Jim Hamilton, 96; Aviator, Architect, Designer and Inventor

James (Jim) Lyman Hamilton, a Cold War Naval aviator and photographer as well as a regarded architect, lighting designer, and lifelong inventor who, with friend and NASA physicist Jordan Kirsch, patented the iconic 1970s "Aurora" and "Prisma" clocks and later designed the "Time Square" clock in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection, died on Sunday, September 6, 2025 in Lexington, MA surrounded by loving family and friends.

Jim arrived in Cambridge, MA in 1959 with his wife Carol (Horn) Hamilton and degrees in architecture and design from the Rhode Island School of Design. It was the height of the Cambridge modern architecture movement, and he joined The Architects Collaborative (TAC), founded and led by Bauhaus pioneer Walter Gropius, whom he revered.

Jim later joined Cambridge Seven Associates, where he captained the team that designed the innovative cabin interior for one of the first "wide-body" passenger aircraft, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10.

In the early 1970s, Jim partnered with Jay Kirsch to design the "Aurora" and "Prisma" clocks, which used polarizing filters to produce blending spectral colors marking the time. Both became icons of modern design, selling tens of thousands in their time and becoming collector's items over the years. Clock owners who expressed their admiration included the singer Art Garfunkel, actress Faye Dunaway and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller; President Jimmy Carter had an Aurora at the White House, according to Mr. Kirsch. Separately, Jim designed a minimalist, geometric clock called "Time Square" featured in the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

Continuing with lighting design, Jim worked with Lam Lighting Associates in the 1990s, contributing to major projects including airports in Denver and Chicago and cultural landmarks like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, in collaboration with Frank Gehry.

Jim was born on November 30, 1928, in Meriden, CT, the younger son of Lorenzo and Ella (Stohr) Hamilton. His father was a renowned local architect, designing municipal buildings and prominent homes, a World War I veteran and reservist, and an ROTC teacher at his alma mater, Yale University. His older brother Mark built model airplanes and later joined the U.S. Navy as an aviator at the end of World War II, earning the younger brother's admiration.

Jim graduated from The Choate School in 1946 and entered MIT to study chemistry. Midway through his junior year, he left MIT and enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design to study interior architecture under influential Austrian modernist architect and designer Ernst Lichtblau. He graduated in 1953.

Following graduation, he enlisted in the US Navy's Officer Candidate School, earning his Naval Aviator wings in 1955. From 1955 to 1957, Mr. Hamilton piloted aircraft that patrolled the North Atlantic, scanning for Soviet bombers and submarines during the Cold War. He continued in the reserves, retiring in 1962.

Jim was an avid skier and sailor, once building a wooden sailboat by hand. He later turned to art photography, earning third prize in the 1982 Boston Globe Photo Awards for a photo titled "Early Departures."

In 2000, he moved to Cabot, Vermont, with his partner, Judy Boucher, where he designed and built their post-and-beam home, blending modern design with traditional techniques like mortise-and-tenon and dovetail joints. He set up a machine shop and quickly became the neighbor everyone called when they needed a custom part or a practical solution.

That ingenuity and generosity defined him as much as his professional work. A lifelong inventor, he delighted in solving problems and bringing ideas to life—designing a model train table that lowered from the kitchen ceiling for his sons, crafting wooden toys and mechanical movements for his grandchildren, or sharing photographs that revealed beauty in the everyday. More than through words, he expressed himself through sharing knowledge: pointing out constellations in the night sky, explaining physics in simple terms or helping friends through his inventor's group, where curiosity grew into lasting friendship.

Jim is survived by three sons: Eric and his wife Lynda Radosevich, and their children Clay, Duncan, and Monte; Peter and his wife Audra Hamilton, and their children Leah and Aaron; and Chris and his wife Traci Horie, and their children Kaikea and Ailana. He is lovingly remembered by family including former wife Carol Hamilton and her husband Peter Johnson; nieces, Shelley Hamilton Mack, Jean Hamilton Welch and Julie Gwinn-Bailey; nephews Mark Lorenzo Hamilton, Jr. and Steven Grammont; sister-in-law Diana Grammont; his Vermont family Judy Boucher, Jen Boucher, Mark and Blue Christensen and many more.

The family expresses their heartfelt gratitude to the caring staff of Youville Place in Lexington. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the employee appreciation fund at Youville Place. https://www.youvilleassistedliving.org/ways-to-give/donate-youville-place/.

A memorial gathering will be held at a later date.