptations to meet energy-efficient and environmentally friendly standards. The makeover earned it a Gold LEED rating, making it the tallest LEED-certified building in the United States.
William Pitonyak, Suzanne Weiss, Laura and Ivan Mrakovcic, and Lisa Meyer represent RAND at the HDC Landmark Lions Award Ceremony.
With a spectacular panoramic view of the city as the backdrop on the 58th floor, our RAND contingent—Senior Architect and Survey Team Leader Ivan Mrakovcic, RA and his wife Laura, Project Associates William Pitonyak and Lisa Meyer, and I—enjoyed excellent food and drink; warm and amusing tribute speeches; and a touching award presentation. Thank you to the Historic Districts Council for a lovely evening and congratulations to Hugh and Tiziana Hardy!
