Edgar J. Kaufmann
Encyclopedia
Edgar J. Kaufmann was a prominent Jewish German-American businessman and philanthropist
. He owned and directed Kaufmann's
Department Store
, the most prominent one in 20th century Pittsburgh
and western Pennsylvania
. Edgar Kaufmann was the owner of two architectural masterpieces; the eastern mountain 'Fallingwater
' and western desert 'Kaufmann House
.'
In Pittsburgh, Edgar Kaufmann generously financed the Light Opera Company, and donated US$1.5 million for the erection of the Civic Auditorium
. Improving the infrastructure of the city was one of his concerns; another was art patronage. In 1926 Kaufmann commissioned American artist Boardman Robinson
to create a series of nine murals for his flagship department store in Pittsburgh on the history of trade, completed with automobile paint. The architect Frank Lloyd Wright
designed his executive offices on the top floor, now installed an American museum. Edgar Kaufmann was one of the 'city's leading citizens' who welcomed Albert Einstein
when he visited Pittsburgh in 1934. Einstein was later a house guest at their mountain retreat 'Fallingwater.'
Architect Benno Janssen
designed several structures for Kaufmann including his Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania
residence (1924-25) known as La Tourelle. The Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce in 1930 awarded an 'Excellence in Design' for the facades. Additionally Janssen designed Kaufmann's
Department Store in Pittsburgh.
Edgar J. Kaufmann and his wife commissioned two of the most recognized landmarks of 20th century American modernism
architecture; Pennsylvania's 'Fallingwater' and the California desert's 'Kaufmann House.' Both are a National Historic Landmark
and on the National Register of Historic Places
, and consistently rank high in the American Institute of Architects
(AIA) 'List of 100 most popular buildings in America'.
The first was designed by renowned architect
Frank Lloyd Wright
in 1934, a distinctive country house over the creek at the family's natural laurel highlands
property southeast of Pittsburgh. The result was the architectural landmark 'Fallingwater
', perched over the Bear Run waterfalls at Mill Run in the Allegheny Mountains
of Pennsylvania
. Being both patron and owner of 'Fallingwater' has generated a widespread interest in Edgar Kaufmann, more than any other of his civic projects and private accomplishments. A unique designer/patron relationship evolved between Wright and Kaufmann during the complex design-construction process. The house and its extensive professional and public publicity resurrected Wright's career from the Great Depression and his stylistic relegation at the time.
The second landmark house is the 'Kaufmann House
' in Palm Springs, California
, designed by architect Richard Neutra
completed in 1946. The photographer Julius Shulman
created an iconic photograph of it then, bringing International Style architecture
to greater public exposure. In the 1990s the residence was extensively restored to the Kaufmann's era by architects Marmol Radziner + Associates
, and is now a registered National Historic Landmark
.
Edgar J. Kaufmann died in 1955, and with his wife and son, is entombed in the family mausoleum
at 'Fallingwater.' The majority of he and his wife's estate was left to the Edgar J. Kaufmann Charitable Fund, which concentrates efforts on improving the lives of Pittsburgh's residents. His son Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.
inherited 'Fallingwater' and in 1963 donated it, along with the pristine natural mountain acreage to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
. Both are open to the public: the house for tours, and the preserve for walks and hiking
.
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He owned and directed Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of 'Fallingwater' and the Kaufmann's Desert House. In the post-war years the store became a regional chain in the eastern United States, and was last...
Department Store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
, the most prominent one in 20th century Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
and western Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Edgar Kaufmann was the owner of two architectural masterpieces; the eastern mountain 'Fallingwater
Fallingwater
Fallingwater or Kaufmann Residence is a house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh...
' and western desert 'Kaufmann House
Kaufmann Desert House
The Kaufmann House is a house located in Palm Springs, California that was designed by architect Richard Neutra in 1946....
.'
In Pittsburgh, Edgar Kaufmann generously financed the Light Opera Company, and donated US$1.5 million for the erection of the Civic Auditorium
Mellon Arena
Civic Arena is an indoor arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is currently undergoing demolition. It was the first retractable roof major sports venue in the world, covering 170,000 sq. feet and constructed with just shy of 3,000 tons of Pittsburgh steel...
