Paul Marantz

Paul Marantz
Born
Paul Murat Marantz

(1938-04-27)April 27, 1938
Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedMay 26, 2025(2025-05-26) (aged 87)
New York City, U.S.
EducationOberlin College
OccupationLighting designer
Spouse(s)
Marsha Heller
​
(divorced)​

Jane
​
(m. 1977)​
Children2

Paul Murat Marantz (April 27, 1938 – May 26, 2025) was an American architectural lighting designer, whose work includes the discothèque Studio 54, the Times Square Ball, the Tribute in Light, the Barnes Foundation, and the Burj Khalifa. He was a founder of the lighting design firm Fisher Marantz Stone.

Education and early career

Marantz was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on April 27, 1938. He received a B.A. from Oberlin College and did graduate work at Case Western Reserve University and Brooklyn College. In 1968, he established an architectural lighting design firm with Jules Fisher.

Personal life and death

Marantz was married to Marsha Heller and had one son, but later divorced. He married Jane in 1977, and had another son. He died from a stroke at his home in Manhattan, New York City, on May 26, 2025, at the age of 87.

Selected projects

Awards and honors

Marantz received numerous Lumen Citations from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) for projects including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the restoration of Radio City Music Hall, the Times Square Ball, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Byzantine Fresco Chapel. He received the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) Award for Excellence for the Islamic Cultural Center of New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and he received an IALD Citation for the restoration of the Rainbow Room. New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp described Marantz, as a “lighting genius.”

References

  1. 1 2 "Studio 54," Architectural Record, Vol. 163, No. 1 (Jan. 1978), pp. 84-87.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Finn, Robin. "PUBLIC LIVES; From Disco Floors to Skylines, Illuminating Life," The New York Times, New York, March 29, 2002. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Fisher Marantz Stone, Portfolio: Special Projects, http://www.fmsp.com/port_11.htm. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Paul Marantz | Designers & Books". Designersandbooks.com. February 7, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Kushner, David. "This New Year's Eve, Technology Will Drop the Ball,” The New York Times, New York, December 30, 1999. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Smith, Roberta. "A Museum, Reborn, Remains True to Its Old Self, Only Better,” The New York Times, New York, May 17, 2012. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Fisher Marantz Stone, Portfolio: Museums, http://www.fmsp.com/port_06.htm. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Lentz, Linda C. “Shedding Light on the World’s Tallest Building: Three firms illuminate the Burj Khalifa with alternating restraint and spectacle,” Architectural Record, August 2010. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  9. 1 2 Fisher Marantz Stone, Portfolio: Tower, http://www.fmsp.com/port_15.htm. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  10. ↑ Fisher Marantz Stone, Our Studio: People, http://www.fmsp.com/studio_01.htm. Retrieved on April 25, 2014
  11. 1 2 3 Kaufman, Joanne (June 11, 2025). "Paul Marantz, Lighting Designer of 9/11 Memorial and Studio 54, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  12. 1 2 Brady, Kevin. "Byzantine Mystique," Lighting Design + Application, Jan. 1999, Vol. 29, No. 1, http://www.ies.org/pdf/archives/1999_01.pdf.
  13. ↑ "Jules Fisher - Architectural Lighting Magazine". Archlighting.com. December 2, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  14. ↑ Paul Marantz, co-founder of Fisher Marantz Stone, dies
  15. 1 2 Fisher Marantz Stone, Portfolio: Spiritual, http://www.fmsp.com/port_12.htm. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  16. ↑ Fisher Marantz Stone, Portfolio: Theatre, http://www.fmsp.com/port_13.htm. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  17. ↑ Fisher Marantz Stone, Portfolio: Renovation, http://www.fmsp.com/port_07.htm. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  18. ↑ Fisher Marantz Stone, Portfolio: Library, http://www.fmsp.com/port_05.htm. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  19. ↑ Traub, James. 2004. The Devil’s Playground: A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square. New York: Random House, pp. 157-159.
  20. ↑ Sagalyn, Lynne B. 2001. Times Square Roulette: Remaking the City Icon. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, p. 257.
  21. ↑ Gopnik, Adam. “Times Regained,” The New Yorker, March 22, 2004. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.
  22. ↑ Muschamp, Herbert. "A NATION CHALLENGED: CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; In Lights at Ground Zero, Steps Toward Illumination," The New York Times, New York, March 12, 2002. Retrieved on April 25, 2014.