George Thomas Rockrise, FAIA, ASLA, AICP (November 25, 1916 – July 7, 2000) was an American architect, landscape architect, and urban planner of Japanese and English descent based in San Francisco, California. During his career he practiced both nationally and internationally, had a distinguished career in public service, and received numerous honors and awards.

Early life and education

Rockrise was born in New York City to

Iwahiko Tsumanuma Iwahiko Tsumanuma, a.k.a. Thomas S. Rockrise, A.I.A., (1878 – February 5, 1936) was one of the earliest Japanese immigrants to receive an architecture degree at an American university and was among the first Japanese architects to be license ...

(also known as Thomas S. Rockrise, one of the first American-educated Japanese architects in the United States) and Agnes Margaret (Asbury) Rockrise, of Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in New York City and later at Saranac Lake, New York, where his father was under treatment for tuberculosis. In high school he was an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

and built and operated his own ham radio. Rockrise received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from his father's alma mater,

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1938. At that time, the program at Syracuse taught the Beaux Arts method of classical design. While attending Syracuse, Rockrise received several scholarships. Of note was a Flight Training Scholarship from the U.S. Army Air Corps his senior year, leading him to receive his pilot's license upon graduation. After working a few years in architecture and construction, Rockrise was awarded concurrently a Graduate Fellowship at Columbia University and an Advanced Flight Scholarship from the U.S. Army Air Corps for advanced flight training. With war on the world's horizon, Rockrise made what he considered to be a difficult decision. He chose to decline the Advanced Flight Scholarship, instead to attend Columbia University, where he received his M.S. in Architecture in 1941.

Career

Upon graduating from Columbia University, Rockrise accepted a job in the Canal Zone of Panama, where he was residing when the U.S. entered World War II, December 7, 1941. Rockrise remained in Panama for the duration of the war, working as an architect for the Canal Zone, U.S. Navy, the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Caribbean Defense Command at various times. He also established a private architectural practice in Panama City. Rockrise was never able to fulfill his desire to fly for the U.S. Navy, as he was repeatedly denied a commission because of his Japanese ancestry. Returning to New York City after the war, Rockrise went to work for Edward D. Stone, FAIA (’58), who at this time was one of the leading American architects exploring modernism. Rockrise worked on various projects including the El Panama Hotel (Panama City, Panama), coordinating the firm’s work with

Thomas D. Church Thomas Dolliver Church (April 27, 1902 – August 30, 1978) was a 20th century landscape architect based in California.San Francisco, then the country’s leading modern landscape architect. As Rockrise stated, “I was chosen to go to San Francisco—and I think this was really the turning point—to coordinate the architectural drawings with Tommy’s landscape drawings. Perhaps this was because they had to be done in the metric system, and perhaps because the notes had to be in Spanish, and I spoke Spanish.” Subsequently, Rockrise worked for the architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm,

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...

, where he was assigned by design partner Gordon Bunshaft, FAIA, to be a staff designer for the United Nations Headquarters Building. As one of the ‘Backroom Boys,’ Rockrise worked under Sven Markelius and

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

, two of the group of world-renowned architects who designed the United Nations complex. CarpenterResidence_GTR

In 1947, Rockrise was invited to become an associate in the landscape architecture office of

