Amy Porter Rapp

Amy Katherine Porter Rapp (December 15, 1908 – June 19, 2002) was an American architect from Oregon.[1] She worked primarily in Portland on residences and congregational churches.

Early life

In 1919, her family moved to Portland, Oregon where she attended Grant High School before going to the University of Oregon. Rapp graduated from the School of Architecture in 1931. She reflects on her time at the University of Oregon, noting a campus visit from Frank Lloyd Wright, providing critiques of student projects.[2] The same year she graduated, 1931, she married Lee Rapp, a fellow University of Oregon graduate in geology.

Career

Rapp graduated with the onset of the Great Depression. She states, "In 1931, with the Depression, no jobs were available for a geologist and certainly no job for a fledgling architect – in fact – no jobs at all."[2] It was not until 15 years after graduation that Rapp started designing homes in reaction to a lack of government funds for new veteran homes. She did this with no prior office experience, two children and a third on the way. Rapp comments on this with a memory of her youngest child who tip-toed through the house, she "heard, 'Shush, Mama is architecting.' I thought – that's it. I burned the midnight oil after that until he was in school."[2]

It was in 1941 that Rapp has her first commission, when she and her husband bought a 50-by -150-foot lot. She designed a home that moved down the hill. As a volunteer, she chaired the Building Committee of the First Congregational Church in Portland, and represented the church on the jury for the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. She drew plans for church additions, and strove to keep the existing exposed stonework and brick. She further reviewed expansion plans and grew her professional skills of client relationships. She finished her last commissioned home in 1955 and turned to help her husband with the Green Furniture Hospital, which was a repairing and refinishing shop of furniture that later added antiquities.[2]

Education

B.A., University of Oregon, 1931.

Notable Projects

References

  1. ↑ "Amy Katherine Rapp". Albany Democrat Herald. July 13, 2002. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 MatriArchs: Pioneering Women in Architecture. American Institute of Architects. -- Portland Chapter (Portland, Or.).
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