J. Max Bond Jr., FAIA, Dies at 73

Summary: Principal of Davis Brody Bond Aedas and 1987 AIA Whitney Young Jr. Award Recipient J. Max Bond, FAIA died February 18 in New York City. The man of whom Stanford Britt, FAIA described as“a demanding, innovative professional whose tenacity, intellect, and dedication make him a leader and servant of his community,” succumbed to cancer.

“I chose Mr. Bond as the architect for the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and believe he truly deserves recognition for his many contributions toward social responsibility in architecture,” wrote Coretta Scott King in a letter of recommendation for the Whitney Young Award.

“The lessons of Max Bond in the annals of NOMA history will not be completely understood for years to come,” said NOMA President Steve Lewis. We are left with a beacon of inspiration that will be kept alive by people of all persuasions, and if we can keep that inspiration alive, we will all be enriched by his legacy.”

Among the works for which Bond was best known are the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Bogatanga Library in Ghana, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama, and the Audubon Research Building in New York City.

“Max has been a role model and guiding light for a long time as an important figure, a prominent practitioner, and eminent educator,” said AIA President Marvin Malecha, FAIA. “His voice had both presence and elegance. Talking to him, you had a sense of importance and leadership. President Lewis is right that Max Bond’s will be a presence felt for years. As an educator myself, I know it is a humbling experience to have fellow architects tell you that you have been an influence on their lives. Many architects, prominent African Americans among them, have looked to Max for his knowledge and grace. His is a guiding and hopeful light, and we can’t underestimate that. Ultimately, it is the human being who makes the architecture, and Max Bond was a very fine human being.”

“The passing of J. Max Bond, Jr., FAIA, is the sort of turning of history’s page that makes you stop whatever it is you’re doing,” said AIA Executive Vice President/CEO Chis McEntee. “Initially, it’s almost impossible to get your mind around the fact you won’t be seeing him again or hearing his voice on the phone. This remarkable man whose gentle exterior belied the spiritual steel that drove him forward despite naysayers who said that because of his race the cards were stacked against him if he dared to pursue a career in architecture.

“Well, he dared.

“Because he dared, barriers came tumbling down for others. This wasn’t urban renewal; it was spiritual renewal, contributing mightily to the opening of the profession to talented men and women who might otherwise have been locked out. His courage and passion were the oxygen and sunlight that made it possible for others to bloom.

“It’s this remarkable legacy that softens somewhat the blow of his absence. The physical man is gone, yet his achievements as an architect, a teacher, a mentor, an engaged citizen, and a tireless advocate of civil rights not only survive him; the force of the difference he has made continues to grow.

“Schopenhauer wrote that every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. Because Max Bond’s field of vision had no limits, he would not allow limits to be imposed on anyone else. A profession gradually opening up to embrace the rich diversity of the human imagination is his legacy. This is not a monument of stone; it is the living promise of a vital profession set on a course to mirror the people it serves.”