Oscar Stonorov
Encyclopedia
Oscar Gregory Stonorov was a modernist architect
and architectural writer
, historian
and archivist
who emigrated to the United States
from Germany
in 1929.
His first name is often spelled "Oskar".
, Germany
and studied at the University of Florence
(1924/25) , Italy
and at the University of Zurich
(1925–1928), Switzerland
, and apprenticed with French
sculptor Aristide Maillol
. In 1928, he worked in the offices of André Lurçat
in Paris
, France
.
, worked on the design of housing developments
in Pennsylvania
with Louis Kahn
. In 1943, Stonorov co-wrote with Louis Kahn
Why City Planning Is Your Responsibility and in 1944 again collaborated with Louis Kahn
co-writing You and Your Neighborhood... A Primer for Neighborhood Planning. Between 1950 and 1954 Philadelphia architect and future Pritzker Prize
winner Robert Venturi
(who later worked directly for Kahn) worked in the offices of Stonorov. In 1957 he established the partnership of Stonorov & Haws.
Stonorov lived and worked near Philadelphia, where he designed modernist public housing
, such as the Carl Mackley Houses
, which was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1982 and the National Park Service
's National Register of Historic Places
in 1998. Because Stonorov was not registered as an architect in the United States at the time, William Pope Barney was enlisted as chief architect for the purposes of obtaining permits from the city.
Stonorov dedicated a significant amount of his life to researching and compiling the archives of Swiss architect Le Corbusier
and co-edited, with Willy Boesiger and Max Bill
, the Œuvre complète: Le Corbusier
et Pierre Jeanneret
, the definitive 8 volume set of the complete work of Swiss architect Le Corbusier
initially released between 1929 ands 1969 as a result of Stonorov and Boesiger working directly with Le Corbusier.
crashed on approach to Emmet County Airport (now Pellston Airport). Reuther and Stonorov were to perform the final inspection of a union recreation/education facility Stonorov had designed at Black Lake
, 25 miles from Pellston, Michigan
. The center was to open three weeks from the crash.
See: The Walter & May Reuther UAW Family Education Center
With his wife, Elizabeth Foster "Miss Betty" Stonorov (March 5, 1906 - December 8, 2003), Stonorov had daughters Katrina Daly, Tasha Stonorov Churchill and Andrea Stonorov Foster as well as a son Derek Stonorov and nine grandchildren. They lived at Avon Lea Farm in Charlestown Township, outside Philadelphia.
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...
and architectural writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and archivist
Archivist
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
who emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1929.
His first name is often spelled "Oskar".
Early life
Stonorov was born in FrankfurtFrankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and studied at the University of Florence
University of Florence
The University of Florence is a higher study institute in Florence, central Italy. One of the largest and oldest universities in the country, it consists of 12 faculties...
(1924/25) , Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and at the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
(1925–1928), Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and apprenticed with French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
sculptor Aristide Maillol
Aristide Maillol
Aristide Maillol or Aristides Maillol was a French Catalan sculptor and painter.-Biography:...
. In 1928, he worked in the offices of André Lurçat
André Lurçat
André Lurçat was a French modernist architect, landscape architect, furniture designer and city planner, a founding member of CIAM, and active in the rebuilding in French cities after World War II...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Career
In 1940 Stonorov, along with George HoweGeorge Howe
George Howe was the first Australian editor, poet and early printer.Howe was the son of Thomas Howe, a government printer on Basseterre, Saint Christopher Island in the West Indies. When about 21 he went to London and worked as a printer in The Times office...
, worked on the design of housing developments
Housing developments
Housing developments are structured building development of residential properties. Popular throughout the US and UK, these are often areas of high density, low impact residences of single family homes....
in 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...
with Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
. In 1943, Stonorov co-wrote with Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
Why City Planning Is Your Responsibility and in 1944 again collaborated with Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
co-writing You and Your Neighborhood... A Primer for Neighborhood Planning. Between 1950 and 1954 Philadelphia architect and future Pritzker Prize
Pritzker Prize
The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually by the Hyatt Foundation to honour "a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built...
winner Robert Venturi
Robert Venturi
Robert Charles Venturi, Jr. is an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, and one of the major figures in the architecture of the twentieth century...
(who later worked directly for Kahn) worked in the offices of Stonorov. In 1957 he established the partnership of Stonorov & Haws.
Stonorov lived and worked near Philadelphia, where he designed modernist public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
, such as the Carl Mackley Houses
Carl Mackley Houses
The Carl Mackley Houses, also originally known as Juniata Park Housing, is a private apartment complex in the Juniata neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built in 1933-1934 as single-family apartments, it opened in 1935...
, which was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1982 and the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
's 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...
in 1998. Because Stonorov was not registered as an architect in the United States at the time, William Pope Barney was enlisted as chief architect for the purposes of obtaining permits from the city.
Stonorov dedicated a significant amount of his life to researching and compiling the archives of Swiss architect Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
and co-edited, with Willy Boesiger and Max Bill
Max Bill
Max Bill was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer.Bill was born in Winterthur...
, the Œuvre complète: Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
et Pierre Jeanneret
Pierre Jeanneret
Pierre Jeanneret was a Swiss architect who collaborated with his more famous brother Charles Edouard Jeanneret for about twenty years....