. Improving the infrastructure of the city was one of his concerns; another was art patronage. In 1926 Kaufmann commissioned American artist Boardman Robinson
Boardman Robinson
Boardman Robinson was a Canadian-American artist, illustrator and cartoonist.-Early years:Boardman Robinson was born September 6, 1876 in Nova Scotia, Canada. He spent his childhood in England and Canada, before coming to Boston in the first half of the 1890s...
to create a series of nine murals for his flagship department store in Pittsburgh on the history of trade, completed with automobile paint. The architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
designed his executive offices on the top floor, now installed an American museum. Edgar Kaufmann was one of the 'city's leading citizens' who welcomed Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
when he visited Pittsburgh in 1934. Einstein was later a house guest at their mountain retreat 'Fallingwater.'
Architect Benno Janssen
Benno Janssen
Benno Janssen was an American architect.-Childhood, Education and Career:Benno Janssen was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Oscar Janssen and Thekla Susenbeth. Janssen studied at the University of Kansas. In 1899, he began working in architecture in Boston, Massachusetts. He also continued...
designed several structures for Kaufmann including his Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania
Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania
Fox Chapel is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, and is a suburb of Pittsburgh located northeast of downtown.The population was 5,388 as of the 2010 census.-History:...
residence (1924-25) known as La Tourelle. The Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce in 1930 awarded an 'Excellence in Design' for the facades. Additionally Janssen designed Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of 'Fallingwater' and the Kaufmann's Desert House. In the post-war years the store became a regional chain in the eastern United States, and was last...
Department Store in Pittsburgh.
Landmark residences
American modernism
American modernism like modernism in general is a trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation, and is thus in its essence both progressive and optimistic...
architecture; Pennsylvania's 'Fallingwater' and the California desert's 'Kaufmann House.' Both are a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
and on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, and consistently rank high in the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
(AIA) 'List of 100 most popular buildings in America'.
The first was designed by renowned architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
in 1934, a distinctive country house over the creek at the family's natural laurel highlands
Laurel Highlands
The Laurel Highlands is a region in southwestern Pennsylvania made up of Fayette County, Somerset County and Westmoreland County. It has a population of about 600,000 people....
property southeast of Pittsburgh. The result was the architectural landmark 'Fallingwater
Fallingwater
Fallingwater or Kaufmann Residence is a house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh...
', perched over the Bear Run waterfalls at Mill Run in the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Being both patron and owner of 'Fallingwater' has generated a widespread interest in Edgar Kaufmann, more than any other of his civic projects and private accomplishments. A unique designer/patron relationship evolved between Wright and Kaufmann during the complex design-construction process. The house and its extensive professional and public publicity resurrected Wright's career from the Great Depression and his stylistic relegation at the time.
The second landmark house is the 'Kaufmann House
Kaufmann Desert House
The Kaufmann House is a house located in Palm Springs, California that was designed by architect Richard Neutra in 1946....
' in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, designed by architect Richard Neutra
Richard Neutra
Richard Joseph Neutra is considered one of modernism's most important architects.- Biography :Neutra was born in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria Hungary, on April 8, 1892. He was born into both-Jewish wealthy family...
completed in 1946. The photographer Julius Shulman
Julius Shulman
Julius Shulman was an American architectural photographer best known for his photograph "Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, 1960. Pierre Koenig, Architect." The house is also known as The Stahl House. Shulman's photography spread California Mid-century modern around the world...
created an iconic photograph of it then, bringing International Style architecture
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
to greater public exposure. In the 1990s the residence was extensively restored to the Kaufmann's era by architects Marmol Radziner + Associates
Marmol Radziner + Associates
Marmol Radziner is a Los Angeles-based design-build practice founded and led by architects Leo Marmol, FAIA and Ron Radziner, FAIA. The firm offers a full range of design services, including architectural design, programming, master planning, historic restoration, landscape design, interior...
, and is now a registered National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
Edgar J. Kaufmann died in 1955, and with his wife and son, is entombed in the family mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
at 'Fallingwater.' The majority of he and his wife's estate was left to the Edgar J. Kaufmann Charitable Fund, which concentrates efforts on improving the lives of Pittsburgh's residents. His son Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.
Edgar Kaufmann, jr.
Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. was an American architect, lecturer, and author.-Early years:He was the son of Edgar J. Kaufmann, a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman and philanthropist who owned Kaufmann's department store. Edgar Jr. attended the School for Arts and Crafts at the Austrian Museum of Applied Art...
inherited 'Fallingwater' and in 1963 donated it, along with the pristine natural mountain acreage to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy , headquartered in Pittsburgh, has been around for more than 75 years and exists to protect the water, land and life of western Pennsylvania. Half of all the land that has been protected by land trusts in Pennsylvania has been conserved by the Western...
. Both are open to the public: the house for tours, and the preserve for walks and hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
.