Born in Majorca, Spain, where his father was writing a novel, he attended Deerfield Academy. Hugh was an architecture major at Princeton and a member of Cloister Inn. He designed sets for Theatre Intime and the Triangle Club and also earned a master of fine arts degree at Princeton. He then spent a tour of duty in the Army Corps of Engineering as a drafting instructor. He began his professional career in New York City, working with the theatrical and set-lighting designer Jo Mielziner.
Hugh’s career was legendary. He redesigned the Majestic Theater in downtown Brooklyn, the New Victory Theater, the Central Synagogue on Lexington Avenue, the information center in Central Park, the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, the Windows on the World in the World Trade Center after the first bombing, and the Claire Tow Theater on top of the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center, to name a few. His work in the city was diverse and vibrant. He was the kind of architect who could use “pizzazz” in a sentence without irony.
Hugh headed three architectural practices during his career. “Good morning, sunshine” was one of his greetings. “Happy day” was another, but the best exclamation that summed up his six-decade career was “Onward!”
He is survived by his wife, Tiziana, and their children Sebastian ’89 and Penelope. The class extends condolences to them in their loss.