Robert Stern builds the American dream with his 1.... magnificent designs. CUL AT BY CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ A rchitect Robert A. M. Stern grew up in Brooklyn, New York, riding the subway and believing the sign "To the City" was meant for him personally. As a teen he admired the magnifi- cent skyscrapers and enjoyed visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His young adult years were spent at Col- umbia University where he received a bachelor of arts degree before moving on to Yale for a master's degree in architecture. "The city was my playground and still is until this very day," says Stern. Today, the 50-year-old architect resides and works in Manhattan and is at the helm of a 100-person name- sake firm of architects, interior designers and landscape designers. His playground still may be the city where he has published books on New York architecture, but his horizons have definitely expanded. Robert Stern is one of America's premier architects, his designs interna- tionally celebrated. Not only does his work span the globe but it spans the private, corporate, university and public world as well. Some of his most recent projects include: the head- quarters for Mexx International Inc. in The Netherlands, the Center for Jewish 38 HOME Life at Princeton University, the Nor- man Rockwell Museum in Stock- bridge, Mass., and a new library for St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H. During President George Bush's re- cent Eastern European visit, he men- tioned on national television the con- struction of The America House, an ad- ditional facility to the United States Em- bassy in Budapest, Hungary, and he noted that the architect was Robert Stern. In 1986 Stern hosted the aptly titled "Pride of Place: Building the American Dream," an eight-part television series on American architecture aired on the Public Broadcasting System. He and his firm, which generated $75 million in construction revenues in 1988, according to Millionaire magazine, have received prestigious awards, including the Medal of Honor of the American Institute of Architects New York chapter. Stern wears several hats in his field. In addition to designing, he is a writer, lecturer and teacher. Since 1982 he has been a professor at the graduate school of architecture at Columbia University, a position he says he enjoys and believes is his obligation as a pro- fessional. His lectures and writing are inspirational reference materials for ar-