Robert P. Madison

Madison was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1923 to Robert James Madison (1899–1951) and Nettie Brown Madison (1900–1974). His father trained as an engineer but was unable to find employment in that profession. In 1946, he resumed his architecture studies at Case Western University, despite experiencing racial discrimination from the dean of architecture, Madison briefly taught architectural design and site planning at Howard University as an assistant professor, He studied urban design at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1952–53. ==Architectural career==

On July 17, 1954, Madison established the Robert P. Madison International architectural firm in Cleveland, Ohio. This was the first black-owned architectural firm in Midwestern United States. The firm initially struggled financially due to the progressive foundation of the company. In 1957, the firm entered every design competition announced and won Third Prize and Honorable Mention in the Ohio Home Competition. In 1958 the firm's design of the Mount Pleasant Medical Center won best design by the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. In 1965 the firm was selected to design the U.S. Embassy Office Building in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. Its design won an award and recognition by the U.S. Department of State Foreign Building Operations. Madison has stated that this achievement was one of his proudest moments. According to Crain's Cleveland Business, Robert P. Madison International is ranked no. 9 among architecture firms in northeast Ohio. He retired in 2016. ==Designs and buildings==

During the last 20 years, Robert P. Madison International has been both the lead and associate architects for the design of major projects in the Cleveland area, including the renovation of the Cleveland Public Library and design of its new Louis Stokes wing, Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, Cleveland Medical Mart and Huntington Convention Center, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Quicken Loans Arena (now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Other buildings include: • U.S. Embassy Office Building, Dakar, Senegal (1977) • Wayne County Justice Center, Wooster, Ohio (1976) • State of Ohio Computer Center, Columbus, Ohio (1987) • St. Johns A.M.E. Church, Niagara Falls, New York (1969) • Mt. Pleasant Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio (1957) ==Awards and honors==

Madison has been awarded the American Institute of Architects Ohio Gold Medal Firm Award (1994) and the Cleveland Arts Prize (2000). ==Personal life==

Madison reports being "very close" to Coretta Scott, later the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., when he first returned from his war service, He published his memoir, Designing Victory (co-authored with the journalist, Carlo Wolff), in April 2019. == References ==