Thomas D. Church Thomas Dolliver Church (April 27, 1902 – August 30, 1978) was a 20th century landscape architect based in California.Lawrence Halprin, FASLA (’69), on the award winning design for the landscaping of the Donnell residence in Sonoma County, California. Rockrise was responsible for the design of the bath house and lanai. The 1948 garden is “famous for its unusual abstracted forms” and is considered a “Modernist icon.” In these early years, 1949–1953, Rockrise also taught at the School of Architecture at the University of California at Berkeley, and was the faculty advisor for the student chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 1950, Rockrise established his own practice in San Francisco. Among the first draftsmen he hired were John Matthew Myers and Robert C. Mountjoy in 1955, who became associates in 1958. Mountjoy's wife, Jan, a former ‘star’ architecture student of Rockrise's at Berkeley, came on as secretary/draftsman. Rockrise's early practice was focused on the design of award-winning residential projects, including: *Perlman Residence (Squaw Valley, CA 1956), Merit Award, Progressive Architecture Magazine *Carpenter Residence (Medford, OR, 1955), National Award of Merit, A.I.A. *Matzinger Residence (Belvedere, CA 1961). Design Award, A.I.A. and House and Home Magazine; Merit Award, A.I.A. and Sunset Magazine *Gilman Residence (Kent Woodlands, CA 1953) National Award of Merit, A.I.A *Riley Residence (Atherton, CA 1960) Award of Excellence for Design, Architectural Record Magazine *Rockrise Residence (Squaw Valley, CA 1957) Design Award, Progressive Architecture Magazine *Peñaherrera Residence ("La Casita Escondida", Santa Rosa, CA 1958) "He was one of the leaders of the modern California movement in architecture. His work always showed a Japanese sensitivity to materials and the environment -- a real sensitivity on how to use wood, how to use stone, and how to integrate buildings into the natural site," said Jim Chappell, Assoc. AIA, past president of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). In 1954, he was invited to Venezuela for several months to assist renowned Venezuelan architect Tomás José Sanabria in the establishment of that country's first school of architecture at the

Universidad Nacional A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...

. Rockrise also served as a visiting professor and curriculum consultant at the school. In 1957, Rockrise was commissioned to design the American Consulate in Fukuoka, Japan, in collaboration with the noted architects Hervey Parke Clark, FAIA, and John Beuttler. The job took him to Japan for the first time in the later part of that year and, for the first time, he was able to visit the birthplace of his father (

Yamagata City is the capital city of Yamagata Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 248,772 in 103,165 households, and a population density of 650 persons per km2. The total area of the city i ...

) and meet many of his Japanese relatives, among them, his last living aunt. Rockrise entered into partnership with William J. Watson in 1960, forming the firm, Rockrise and Watson A.I.A. Rockrise and Watson dissolved in 1968. In 1962, Rockrise collaborated with Lawrence Livingston Jr. and Lawrence Halprin to produce the study, “What to do About Market Street.” It remains the seminal study for the rehabilitation of lower Market Street in San Francisco, resulting in the complete rebuilding of the street during the period 1966-1980. In 1968, Rockrise formed George T. Rockrise and Associates, with Robert A. Odermatt, FAIA (‘86), Robert C. Mountjoy and James J. Amis, FAIA (‘97), all of whom were associates, becoming principals. The firm later became Rockrise, Odermatt, Mountjoy and Amis (ROMA), and is known today as ROMA Design Group, though none of the original named partners are any longer associated with the firm. “Perhaps more than any single achievement, George should be commended for advancing an interdisciplinary approach to design…. isactive involvement in architecture, landscape architecture and planning became reflected in the development of ROMA, which evolved into one of the earliest truly interdisciplinary offices, advocating a team approach to design." According to Mountjoy, “I think the interdisciplinary approach to design was always a part of our practice. Even with residential work there was always collaboration with consultants for structural, mechanical, electrical, landscaping input. Later, in urban design and planning, there were close ties to environmental, transportation, economic and social disciplines.” Odermatt commented, “George Rockrise was a strong believer in a collaborative approach to urban planning and architecture design. Under his leadership, members of collateral design professions such as landscape architecture, structural and mechanical/electrical engineering were engaged as team members early on in the design process. This collaborative approach ensured that the various design disciplines had the opportunity to contribute their knowledge and expertise at the earliest stages of the development of the project’s design concept.” Rockrise retired from ROMA in 1986. He established a solo practice based in

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, completing the Wellington Residence & Winery (

), the Paradise Ridge Winery ( Santa Rosa, CA), the Sternik Residence (

St. Helena, CA St. Helena ( ; Wappo language, Wappo: ''Anakotanoma'') is a city in Napa County, California, Napa County, in the Wine Country of California. Located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the ...

), and the Rockrise/Brown residence (

Camano Island, WA Camano Island is a large island in Possession Sound, a section of Puget Sound. It is part of Island County, Washington, and is located between Whidbey Island and the mainland (Snohomish County) by the Saratoga Passage to the west and Port Susan ...

