Ray Kappe (August 4, 1927 – November 21, 2019) 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

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. In 1972, he resigned his position as Founding Chair of the Department of Architecture at

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the '' name'' section of this article for more info ...

and along with a group of faculty, students and his wife,

Shelly Kappe Shelly Kappe (born 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an architectural historian and academic who specializes in the residential history of Los Angeles. She was a founding member of the faculty at the Southern California Institute of Archi ...

, started what eventually came to be known as the

Southern California Institute of Architecture Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a private architecture school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde and more adventurous than t ...

(SCI-Arc). In 2003, Kappe began working with LivingHomes to design modular homes. Kappe remained actively involved in architectural theory and practice in his later years, particularly in the areas of sustainability and the prefabrication of residences.

Early life and education

Kappe was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

on August 4, 1927, the son of Romanian immigrants. He attended high school in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He studied for a single semester at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in 1945 before being drafted in into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he served as a topographical surveying instructor.

Career

After his discharge Kappe attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and earned a B.Arch. degree in 1951. He practiced architecture on his own starting in 1954, and then became one of the principals of Kahn Kappe Lotery Boccato in 1968. The firm changed names in 1978 to Kappe Lotery Boccato and in 1985, Kappe split off to form Kappe Architects Planners. Kappe died from

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a rise ...

on November 21, 2019.

Legacy

The Ray Kappe Archive is housed at the

Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".

and contains all of his drawings, models, and papers, offering comprehensive coverage of his long and varied career. In 2021, actor

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular charact ...

sold a custom residence based on a design by Kappe in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

for $7.85 million.

In popular culture

The

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

series ''

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word), an expression that refers to the influx of Californians into various western states in the U.S. * ''Californication'' (album), a 1999 album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers ** "Californication" (son ...

'' features one of Kappe's projects, the Benton House, as a major plot point in Episode Seven, "Girls Interrupted." The interior of this house is also featured on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

series

Shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...

and in the movie

Cruel Intentions ''Cruel Intentions'' is a 1999 American teen romantic drama film written and directed by Roger Kumble and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The film is a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos de ...

. Another of his projects made two brief appearances in the ''

Sea Hunt ''Sea Hunt'' is an American action adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges as ...

'' episode, "Hit and Run," as the residence of the episode's villain. This house was also featured in the Home section of the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

, in an article titled, "A Boat, a Bay, and a Happy House."

References

External links

Kappe Architects website

Getty.edu: Ray Kappe papers
— ''finding aids.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kappe, Ray Modernist architects 1927 births 2019 deaths Architects from Los Angeles Architecture educators Southern California Institute of Architecture faculty California State Polytechnic University, Pomona faculty Educators from Greater Los Angeles California State Polytechnic University, Pomona alumni American people of Romanian-Jewish descent People from Pacific Palisades, California 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design alumni