New York couple funds expansion of Architecture School

Staff report

Victor and Sono Elmaleh of New York will give $1.2 million to the University for a major addition to the School of Architecture. A 1942 graduate and largest single benefactor of the school, Victor Elmaleh is chairman of the board of World-Wide Holdings Corp.

Announced Oct. 3 at the Board of Visitors meeting, the gift will qualify for a $1 million match from the Arts Grounds Challenge Fund, established in 2002 by an anonymous donor to encourage others to support Arts Grounds projects.

These contributions, along with other gifts, complete funding for a new entry tower at the eastern end of Campbell Hall, home of the Architecture School. In recognition of the Elmalehs’ generosity, the school plans to name the east addition in their honor.

The new space has been designed by U.Va. faculty member and alumnus W. G. Clark in coordination with SMBW Architects of Richmond.

“The elegantly designed east tower will give the School of Architecture urgently needed jury and classroom spaces and will provide a prominent new main entrance commensurate with the school’s national stature,” said architecture school Dean Karen Van Lengen. “This gift from Victor and Sono Elmaleh is truly transformational, and our school-wide community is deeply grateful for their longstanding support and generosity.”

In addition to the gift for the expansion, the Elmalehs have given the school a series of sculptures by celebrated artist and designer Harry Bertoia.

Victor Elmaleh has been a partner in major New York real estate developments, including the Worldwide Plaza. Construction of the project was the subject of an acclaimed PBS series titled “Skyscraper.” Sono Elmaleh is a former ballerina who has danced with the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo and the American Ballet Theater, and later on Broadway.

An accomplished artist, Victor Elmaleh has exhibited his abstract watercolors and collages in East Coast galleries. A 2002 exhibition of his work inaugurated the Victor and Sono Elmaleh Gallery at U.Va.

Victor Elmaleh also commissioned an hour-long documentary, “Mr. Jefferson and His University,” to commemorate the 250th birthday of U.Va.’s founder. The program was screened at alumni celebrations throughout the country in 1993.

“We are grateful for this opportunity to celebrate Victor and Sono Elmaleh and their many years of support for the school and for the University,” said President John T. Casteen III. “This new facility, with its multi-purpose exhibition areas, will be a center of creative interchange. It will provide our students and faculty with a forum for presenting and examining new directions in design.”

The Campbell Hall entry tower is part of a larger expansion and renovation plan. Other projects include a new south wing of faculty offices, additional jury rooms, renovated administrative offices and improved teaching spaces. Among new landscape features will be a demonstration garden and a pedestrian promenade leading to the new east entry.

An exhibition on the school’s additions and improvements, all designed by faculty members, is on view in the Victor and Sono Elmaleh Gallery through Oct. 17.