Strawberrry's Gensler made global impact with architecture, design firm

Millard Arthur “Art” Gensler Jr., a longtime Strawberry resident who founded and headed a global architecture and interior design firm, died May 10 of congestive heart failure. He was 85.

Mr. Gensler and his late wife, Drue, started their San Francisco-based design firm, M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates, with James Follett in 1965 and began specializing in architectural interiors. It is now known simply as Gensler and is reportedly the largest global design firm in the world; it employees 5,200 people at 50 offices around the globe and earned $1.55 billion in revenue in 2020.

Among the company’s most recognizable projects in the Bay Area were the Alcoa Building, now known as One Maritime Plaza; the Bank of America building at 555 California St.; Gap Inc. headquarters at 2 Folsom St.; and Moscone North and Moscone West, part of the Moscone Center, all in San Francisco; as well as Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 redesigns at the San Francisco International Airport and Oracle Corp.’s former headquarters in Redwood City.

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