Personal life

In 1948 Rockrise married Margaret (Maggie) Lund Paulson, originally from Oregon and a Stanford graduate, who was the fashion editor of a San Francisco newspaper. In the early 1950s they had two children, Christina Margaret and Peter Lund. Maggie passed away prematurely in 1957. In 1959 Rockrise married Sally Scott Griffin, with whom he had a daughter, Celia Asbury. The marriage ended in divorce in 1964. In 1988, Rockrise married Anneliese Warner, originally from Garmisch, Germany, who worked for the American Consulate in Munich, Germany. They met while Rockrise was on assignment for the US State Department there in Munich. They purchased a home in

Glen Ellen, California Glen Ellen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 784 at the 2010 census, down from 992 at the 2000 census. Glen Ellen is the location of Jack London State Historic Par ...

, moving there after an extensive remodel.

Selected works

A representative selection of projects George Rockrise worked on include the following: *Married Student Housing, University of California, San Francisco Medical Center ( San Francisco, CA), 1960. Honor Awards; A.I.A.,

Life Magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

and House and Home Magazine *Matzinger Residence (

Belvedere, CA Belvedere is a residential incorporated city located on the San Francisco Bay in Marin County, California, United States. Consisting of two islands and a lagoon, it is connected to the Tiburon Peninsula by two causeways. At the 2020 census, the ...

) 1961. Merit Awards; A.I.A. and Sunset, Design Awards; A.I.A. and House and Home Magazine *Bomberger Residence (Kent Woodlands, CA) 1961. Merit Awards; A.I.A. and Sunset *Married Student Housing, University of California, Davis Campus (

Davis, CA Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of California, Davi ...

), 1962. Honor Awards; A.I.A.,

and House and Home Magazine *Tacoma Urban Renewal Plan ( Tacoma, WA), 1963 *Stanford Research Institute Development Plan (

Palo Alto, CA Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

) 1963 *Sausalito Firehouse (

Sausalito, CA Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

) 1964 *Algarve New Town Plan (Portugal) 1965 *U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Theoretical and Computation Building ( Livermore, CA) 1965 *Chico State College Master Plan ( Chico, CA) 1965 *Salem Plaza Shopping Center ( Salem, OR) 1966 *Ames Research Center Master Plan (NASA) ( Moffett Field, CA) 1966 *Cathedral School for Boys ( San Francisco, CA) ~1967 *Peñaherrera Residence ("La Casita Escondida", Santa Rosa, CA 1958.) 4237 Chanate Santa Rosa George Rockise Design

4237 Chanate Santa Rosa George Rockise Design

Over the course of Rockrise's career at ROMA, the firm provided architectural, urban design and development consulting for more than 40 west coast cities and various federal, state and local agencies. A sampling of representative projects, both public and private, includes: *Pike Plaza Urban Renewal Project ( Seattle, WA) 1968 *Sun River Lodge and Master Plan ( Sunriver, OR) with RHBA. 1968 & 1969. National Award of Merit, A.S.L.A and Award for Excellence for Design, Western Wood Products Assoc. *Eugene Mall ( Eugene, OR) 1971. National Award of Merit, A.S.L.A. and Downtown Development Award, City of Eugene Central *Salem Development Plan ( Salem, OR) 1971 *Palo Alto Beautification Plan (

) 1974 *Seattle Central Waterfront Plan ( Seattle, WA) 1971 *Domaine Chandon Winery (

Yountville, CA Yountville ( or ) is a city in Napa County, in the Wine Country of California, United States. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the population was 3,436 at the 2020 census. Almost a third of the town's population lives at the V ...

) 1977. Award of Honor for Design Excellence, N. Calif. Chapter A.I.A *National Park Service, Grand Canyon National Park South Rim Master Plan (AZ) 1974 *Stephens Institute of Technology, Science and Engineering Complex (

Hoboken, NJ Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 ...

