Ulrich Joseph Franzen (January 15, 1921 – October 6, 2012) was a German-born American architect known for his "fortresslike" buildings and

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

style.Vitello, Paul (14 October 2012)
Ulrich Franzen, Designer of Brutalist Buildings, Dies at 91
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Franzen was born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany, the son of Eric and Lisbeth Hellersberg Franzen. They emigrated to the United States in 1936. He lived with his mother and a younger brother once his parents divorced. He obtained an undergraduate degree from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

, and after one semester at the architectural school at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, joined the Army. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

ended, he obtained a master's degree from Harvard in 1950. By 1951, he was working for

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

. He left Pei and formed his own firm, Ulrich Franzen & Associates, in 1955.The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, Volume 1
p. 268 (2011) The

Alley Theatre The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at L ...

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 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, which was completed in 1968, was Franzen's first prominent solo project.Gonzales, J.R. (14 October 2012)
Ulrich Franzen, Alley Theatre architect, dies at 91
''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' Franzen also designed the headquarters for the

Miller Brewing Company The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the M ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, WI (completed 1976). In 2005, LA DALLMAN was commissioned to create the new Miller Corporate Pub and Meeting Center, fully renovating the ground floor. The project received a 2005

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 ...

Wisconsin Honor Award. His other notable projects include the East and West towers at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

(completed in 1984 after a long delay due to the financial crisis in New York City), and the Philip Morris headquarters in New York City (completed in 1982). Franzen died on October 6, 2012, in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

, survived by his wife Josephine. He was 91.

Notable works

Boyce Thompson Institute For Plant Research 2

* 1956: Franzen House, Rye,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

(11 November 1957)
Tomorrow's Life Today
at pp. 136-137 (photograph) * 1957: Towers House, Essex,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

* 1958: Beattie House, Rye, New York(29 September 1958)
Homes That Achieve Most in Livability
''

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 ...

'', at p. 62-63. * 1959: Weissman House, Rye, New York *1961: Miller/Efinger House ("Prism in the Pines"), Brewster, New York * 1963: Bernstein House, Great Neck, New York * 1963: Dana House,

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bounde ...

* 1963: Whiting Dress Factory, Pleasantville, New York * 1964: Castle House,

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

Dufresne, Bethe (1 October 2010)
A Sleek And Airy Modernist Landmark - Ulrich Franzen Designed Notable New London House In 1962 When Modernist Aesthetic Was Becoming More Experimental
''

South Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'' (originally published in the ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'') * 1965: Buttenweiser House, Mamaroneck, New York(13 August 1965
A Fortress by the Sea
''

'', at p. 82 (article on Buttenweiser house with photographs) * 1966: The Folly at

Field Farm Field Farm is a nature preserve and farm in Williamstown, Massachusetts, managed by the Trustees of Reservations. There are of hiking trails on the reservation, which pass by swamp land, a pond, and the "Caves Lot" which features underground cha ...

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

* 1968-1970: Paraphernalia Store,

Lexington Avenue Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along it ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York * 1968:

Bradfield Hall Bradfield Hall is an academic building located on the central campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is located on Tower Road at the eastern edge of the Agricultural Quadrangle. Description Designed in the brutalist style by Ulric ...

(agronomy building),

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

(22 December 1968)
Tower Is Highest Above Cayuga; Tower Lab For Cornell
''

'' * 1968: Emerson Hall,

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

* 1968:

Barnes, Clive (2 December 1968)
Alley Theatre Opens In Houston
''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' (reprint of article from ''

'') * 1969: “The Street” Urban Concept * 1969-1972:

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

, Durham,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

* 1969-1972: Harpers Ferry Center,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

* 1969: The

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

, New York City, New York (Entwurf) * 1970: First Unitarian Church,

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

* 1974-1975: Franzen Penthouse, New York City, New York * 1974-1978:

The Harlem School of the Arts Harlem School of the Arts (HSA) is an art school in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. Harlem School of the Arts was founded in 1964, by soprano Dorothy Maynor. Maynor was succeeded by mezzo-soprano Betty Allen as President in 1979, when a new 3 ...

, New York City, New York * 1974: First City National Bank,

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

* 1974: Multi-Cat Research Tower (Veterinary School) at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York * 1974: The Evolving City * 1975-1984:

, New York City, New York * 1978-1979: Franzen House, Bridgehampton, New York * 1978: Krauss House, Old Westbury, New York * 1980-1981: University Center at

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

* 1980-1982: Miller Brewing Visitors Centers * 1981:

Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research The Boyce Thompson Institute (previously: Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research) is an independent research institute devoted to using plant sciences to improve agriculture, protect the environment, and enhance human health. The Boyce Thomps ...

, Ithaca, New York * 1983: Champion International,

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

* 1984: Philip Morris Headquarters, New York City * 1985: Glimcher House,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, New York * 1994: Morris House,

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

References

External links

The Architecture of Ulrich Franzen: An Inventory
Special Collections, Frances Loeb Library, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Franzen, Ulrich 20th-century American architects 1921 births 2012 deaths Brutalist architects Modernist architects Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Williams College alumni German emigrants to the United States

Notable works

References

Further reading

External links