David M. Schwarz


David M. Schwarz is an American architect and designer. He is the President & CEO of Washington, D.C.-based David M. Schwarz Architects, Inc. and serves as the Chairman of the Yale School of Architecture's Dean's Council.
Schwarz's work focuses primarily on contextual, humanistic design and urbanist planning principles. Schwarz himself has labeled his work, and that of his eponymous firm, as populist and neo-eclectic in style. In 2015, David Schwarz was awarded the University of Notre Dame's Richard H. Driehaus Architecture Prize on 21 March in Chicago for his work which embodies the highest ideals of traditional and classical architecture in contemporary society, and creates a positive cultural, environmental, and artistic impact.

Early life and education

Schwarz was born in Los Angeles, California. He received his Bachelor of Philosophy from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland in 1972 before attending the Yale School of Architecture and earning a Master of Architecture in 1974.
Immediately following his graduation from Yale, Schwarz interned for noted architects Paul Rudolph, Edward Larrabee Barnes, and former Yale professor Charles Moore.

Career

Schwarz moved to Washington, D.C. and founded David M. Schwarz Architectural Services in 1976. The firm was incorporated in 1978 and renamed David M. Schwarz Architects, Inc in 2008.
While his early career was focused primarily on the renovation of row houses in historic districts of Washington, D.C., such as Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, and Mount Pleasant, Schwarz has since applied his self-proclaimed populist style to arenas, schools, baseball stadia, performing arts venues, retail districts, healthcare facilities, apartment buildings, and academic campuses across the United States.

Outreach and philanthropy

Schwarz was among the first Board Members of the National Building Museum. During his time on the Board of Directors he helped create both the Vincent Scully Prize and the National Building Museum Honor Award. Schwarz now serves as the Jury Chairman for the Vincent J. Scully Prize Fund Endowement.
David Schwarz served as the Davenport Visiting Professor at the Yale School of Architecture in the fall of 2008 and taught a fifth-year design studio at The University of Notre Dame in 2010. He is a Sterling Fellow of Yale University.

Notable works

Though based in Washington, D.C., Schwarz has completed dozens of projects in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Most notably, he is responsible for the creation of the development plan behind the Sundance Square neighborhood in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, as well as the master plan and building design for Cook Children's Medical Center.
A list of building architectural design projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex completed by David M. Schwarz