) 1969 *Westin Hotel at Cascade Village (

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) ~1980 *American Embassy ( Manama, Bahrain) 1982

Public service, honors and awards

Rockrise was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (1963) and of the Institute of Design Professionals of Great Britain. Service with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) included Northern California Chapter Vice-President (1960) and President (1961), Director of the California Council (1961), National Vice President (1969-1972), Chair of the Task Force on Social Responsibility, Trustee for the Urban Design and Development Corporation, and several design juries. As a licensed landscape architect, Rockrise was also a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and received the Distinguished Service Citation for Contributions to the Environment in 1967. He was also licensed as a professional planner, and as a charter member of the

American Institute of Certified Planners The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is the American Planning Association's professional institute. AICP certifies professionals in the United States in the field of town planning and assists planners in the areas of ethics, profess ...

(AICP) served as chair of the Urban Design Committee. Rockrise was known for his distinguished public service and as a teacher and lecturer in Architecture, Urban Design and related social issues affecting the design professions. In addition to his early teaching at the University of California, Rockrise guest lectured, taught or spoke widely at, among others, the

, Escuela de Arquitectura y Urbanismo ( Caracas, Venezuela), University of Pennsylvania, Stevens Institute of Technology (

), Ministerio de Obras Publicas (Madrid, Spain), Agency for International Development (AID), Colegio de Ingenieros de Honduras (Teguicigalapa, Honduras), University of Oregon, Tuskegee Institute, Ecole Americain (Fontainbleau, France), British Universities of Bristol, Sheffield and Aberystwth, XVI Congreso Panamericano de Architectos ( Caracas, Venezuela), Universidad Central (Mexico). He was a visiting lecturer (1962-1963) in planning and urban design at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. While serving as National Vice President for the AIA (1969–1972), Rockrise chaired a task force that secured a $1 million Ford Foundation grant for scholarships for African American students to attend architectural schools and innovated the concept of ‘urban design workshops,’ that would later come to be called Community Design Centers (CDC), where students gained practical professional experience. An outgrowth of this work was his appointment as chair of the Technical Assistance Team of the Southwest Council of La Raza to work with the Ford Foundation in securing grants for housing assistance for Chicano barrios (communities) in the southwest. In 1966, Rockrise was appointed by Robert Weaver, Secretary of the newly formed

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

(HUD) to be the first Special Advisor for Design during President Johnson's Great Society initiative. Rockrise also served on the Reynolds Community Architecture Jury (1969), a distinguished group that visited, evaluated and recognized the best new towns worldwide, including Brasilia (Brazil) and Chandigarh (India). Rockrise served as a consultant to the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

to evaluate and masterplan for diplomatic missions particularly regarding antiterrorism. Rockrise evaluated United States diplomatic facilities in Germany, Brazil, Venezuela and Dhahran (Saudi Arabia) . Other public service included terms on the San Francisco Art Commission (1953–1956, 1986–1987), the San Francisco Planning Commission (1961–1962), and the Executive Committee, Board of Directors, and Advisory Council of SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association). Rockrise received a Senior

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Fellowship in 1978 and 1979 and was attached to the University of Rome, Italy. During his career he also received two NEA ( National Endowment for the Arts) grants. In 1995, he received his last award from

San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association SPUR is a nonprofit public policy organization focused on regional planning, housing, transportation, sustainability and resilience, economic justice, good government, and food and agriculture in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its full name is the Sa ...

(SPUR) which honored him “for his dedication to enhancing the quality of life and economic vitality” in San Francisco.”

References

External links

George Rockrise's papers are housed at the Environmental Design Archives, University of California at Berkeley, California.

Densho Project has scanned and made publicly accessible the entire contents of the Tsumanuma-Rockrise Collection.

Rockrise's national A.I.A. file, including his nomination for fellowship in 1962.
The dates for various work and achievements for this article up to 1962 were also checked against this file.
George Rockrise's obituary

George Thomas Rockrise (architect)

Cornell

Sketch of Chinatown, 1958

Eichler for the Weekend
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockrise, George 20th-century American architects 1916 births 2000 deaths People from Saranac Lake, New York American people of Japanese descent People from Brooklyn Syracuse University School of Architecture alumni Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni University of California faculty