Roche Dinkeloo, otherwise known as Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates LLC (KRJDA), is an architectural firm based in Hamden, Connecticut founded in 1966. In 2020, it relocated to New Haven, Connecticut, and took the name Roche Modern.
The principal designers were 1982 Pritzker Prize laureate Kevin Roche (June 1922 – 2019),[1] with John Dinkeloo—a graduate of the University of Michigan—as the expert in construction and technology. After Roche's death, the firm relaunched in 2020 as Roche Modern under director Jerry Boryca and managing director Eamon Roche.[2] The firm is now based out of New Haven, CT.
Roche and Dinkeloo both previously worked with Eero Saarinen. Almost all buildings built by Roche are with this firm, and they exhibit his particular architecture and aesthetic, although it has changed wildly throughout the past 40 years. Earlier buildings were characterized by massive facades and experimentation with exposed steel and concrete, while more recent buildings emphasize a clean, glassy look suggesting futuristic and green architecture. The firm also built in postmodern and historicist styles during the early 1990s.
According to the company website:
KRJDA is engaged in major projects throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and provides complete master planning, programming, architectural design, interior design, working drawings, specification and construction administration services. The firm has designed a variety of institutional and corporate projects including 38 corporate headquarters, three hotel/apartment buildings, eight museums, numerous research facilities, theaters, schools, factories, performing arts centers, houses and the Central Park Zoo in New York. For the past 42 years, he has been the architect for the master plan and expansion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, designing all of its new wings and installing many of its collections.
The firm received the American Institute of Architects 1974 Architectural Firm Award and in 1995 the firm was the recipient of the American Institute of Architect's 25-Year Award for the Ford Foundation Headquarters in New York City. In 1982, Kevin Roche received the Pritzker Prize[3] and in 1993, he received the AIA Gold Medal. In 2015 Kevin Roche received the George M. White Award from the American Architectural Foundation.
Kevin Roche has been referred to as the "first [architect] to see architecture and nature as one."[4]
The Head Office for Bouygues SA Holding company received the『Haute Qualité Environnementale (HQE)』which is the highest certification for environmental quality in building design in France.Headquarters for Santander Central Hispano located in Madrid, Spain.The continuous glass wall at Lucent Technologies in Nuremberg, Germany wraps around the complex to create a unified street facade.The Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice
KRJDA has completed over 200 projects in the US and internationally. These include 8 museums, 38 institutional and corporate headquarters, 7 research laboratories, conference and performing arts centers, theaters, and campus buildings for 6 separate universities. KRJDA maintains their office in Hamden, Connecticut.
A feature documentary about Kevin Roche and his work, called Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect was released in 2017. It is directed by Irish filmmaker (ex-architecture student) Mark Noonan whose 2015 debut feature You're Ugly Too starred Aidan Gillen and was met with critical acclaim.
