Gertrude Lempp Kerbis (1926 – June 14, 2016) was an American modernist

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. Kerbis' education includes studying at Wright Junior College, University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois, Harvard University, and Illinois Institute of Technology. She studied under and worked for several significant modernists of her day, including

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...

, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, and Carl Koch. Kerbis worked at Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill and C.F. Murphy Associates before establishing her own firm, Lempp Kerbis, in Chicago 1967. Her work entails that interior design can also be viewed as architecture and not just the aesthetic of a space. She was a lead designer in several major works of American modernism, including the

Lustron house Lustron houses are prefabricated enameled steel houses developed in the post-World War II era United States in response to the shortage of homes for returning G.I.s by Chicago industrialist and inventor Carl Strandlund. Considered low-maintena ...

for a MoMA competition, Mitchell Hall at the

US Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Unit ...

, the Seven Continents Restaurant at the O'Hare International Airport Rotunda, and the

Skokie Public Library Skokie Public Library has been serving the community of Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the ...

in Skokie, IL. Kerbis founded the Chicago Women in Architecture group in 1973. She was a member of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

, and notably became an AIA Fellow in 1970.

Life and education

Gertrude Lempp Kerbis was born and raised in the Northwest side of Chicago, Illinois. Her parents, Eugene and Emma Lempp, were working class immigrants from southern Germany and Belarus, respectively. Growing up, Kerbis attended Chicago public schools and graduated from Foreman High School. She attended

Wright Junior College Wilbur Wright College, formerly known as Wright Junior College, is a public community college in Chicago. Part of the City Colleges of Chicago system, it offers two-year associate's degrees, as well as occupational training in IT, manufacturing, ...

and then transferred to the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

when her family moved to Wisconsin. Kerbis was inspired to pursue architecture after reading an article on

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

and then visiting Taliesin East. At the time, there was no architecture program at the University of Wisconsin so Kerbis transferred to the University of Illinois, where she studied architectural engineering and received her BS in 1948. She went on to study architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design under

. Kerbis moved back to Chicago to study architecture at the

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

(IIT) under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, receiving her master's degree in 1954. While attending IIT she met Walter Peterhans and they got married and had a son named Julian. They divorced a short while after, and she later remarried tennis professional Donald Kerbis, who had a daughter named Lisa from a previous marriage. Together they had a daughter named Kim.

Career

Employment

While studying at Harvard, Kerbis began her first job working in the studio of Carl Koch. Upon graduating from IIT in 1954, Kerbis was hired by

Walter Netsch Walter A. Netsch (February 23, 1920 – June 15, 2008) was an American architect based in Chicago. He was most closely associated with the brutalist style of architecture as well as with the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. His signature aes ...

to work for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. At SOM, Kerbis designed Mitchell Hall and the Skokie Public Library, and worked on the firm's office. Kerbis worked at SOM until 1959 and then began working for C.F. Murphy Associates, where she designed the Seven Continents Restaurant and worked on the firm's office as well. She worked at C.F. Murphy Associates until 1963. In 1967, Kerbis started her own firm, Lempp Kerbis. She also taught Harper Community College in Palatine, IL for 25 years.

Design style

Long-span structures and custom-designed manufactured components are characteristic of Kerbis’ work. She particularly liked developing structures that would allow for column-free, open plans, creating interior spaces full of possibility. Some of her most successful implementations of this modern style include Mitchell Hall and the Seven Continents Restaurant. Kerbis intentionally focused on structure and chose not to be concerned with furniture or finishes in order to establish herself as a woman architect, not an interior designer.

Projects

* Mitchell Hall,

, Colorado Springs, CO *

, Skokie, IL * Seven Continents Restaurant, The Rotunda Building at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL * Don Kerbis Tennis Club, Highland Park, Chicago, IL * Greenhouse Condominium, 2131 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL * Lake Meadows Clubhouse

Project awards

* 1960,

AIA AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to: Aia * Aia, a small town in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, Spain * Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis * Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ancient town in Greece * ''Aia'', the collected ed ...

Citation of Merit, Lake Meadows Clubhouse *1962,

Honor Award,

*1976,

Distinguished Building Award, Greenhouse Condominium

Professional honors and awards

* 1970, 11th woman elected to

College of Fellows * 2008, Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Chicago Chapter"History." ''Chicago Women in Architecture''. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2015 * 2014, Exhibit launched by

Chicago Architecture Foundation The Chicago Architecture Center (CAC), formerly the Chicago Architecture Foundation, is a nonprofit cultural organization based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, whose mission is to inspire people to discover why design matters. Founded in ...

: ''Women Build Change'' to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Chicago Women in Architecture

Groups

*Member and first female president,

, Chicago Chapter *Founder, Chicago Women in Architecture, 1973 *Member and president,

Cliff Dwellers Club The Cliff Dwellers Club is a private civic arts organization in Chicago, Illinois. The Club was founded in 1907 by Chicago author Hamlin Garland as "The Attic Club", On January 18, 1909, the name was formally changed to The Cliff Dwellers. In 1908 ...

, Chicago *Member, Chicago Architectural Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerbis, Gertrude 1926 births 2016 deaths American women architects 20th-century American architects University of Illinois alumni Illinois Institute of Technology alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Architects from Chicago 20th-century American women 21st-century American women Deaths from liver cancer