As an architect with decades of experience, Harvey took pride in being the principal of a small firm dedicated to providing personal attention and expertise to each client. Design projects included institutional, residential and commercial building types ranging from country retreats to large New York corporate headquarters to diversified city apartments and a Fifth Avenue triplex penthouse. Clients included the Estee Lauder Companies, the Chabad Lubavitch, and Hotjobs.com.

He maintained a strong focus on environmentally responsible design and energy conservation. Sustainable design and its role in preserving the environment was a long-standing interest and an ongoing component of his architectural identity. The successful integration of sustainability with aesthetic and functional goals was the natural focus of his practice. He was a true “eco architect”, a leader in green architecture with a long and successful track record of green-built work.

Raised in Rhinebeck, the beauty and serenity of the Hudson Valley, and his beloved February Hill, remained with him throughout his work in other parts of the country. He returned, splitting his practice between New York City and Rhinebeck. Enduring reminders of his love of the Hudson Valley, as well as his early dedication to environmentally sustainable architecture, are the cherished residences he designed throughout the region.

Harvey kept as well the manual tools of the trade — the drafting table, the triangles, the scale rulers. While adept at computer aided design, he appreciated the value that those hands-on techniques bring to architectural perception. Coming from a line of architects dating back to his grandfather*, his collection of these tools was amassed over generations. The beauty of the Bard College campus, its architecture and cultural attractions, were always dear to him, and many of these artifacts were donated to the new Bard College architectural department. It is perhaps these — the older, now-disused equipment — that he would take special pleasure in finding a place with young students. The more tactile, manual skills, Harvey believed, enhance understanding of architectural conceptualization and process. They can, he would hope, yet inspire greater appreciation of and connection to the architect's stock-in-trade — space and form.

* Benjamin Cohn, Harvey's grandfather, practiced mainly in Brooklyn, where many of his buildings still stand. You can see a sampling of Ben's projects here.