David Childs

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For the professor, see David Childs (academic).

David Childs
Born
David Magie Childs

(1941-04-01)April 1, 1941
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Known forOne World Trade Center
Spouse
Anne Woolman Reeve
​
(m. 1963)​
Children3
383 Madison Avenue at night

David Magie Childs (April 1, 1941 – March 26, 2025) was an American architect and chairman of the architectural firm

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.[1] He was the architect of record for One World Trade Center in New York City, which became the Western Hemisphere's tallest skyscraper when it was completed in 2014.[2]

Early life and education

Childs graduated from Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1959[1] and from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut in 1963.[3] He first majored in zoology before he then turned to architecture at the Yale School of Architecture and earned his master's degree in 1967.[4]

Career

Childs joined the Washington, D.C., office of SOM in 1971, after working with

Pennsylvania Avenue. Childs was a design partner of the firm in Washington until 1984, when he moved to SOM's New York Office.[citation needed
]

His major projects include: in Washington, D.C.,

National Geographic; in New York City, Worldwide Plaza, 450 Lexington Avenue, Bertelsmann Tower, and One World Trade Center; and internationally, the Embassy of the United States, Ottawa, and the Changi international terminal in Singapore.[citation needed
]

Childs served as the chairman of the

U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in 2002, serving as chairman from 2003 to 2005. He was the recipient of a Rome Prize in 2004; named a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council in 2010; and served on the boards of the Municipal Art Society, the Museum of Modern Art, and the American Academy in Rome.[5][6]

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill projects

Washington, D.C. (1971–1985)

New York City (1984–2025)

Completed

One World Trade Center, New York City

Planned

Other locations

  • Embassy of the United States in Ottawa
    , 1999

Personal life

Childs married Anne Woolman Reeve (known as Annie) in 1963. The couple had three children ‐ Joshua, Nicholas, and Jocelyn. They resided in Manhattan and Keene, New York.[8]

Death

Childs died of Lewy body dementia on March 26, 2025, in Pelham, New York. He had been diagnosed in September 2024.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "A Look at the New One World Trade Center". Architectural Digest. September 2012.
  3. ^ "David M. Childs". nbm.org.
  4. ^ "David Childs". The Real Deal New York.
  5. ^ Design Futures Council Senior Fellows
  6. ^ Thomas E. Luebke, ed., Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Appendix B, p. 542.
  7. ^ Forgey, Benjamin (June 9, 1984). "Minding One's Urban Manners". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Dunlap, David W. (March 27, 2025). "David M. Childs, Skyline-Shaping Architect, Dies at 83". New York Times. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
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