Robert Joy

Building Community Relations

By Maiko Sein, B.Arch. '23

From joining community boards to founding art projects, architect Robert Joy (B.Arch. '73) fully immersed himself into the communities he designed for throughout his career, as he sought to integrate the community's voice and needs into architectural projects. Joy's approach has shaped his work revitalizing historic buildings in downtowns throughout New York state as well as designing buildings for universities and colleges across the U.S. "Architects and planners shouldn't just come in and do projects. We should become part of the community," he said.

Born and raised in Central New Jersey, Joy remembers narrowing his career interests to law and architecture for a class assignment as a high school sophomore. He ultimately chose to pursue a career in architecture, which he saw as an optimistic profession in which he could help people realize opportunities. He had already developed an interest in photography, which allowed him to express himself artistically, and submitted a portfolio of photographs to Cornell's architecture program, where he enrolled in the fall of 1968.

His fondest memories from his Cornell years include managing the student-run Green Dragon Café. "I think the fact that it's down half a flight of steps rather than up made all the difference," Joy said. "Construction workers felt comfortable sitting there with their hard hats. Professors would sit there with students. Students hanging out, dogs hanging out. It was just a wonderful thing." This sense of inclusivity is something he recreated for others throughout his career.

Joy centered his undergraduate thesis on the campus of Silver Bay Association (also known as the Silver Bay YMCA Conference and Family Retreat Center) near Lake George in New York. Silver Bay's campus is a part of the National Register of Historic Places and includes 65 buildings. Since Joy was young, he had spent many summers with his family at Silver Bay, where he worked as a summer employee. After graduating from Cornell in 1972, Joy was invited to join the Silver Bay Board of Trustees, and work with architect Gil Barker to publish his thesis and have it adopted as the Silver Bay Association's official master plan. Together, Joy and Barker revitalized many buildings on the campus, including the Memorial Chapel and the auditorium. For Joy, Silver Bay became a learning ground for historical renovation. After opening his practice JMZ Architects in Glens Falls in 1997, Joy took on projects dealing with historic renovation, including the renovation of Glens Falls City Hall. 

As the firm grew, JMZ Architects became known for its architecture and planning for community colleges and state schools throughout the U.S. Of the 30 community colleges in New York State, Joy has worked with 26, including Tompkins Cortland Community College, where Joy helped with the campus's master plan and the designs for the athletic complex (2003).

"I really enjoyed the community college sector because of the students," Joy said. "Most were first-generation students. Many worked part-time, and many were juggling families."

Coming full circle, Joy worked with Cornell in 2016 when his firm renovated the Martin Y. Tang Welcome Center, located less than one mile from Sibley Hall, where he first studied architecture. Joy also worked with Cornell's Department of Communication in 2013 to transform the fourth floor of Mann Library into offices and meeting spaces for the department. In the redesign, all hallways lead to The Hub, a central space that prompts interaction and collaboration, perhaps akin to the Green Dragon Café during Joy's time at Cornell.

"It's a place where everybody hangs out," Joy said. Faculty members and graduate students alike "have a home there." Joy involved the Cornell community in the design process, conducting many design charettes with the faculty. For Joy, it was a meaningful project that enabled him to work with faculty in a completely different way on a building he had been in hundreds of times as a student.

Joy's commitment to community benefits not only the clients he serves but his employees as well. JMZ architects, for example, has become a women-owned business enterprise, and in 2009, ZweigWhite named it a "Best Architecture Firm to Work For." Joy has mentored younger architects, advising them, "If there is ever a conflict between your client's needs or goals and your own, you have to side with the client, and if there is ever a conflict between your client's needs and society's needs or interests, you have to side with society."

Joy currently serves on the Cornell University Council (CUC) and has funded the Priscilla and Robert Joy While in Rome Photography Prize for students who attend the Cornell in Rome program. He has also been an active community member in Glens Falls, where his architecture firm is located, serving as a director to the Lake George Arts Project and the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra Board. In 2015, Joy received the Glens Falls 26th J. Walter Juckett Community Service Award.

Retired in 2017, Joy spends his time going back to what he loves — photography. He has photographed for Save the Chimps, a nonprofit organization based in Florida that provides a sanctuary for rescued chimpanzees. Now in his third term on the CUC, Joy said he hopes that Cornell "will continue to provide an institution and opportunity that really trains the next generation of leaders in the field of architecture around the globe."