subject: Ralph Rapson - Caustic Soda Solid - China Caustic Soda Flakes [print this page] Education Education
Rapson earned architecture degrees at the University of Michigan, and at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he studied under Eliel Saarinen. ranbrook was a very exciting, dynamic place where I met and worked with guys like Charlie Eames, Harry Bertoia, and Harry Weese, Rapson said.
Teaching
Rapson taught architecture at the New Bauhaus School (now IIT Institute of Design) from 1942-46, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1946-54.
He was head of the architecture school at the University of Minnesota from 1954-84, where "generations of Minnesota architects came up through [his] tutelage."
Architectural practice and philosophy
The first Guthrie Theater (1963) during demolition (2006)
Riverside Plaza, formerly Cedar Square West (1973)
Rarig Center (1973), University of Minnesota
Rapson practiced in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1954-2008. His work was predominantly in the Modernist style. ractically all the work Ie done is not too far off from Bauhaus principles, he said.
But his work was oriented to people rather than abstract principles. He said: henever I designing a building or a piece of furniture, people become a strong part of my general approach. The design process isn just about bricks and stones; for me it also about the people in a building and how I expect them to live.1]
Rapson was a prolific sketch artist and kept volumes of sketchbooks from his various world travels. A book of selected sketches was published in 2002. In the book's introduction, Cesar Pelli wrote: His drawings were "completely self-assured" and "looked quintessentially American."
Projects
Some of Rapson's most important projects include:
Case Study House No. 4, or "Greenbelt House", 1945 (part of the Case Study House program)
The "Greenbelt House" was constructed in 1989 for an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
In recent years Rapson's firm developed a line of prefabricated modern houses called the Rapson Greenbelt, which grew out of a submission for the Dwell Home Design Invitational and are now available through a company called Wieler (http://wieler.com/homes/rapson-greenbelt/overview/).
"Rapson Rapid Rocker" for Knoll Furniture, 1945
United States Embassy, Diplomatstaden, Stockholm, Sweden, 1954
United States Embassy, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1954
St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Edina, Minnesota 1957
Cedar Square West (now Riverside Plaza) housing complex, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1962-73 (a federally funded New-Town-in-Town)
Pillsbury House in Wayzata, Minnesota, 1963 (demolished 1997)
Rapson died quietly in his home in Minneapolis on March 29, 2008. He was working in his office the previous day.
600 people attended his memorial service at the new Guthrie Theater. He was described as a "rock star" in the field.
Thomas Fisher, of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, said: is passing ends an era in American architecture as well as in the history of the school, and he will be very much missed by the thousands of people he influenced.7] Linda Mack remembered him as "A gentleman of the old school [who] maintained his career, his dignity, his charm and his kindliness to the end. He left more than an architectural legacy." According to Kay Lockhart, "Ralph loved being an architect, and he told me once, he 'felt sorry for anyone who wasn't an architect.' He infused us all with that same spirit." His wife was Mary and he had two sons, Richard (Rip) and Thomas (Toby).
Notes
^ a b c Britt, Aaron (November, 2007). "Bohemian Rapson". Dwell Magazine. http://www.dwell.com/peopleplaces/profiles/10021666.html. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
^ Pobegrin, Robin (April 3, 2008). "Ralph Rapson, Modernist Architect, Is Dead at 93". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/arts/design/03rapson. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
^ Abbe, Mary (April 4, 2008). "Architect of original Guthrie was an icon and an innovator". Minneapolis Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/local/17155846.html. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
^ Ralph Rapson: Sketches and Drawings from Around the World, Afton Historical Society Press, 2002, ISBN 1890434493.
^ Noland, Claire (April 2, 2008). "Ralph Rapson, 93; modernist architect". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-rapson2apr02,0,5727327.story. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
^ Abbe, Mary (April 21, 2008). "A final curtain call for the Guthrie's architect". Minneapolis Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/art/17991754.html. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
^ Lockhart, Kay (April 21, 2008). "An apprenticeship with Ralph Rapson". MinnPost.com (MinnPost). http://www.minnpost.com/community_voices/2008/04/21/1567/an_apprenticeship_with_ralph_rapson. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
External links
Ralph Rapson and Associates
The Rapson Greenbelt
Wieler Modern Prefab Houses
Categories: 1914 births | 2008 deaths | American architects | University of Michigan alumni | Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni | People from Alma, Michigan | People from Minneapolis, Minnesota
