Roger Montgomery (1925–2003) 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 Professor at
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
and
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 ...
.
Early life and education
Roger Montgomery was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to parents Graham Livingston Montgomery and Anne Cook and lived in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
until 1930, when he moved to
Port Washington,
Long Island. In 1945 he was accepted into the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
, where he served in an intelligence unit in occupied Germany as a
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
operator.
He attended a
John Dewey-influenced grade school in Port Washington. In high school he was voted ‘Most Likely to Succeed’ and ‘The Great Orator’. He was excused from military service in 1941 because of a punctured eardrum and subsequently enrolled in
Oberlin College,
but was dismissed from the college in 1945. Montgomery began his architectural work in 1948 as an apprentice in
Springfield, Ohio and was soon successful, in part because of a shortage of architects and large post-war boom in construction. From 1955 to 1956 he attended the
Harvard Graduate School of Design where he received a Masters of Architecture degree under professors
Josep Lluís Sert
Josep Lluís Sert i López (; 1 July 190215 March 1983) was a Spanish architect and city planner.
Biography
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Sert showed keen interest in the works of his uncle, the painter Josep Maria Sert, and of Gaudí. He s ...
and
Sigfried Giedion
Sigfried Giedion (sometimes misspelled Siegfried Giedion; 14 April 1888, Prague – 10 April 1968, Zürich) was a Bohemian-born Swiss historian and critic of architecture. His ideas and books, '' Space, Time and Architecture'', and ''Mech ...
, while studying with classmates
Fumihiko Maki
is a Japanese architect who teaches at Keio University SFC. In 1993, he received the Pritzker Prize for his work, which often explores pioneering uses of new materials and fuses the cultures of east and west.
Early life
Maki was born in Tokyo. ...
and Ben Weese.
Career
*1957: Began position as professor of architecture at
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
. Also named founding Director (1957–1963) of the
Landmarks Association of St. Louis, one of the nation's first building and neighborhood preservation groups.
*1960: Started the architectural practice of Schnebli, Anselevicius, and Montgomery (SAM) that designed the
Washington University
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
Law School Building in 1972. Founded the Urban Design Program at Washington University with Fumihiko Maki
*1961: Worked for the Kennedy Administration as the first Urban Design Officer in the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency (later
HUD
Hud or HUD may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman
* ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film
* ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadian e-sports television program
Places
* Hud, Fa ...
).
*1964: Named founding Director of
Washington University's Urban Renewal Design Center and planned and designed ‘Towne South’, a community outside of
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
*1965: Named founding Director of the Urban Housing Foundation, Inc. (1965–1967).
*1967: Hired as a professor with joint appointment in both the departments of City & Regional Planning, and of Architecture, at 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 ...
.
*1968: Named a
juror
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment.
Juries developed in England dur ...
from the Progressive Architecture P/A Design Awards.
*1967-72: Served as west coast editor for ''
Architecture Forum'' magazine.
*1973: Published ''
Housing in America'' (co-authored with Daniel Mandelker), a survey of housing economics, race, and land use issues. Also published ''
A Guide to Architecture in San Francisco and Northern California'' (co-authored with
David Gebhard
David S. Gebhard (1927 – 1 March 1996) was a leading architectural historian, particularly known for his books on the architecture and architects of California. He was a long-time faculty member at the University of California, Santa Barbara ...
and Sally Woodbridge).
*1977: Published a guide to the architecture and vernacular buildings of Washington State, titled
A guide to architecture in Washington State: an environmental perspective.
*1980s: During this period Montgomery served as President of the California Council of Architectural Education, and the National Board of Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility. Additionally, he served on boards for a number of voluntary organizations related to the design professions including Planners for Equal Opportunity, Planners Network and Northern California Non-Profit Housing Coalition. In the Bay Area, Montgomery advised City and County boards in Berkeley, Alameda County, Santa Clara and San Francisco. Montgomery was also named Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs and later Acting Dean.
*May 1, 1989: Named Dean of the
College of Environmental Design,
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 ...
, a position he holds until January 1996. During 1989, Montgomery was named to the
Board of Trustees of the
Berkeley Art Museum
The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA, formerly abbreviated as BAM/PFA) are a combined art museum, repertory movie theater, and archive associated with the University of California, Berkeley. Lawrence Rinder was Director from ...
, a position he holds until 2002.
Personal life
Montgomery married
Oberlin College graduate Mary Hoyt. They had four sons, Richard, Thomas, John and Peter.
He died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
on October 25, 2003.
Notes
External links
Roger Montgomery obituaryin the
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
Press Releasefrom
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 ...
In Memorium - Roger Montgomeryfrom
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Roger
1925 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American architects
Washington University in St. Louis faculty
Oberlin College alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni
UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design faculty
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
People from Greenwich Village
People from Port Washington, New York
American expatriates in Germany