Oscar Stonorov

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oscar Gregory Stonorov (1905-1970), was a modernist architect and architectural writer, historian and archivist who emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1929.^[1] Stonorov lived and worked in the Philadelphia area, where he designed modernist public housing such as Carl Mackley Homes, which was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1982^[2] and the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places in 1998.^[3] Because Stonorov was not registered as an architect in the United States at the time William Pope Barney's name was used as chief architect for the purposes of obtaining permits from the city.^[4]

Stonorov was born in Frankfurt, Germany and studied at the University of Florence, Italy and at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and apprenticed with French sculptor Aristide Maillol. In 1928, he worked in the offices of André Lurçat in Paris, France. In 1940 Stonorov, along with George Howe, 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 Neighbohood Planning.^[5][6] Between 1950 and 1954 Philadelphia architect and future Pritzker Prize winner Robert Venturi (who later worked directly for Louis Kahn) worked in the offices of Oscar Stonorov.^[7][8] In 1957 he established the partnership of Stonorov & Haws.

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.^[9][10]

Contents 1 Timeline of works 2 Further reading 3 External links 4 References

[edit] Timeline of works

• 1930 - second prize entry in design competition for the Palace of the Soviets, Moscow (with Alfred Kastner)^[11]
• 1933 - Juniata Park Housing, Philadelphia (AKA Carl Mackley Houses (with Alfred Kastner and W. Pope Barney)
• 1939 - Children's World, 1939 New York World's Fair
• 1940 - Carver Court, Coatesville (with Louis I. Kahn and George Howe)
• 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, PA (with Louis I. Kahn)
• 1950 - Cherokee Village Apartments, Philadelphia (Robert Venturi was the draftsman for this project)^[12]
• 1948 - Penn Towne Apartment Complex, Philadelphia
• 1953 - Schuylkill Falls Housing Project, Philadelphia
• 1964 - Irish Pavilion at 1964 World's Fair (with Stonorov & Haws and Mansinh Rana)

[edit] Further reading

• Frampton, Kenneth [1992]. "The Eclipse of the New Deal: Buckminster Fuller, Philip Johnson and Louis Kahn 1934-64", Modern Architecture: a critical history, 3rd ed. rev., New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, Inc., p.149-151. ISBN 0500202575. 
• 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.
• Wodehouse, Lawrence [1991]. "Tucker & Howell and Oscar Stonorov: the Non-Environmentalists", The roots of international style architecture. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill Press, p.149-151. ISBN 0933951469. 
• Juniata Park Housing Corporation project in Philadelphia in Architectural record 1958 Apr., v. 77, p. 328-329
• Preview : New York World's Fair 1964-1965 in Architectural record 1964 Feb., v. 135, p. 137-144.

[edit] 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

[edit] References