Dan Meis

Dan Meis
Dan Meis
Born	1961 (age 62–63); Windsor, Colorado
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Colorado Boulder; University of Illinois at Chicago;
Occupation	Architect
Awards	American Institute of Architects fellowship
Practice	MEIS Architects
Projects	proposed Los Angeles NFL Stadium; Safeco Field (Seattle, Washington); Manchester Arena (Manchester, England); Saitama Super Arena (Saitama, Japan); Stadio della Roma (Rome, Italy); Everton Stadium (Liverpool, England;

Dan Meis, FAIA, RIBA^[1] (born 1961) is an American architect best known for designing sports and entertainment facilities including Staples Center, Safeco Field, Paycor Stadium, Saitama Super Arena, Stadio Della Roma,^[2] and Everton FC's new Everton Stadium. He began his career in Chicago under the mentorship of architect Helmut Jahn and later co-founded the sports and entertainment practice of NBBJ. Meis currently operates his own independent studio, MEIS Architects, established in 2007,^[3] with offices in New York City and Los Angeles, California.

His firm has recently formed a partnership with Maria Sharapova to build tennis, fitness, and wellness centers.^[4] MEIS is also working with entertainment giant Live Nation to design venue upgrades across a portfolio of outdoor amphitheaters.^[5]

His design for AS Roma's Stadio Della Roma includes football's tightly organized seating bowls.^[6] The stadium is wrapped in a floating stone "scrim", which is intended to evoke the Colosseum.^[7] Currently under construction, the new MEIS designed MLS stadium for FC Cincinnati, located in Cincinnati's West End neighborhood, will have an estimated seating capacity of 26,000 to 26,500.^[8]

While at Ellerbe Becket in the 1990s, Meis designed the indoor arena Nynex Arena (now Manchester Arena) in Manchester, England, and led the design competition that won the $750 million Saitama Super Arena in Japan.^[9] Meis then left Ellerbe Becket to join NBBJ, establishing NBBJ's sports division with Michael Hallmark and Ron Turner.^[10] Meis designed the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Dodge Theater (now Comerica Theatre) in Phoenix, Miller Park in Milwaukee, Safeco Field in Seattle, Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, and Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, which was the first NFL facility to win an AIA design award.^[11]

Awards

Meis's design for Los Angeles's Staples Center has been stated as the "greatest arena ever built",^[12] and in 2001, he appeared in Time magazine as one of their "100 Innovators in the World of Sports".^[13] Meis's work has twice been awarded the Business Week/Architectural Record Award, and he is the only architect twice recognized as one of Sports Business Journal's "40 under 40 Most Influential Sports Executives".^[14]

In 2007, Meis was elevated to the College of the Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.^[15]

Education

Meis studied environmental design and engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and later received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago.^[16]

Since 2011, Meis has served as an adjunct professor for stadium design at the University of Southern California.^[17]