It is with deep sadness that we let you know that our colleague and friend Tony Atkin passed away May 21, 2015 after a two year battle with cancer. Tony, who has been described as “a natural teacher,” taught in the Penn Graduate Architecture program for more than 30 years. His summer programs in Japan and China were exceptional highlights of the curriculum and much loved and remembered by participating students. He was with us this past spring to lead his very popular joint ARCH/LARP studio on Contemporary Development in the Navajo Nation - Crownpoint, New Mexico, following on his long work with pueblos in the Southwest.
A frequent professional and academic collaborator, Laurie Olin said of Tony: "He was a wonderful teacher and a thoughtful, talented architect, a serious scholar and student of design, who inspired both his students and colleagues. His passion for life, people, art, and the land, and his love of the Southwest and its history was infectious. Prescient about many things, he led his students at the University of Pennsylvania first to involvement with the culture, art, and design legacy of Japan and later to China and the American Southwest. In addition to a deep commitment to craft and the art of architecture, his devotion to the earth and a profound desire to work with its processes led him to years of close collaboration with landscape architects in his teaching as well as in his own professional practice. He was a treasure and will be sorely missed.”
His partners Sam Olshin and Michael Schade at the firm he founded write that “Tony was an inspiration for all of us. A singular designer, he guided many of our projects. His creative vision and passion for architecture and planning elevated the work of our offices in Philadelphia and Santa Fe.” Read more of their tribute on the Atkin Olshin Schade website: http://blog.aosarchitects.com/.
Atkin attended UCBerkeley, and received a BA in Anthropology from the University of Utah, and a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. He wished memorials to be made to University of Pennsylvania School of Design or to the Community Based Education (CBE) Memorial Student Account at the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS). For information on giving to Penn, please contact pdalumni@design.upenn.edu or (215) 746-3167. For SFIS, please contact Eric Olson at (505) 216-7311.
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