Karl Kamrath (April 25, 1911 – January 29, 1988) was an American

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 ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. He, along with Frederick James MacKie, Jr., created the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

-based architectural firm Mackie and Kamrath. The firm's buildings reflected the principles of

Organic Architecture Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is achieved through design approaches that aim to be sympathetic and well-integrated with a site, so buildings, furn ...

and

Usonian Usonia () is a word that was used by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to the United States in general (in preference to ''America''), and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the planning of ...

architecture, an outcome of Kamrath's friendship with

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 ...

.Miller, Scott Reagan, "Wright"
The Architecture of MacKie and Kamrath
Rice University, 1993, pg 16-27 His career spanned over five decades during which he designed residential, commercial, institutional and government buildings.Miller, Scott Reagan, "Chronological List of Works"
The Architecture of MacKie and Kamrath
Rice University, 1993, pg 193-237 Prior to founding MacKie and Kamrath, Karl Kamrath worked for Pereira and Pereira, the Interior Studios of Marshall Field and Company, and the Architectural Decorating Company in Chicago, Illinois. Karl Fred Kamrath was born in Enid, Oklahoma to G.A. and Martha Kreplin Kamrath on April 25, 1911. While still a child, Kamrath's family moved to Austin, Texas. Throughout his life, Kamrath was an avid tennis player, and married fellow tennis player Eugenie Sampson in 1934.Kamrath, Karl Fred
Handbook of Texas On-Line That same year that he graduated the University of Texas with a Bachelor's degree in architecture. In 1955, Karl Kamrath was elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), an organization he was affiliated with since 1939. He became the Houston AIA chapter president in 1960 and acted as the chairman of the Frank Lloyd Wright Memorial Committee from 1960 to 1962. He was inducted into the University of Texas Longhorn Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984.
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Major Buildings

* Phyllis Wheatley High School, Houston (1948) * Temple Emanu-El, Houston (1949, with Lenard R. Gabert) * Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church, Houston (1975) * Houston Contemporary Arts Association Museum (1949, demolished) * Dow Chemical Company complex, Freeport (1953) * Schlumberger Corporation complex (1953) ''now University of Houston Energy Research Center'' * Humble Oil Research Center, Houston (1954) (demolished 2017) * St. John the Divine Church, Houston (1954, with H. A. Salisbury) * University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute (1954, altered), featured in ''TIME'' magazine in December 1954Miller, Scott Reagan
The Architecture of MacKie and Kamrath
Rice University, 1993 * Commercial Standard Insurance Company Building, Fort Worth (1956) * Farnsworth and Chambers Building (1957) ''an early office facility for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

and

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

, now Houston Parks Gragg Building'' * Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Bunker Hill Village, Houston (1957, 1973) * Temple Rodef Shalom, Waco (1962) * First Pasadena State Bank Building, Pasadena, Texas (1962) * Science and Research Building, University of Houston (1968) * Travertine Nature Center,

Chickasaw National Recreation Area Chickasaw National Recreation Area is a national recreation area in the foothills of the Arbuckle Mountains in south-central Oklahoma near Sulphur in Murray County. It includes the former Platt National Park and Arbuckle Recreation Area. Part of ...

. Sulphur, Oklahoma (1968) * Big Three Industries Building, Houston (1974) * Kamrath Second Residence, on Tiel Way in River Oaks, Houston (1953) * George P. Mitchell house, Piney Point Village (1963, demolished), ''profiled in Fortune Magazine'' * C.B. Ellis house, on Green River Trail in Ft. Worth, Texas (1966)

Major Buildings

References

Further reading