Oscar Stonorov

Oscar Gregory Stonorov (December 2, 1905 – May 9, 1970) was a modernist architect and architectural writer, historian and archivist who emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1929.[1] His first name is often spelled "Oskar".

Early life

Stonorov was born in Frankfurt, Germany, the son of Helene (Traub) and Gregor Stonorov, an engineer.[2] He 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.

In these years, Stonorov researched and co-edited with Willy Boesiger the publication of the work of Swiss architect Le Corbusier, covering the period 1910 to 1929 (published in 1929).[3] With Boesiger’s work continuing for four decades, this would be the first volume of the definitive 8 volume set of the complete works of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret (completed in 1969; numerous re-editions with varying titles and in different languages).[4]

Career
Carl Mackley Houses

In 1940 Stonorov, along with George Howe, worked on the design of housing developments in Pennsylvania with Louis Kahn. A formal architectural office partnership between Stonorov and Louis Kahn began in February 1942 and ended in March 1947, produced fifty-four known projects and structures.[5][6] In 1943, Stonorov co-wrote with Kahn Why City Planning Is Your Responsibility and in 1944 again collaborated with Kahn to write You and Your Neighborhood ... A Primer for Neighborhood Planning.[7][8] 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.[9][10] 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[11] and the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places in 1998.[12] 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.[13]

Death
Avon Lea Farm, designed by Stonorov around an old stone farmhouse

Stonorov died with Walter P. Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers, when Reuther's Gates Learjet 23 crashed on approach to Emmet County Airport (now Pellston Regional Airport) in Pellston, Michigan. Also killed were Reuther's wife, his bodyguard, and the plane's pilot and copilot.[14] Reuther and Stonorov were to have performed the final inspection of a union recreation and education facility Stonorov had designed at Black Lake, Michigan 25 miles (40 km) from Pellston.[15] The center was to open three weeks after the crash.

Family

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.[16] They lived at Avon Lea Farm in Charlestown Township, outside Philadelphia.

Timeline of works
Cherokee Apartments
  • 1933 - Juniata Park Housing, AKA Carl Mackley Houses, Philadelphia (with Alfred Kastner and W. Pope Barney)
  • 1939 - Children's World, 1939 New York World's Fair
  • 1940 - Bake House III, Torresdale, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Edmund Bacon, still standing, on site of Delaire Landing residential community, 9355 State Road, formerly the site of the historic Bake House. Contact 27thpal@comcast.net for photos and a substantial amount of information
  • 1940 - Carver Court, Coatesville, Pennsylvania (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, Pennsylvania (with Louis I. Kahn)
  • 1948 - Penn Towne Apartment Complex, Philadelphia
  • 1950 - Cherokee Apartments, Philadelphia (Robert Venturi was a draftsman for this project[17])
Sculpture by Stonorov of Adam and Eve in the Hopkinson House which he also designed
  • 1951 - UAW Solidarity House, Detroit
  • 1952 - Martin Residence, Wyncote, Pennsylvania
  • 1952 - Friends Housing Cooperative, Philadelphia [18])
  • 1953 - Schuylkill Falls Housing Project, Philadelphia (demolished, 1996[19])
  • 1962 - Hopkinson House, Washington Square, Philadelphia[20]
  • 1964 - India Pavilion at 1964 World's Fair (with Stonorov & Haws and Mansinh Rana)
  • 1969 - Casa-studio di Jorio Vivarelli, Pistoia, Italy
  • Nancy Cook Most Residence, Valley Forge, PA
  • 1970 - UAW Retreat and Education Facility, Black Lake, MI

Further reading
  • Ursula Cliff, Stonorov, Oscar, in: Muriel Emanuel (Ed.), Contemporary architects, London 1980, 348-360.
  • 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. ed.). New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, Inc. pp. 149–151. ISBN 0-500-20257-5.
  • 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. pp. 149–151. ISBN 0-933951-46-9.
  • "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.
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References
  1. Stonorov, Oskar Gregory (1905-1970) at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings]
  2. "Stonorov, Oskar Gregory (1905-1970) -- Philadelphia Architects and Buildings". www.philadelphiabuildings.org. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  3. Ursula Cliff, Stonorov, Oscar, in: Muriel Emanuel (Ed.), Contemporary architects, London 1980, 358.
  4. WorldCat search results for title “corbusier” and author “boesiger”.
  5. "Partners: Stonorov and Kahn". The Pacific Coast Architecture Database. The Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  6. "List of Projects and Builds by Stonorov & Kahn Associated Architects". Philadelphia Architects and Buildings. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  7. Louis Kahn
  8. Book Details
  9. "Robert Venturi biography at PritzerPrize.com". Archived from the original on 2008-04-22. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  10. Venturi, Robert Charles: Biography at Answers.com
  11. http://www.arch.state.pa.us/display.asp%5B%5D
  12. National Register of Historic Places Listings -May 15, 1998
  13. Barney, William Pope (1890-1970) - Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
  14. planecrashinfo.com Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents: 1970s
  15. "Reuther Dies in Jet Crash With Wife and 4 Others". The New York Times, May 10, 1970.
  16. "Elizabeth Foster "Miss Betty" Stonorov March 5, 1906 - December 8, 2003". Charlestown Township. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  17. Cherokee Village - project/building chronology - Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
  18. "Friends Housing Cooperative", ' 'National Register of Historic Places Registration Form' , August 8, 2015.
  19. "Unusual housing mix to be built", Philadelphia Business Journal, May 26, 2006.
  20. Childress, Nelly. "Hopkinson House: A Unique Residential High-Rise On Washington Square". Hopkinson House. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
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