, the definitive 8 volume set of the complete work of Swiss architect Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
initially released between 1929 ands 1969 as a result of Stonorov and Boesiger working directly with Le Corbusier.
Death
Stonorov died with Walter P. Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers, when Reuther's Lear JetLear Jet
Learjet is a manufacturer of business jets for civilian and military use. It was founded in the late 1950s by William Powell Lear as Swiss American Aviation Corporation. Learjet is now a subsidiary of Bombardier and marketed as the "Bombardier Learjet Family".-History:The Learjet started life as an...
crashed on approach to Emmet County Airport (now Pellston Airport). Reuther and Stonorov were to perform the final inspection of a union recreation/education facility Stonorov had designed at Black Lake
Black Lake (Michigan)
Black Lake is located in Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties in Northern Michigan. With a surface area of 10,130 acres , it is the seventh largest inland lake in Michigan. The largest body of water in the Black River watershed, it drains through the Lower Black and Cheboygan Rivers into Lake Huron...
, 25 miles from Pellston, Michigan
Pellston, Michigan
Pellston is a village in Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 771 at the 2000 census. The village is the home of Pellston Regional Airport. Its motto is "Icebox of the Nation"; Pellston recorded the state of Michigan's record low temperature, a frigid -53°F...
. The center was to open three weeks from the crash.
See: The Walter & May Reuther UAW Family Education Center
With his wife, Elizabeth Foster "Miss Betty" Stonorov (March 5, 1906 - December 8, 2003), Stonorov had daughters Katrina Daly, Tasha Stonorov Churchill and Andrea Stonorov Foster as well as a son Derek Stonorov and nine grandchildren. They lived at Avon Lea Farm in Charlestown Township, outside Philadelphia.
Timeline of works
- 1930 - second prize entry in design competition for the Palace of SovietsPalace of SovietsThe Palace of the Soviets was a project to construct an administrative center and a congress hall in Moscow, Russia, near the Kremlin, on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour...
, MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
(with Alfred Kastner - 1933 - Juniata Park Housing, AKA Carl Mackley HousesCarl Mackley HousesThe Carl Mackley Houses, also originally known as Juniata Park Housing, is a private apartment complex in the Juniata neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built in 1933-1934 as single-family apartments, it opened in 1935...
, Philadelphia (with Alfred Kastner and W. Pope Barney) - 1939 - Children's World, 1939 New York World's Fair
- 1940 - Carver Court, Coatesville, PennsylvaniaCoatesville, PennsylvaniaCoatesville is the only city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,100 at the 2010 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia....
(with Louis I. Kahn and George HoweGeorge HoweGeorge Howe was the first Australian editor, poet and early printer.Howe was the son of Thomas Howe, a government printer on Basseterre, Saint Christopher Island in the West Indies. When about 21 he went to London and worked as a printer in The Times office...
) - 1942 - Pennypack Woods, Philadelphia (with Louis I. Kahn and George Howe)
- 1943 - Model Neighborhood Rehabilitation Project, Philadelphia (with Louis I. Kahn)
- 1945 - Prefabricated Houses, Chester County, PennsylvaniaChester County, Pennsylvania-State parks:*French Creek State Park*Marsh Creek State Park*White Clay Creek Preserve-Demographics:As of the 2010 census, the county was 85.5% White, 6.1% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 3.9% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 1.8% were two or more races, and 2.4% were...
(with Louis I. Kahn) - 1948 - Penn Towne Apartment Complex, Philadelphia
- 1950 - Cherokee Village Apartments, Philadelphia (Robert VenturiRobert VenturiRobert Charles Venturi, Jr. is an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, and one of the major figures in the architecture of the twentieth century...
was the draftsman for this project - 1953 - Schuylkill Falls Housing Project, Philadelphia (demolished, 1996)
- 1964 - IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
Pavilion at 1964 World's Fair (with Stonorov & Haws and Mansinh Rana) - 1969 - Casa-studio di Jorio Vivarelli, PistoiaPistoiaPistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... - Nancy Cook Most Residence, Valley ForgeValley ForgeValley Forge in Pennsylvania was the site of the military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War.-History:...
, PA - UAWUnited Auto WorkersThe International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
Retreat and Education Facility, Black Lake, MI
Further reading
- Sandeen, Eric J. "The Design of Public Housing in the New Deal: Oskar Stonorov and Carl Mackley Houses." American Quarterly, 37 (Winter 1985): 645-67.
- "Juniata Park Housing Corporation project in Philadelphia", Architectural Record, 1958 Apr., v. 77, p. 328-329
- "Preview: New York World's Fair 1964-1965", Architectural Record, 1964 Feb., v. 135, p. 137-144.
External links
- Biography at the American Architects and Buildings
- Pennypack Woods government-sponsored cooperative communities
- Carl Mackley Homes: Unionism and Collaborative Design
- Casa Fermi, 1300 Lombard Street, built ca. 1964, Stonorov & Haws, architects (biography)
- Oscar Stonorov papers at the University of WyomingUniversity of WyomingThe University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
- American Heritage CenterAmerican Heritage CenterThe American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West and a select handful of national topics: environment and conservation, the mining and petroleum industries,...
