In Memoriam: Paul Marantz

	Paul Marantz

The architectural lighting designer, Paul Marantz, a principal of the firm Fisher Marantz, now known as Fisher Marantz Stone, died May 26.

Born in 1938, he was interested in performance lighting at an early age, reportedly lighting dance concerts as a teenager. He graduated from Oberlin College and pursued graduate work at Case Western Reserve University and Brooklyn College. While at Case Western, he served as head lighting designer for a local theatre company, then went to work at the Berkshire Music Festival Opera at Tanglewood.

Marantz's first job was chief engineer at Lighting Services, Inc., after which he headed research and development at Century/Strand Lighting. In 1971, he and theatrical lighting designer Jules Fisher launched a firm bearing their names. Among their early notable projects were Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis (1974), St. Louis Art Museum (1977), the era-defining disco Studio 54 (also 1977), and the Washington, DC institution Willard Hotel (1982).

By 1983, the company was going global, with projects in Hong Kong, London, and Melbourne. Here in the US, the high-profile projects didn't stop: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, the Washington Monument, New York's Islamic Cultural Center, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, New York Public Library's Rose Main Reading Room. Other key international projects included Hong Kong 's International Airport, the Museum of Islamic Arts in Doha, and the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, in Dubai. Two projects are especially meaningful to New Yorkers: the Tribute in Light, which memorializes the destroyed twin towers of the World Trade Center, and the 9/11 Memorial Plaza.

Among his many awards are Lumen Award citations from the IESNY for the Getty Museum, the restoration of Radio City Music Hall, the updated Times Square New Year's Eve Ball, Houston's Museum of Fine Arts. The Islamic Cultural Center and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art each earned him an IALD Award for Excellence. His restoration work on Rockefeller Center's Rainbow Room also received an IALD citation.

A statement from Fisher Marantz Stone reads, "We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Paul Marantz. Paul and Jules founded the company that would become FMS in 1971, creating a legacy of creativity and genius that continues to brighten our lives and the world around us. Thank you, Paul, for your wit and wisdom. We honor your life and legacy."