Alexander Cvijanović (also Alexander/Alex Cvijanovic, Aleksandar Cvijanović; 19 December 1923 – 7 May 2019) was a Yugoslav-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 ...
. He was a close associate of
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...
and partner of
The Architects Collaborative
The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm formed by eight architects that operated between 1945 and 1995 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The founding members were Norman C. Fletcher (1917–2007), Jean B. Fletcher (19 ...
.
Early life
Cvijanović was born into a prosperous Serbian family. His father, Budislav Cvijanović, was a medical doctor and, during the
Regency
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
of the 1930s, a government ministerial advisor. Cvijanović started to study conducting at the Academy of Music in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
but his studies were halted by the Second World War. His father was killed by the communists
and the family fled socialist Yugoslavia in 1946. Initially, they settled in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where he started studying architecture. After a short while, the family emigrated to the United States, where he secured the
Tolstoy Foundation’s scholarship to study architecture at the
Harvard Graduate School of Design
The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urba ...
.
Career
Shortly after graduating from Harvard, Cvijanović joined
The Architects Collaborative (TAC),
an architectural partnership founded by Walter Gropius and seven younger partners. TAC was renowned for its innovative, collaborative working methods
and Cvijanović worked on many of the firm’s iconic projects per below. As they worked closely together, Gropius and Cvijanović formed a bond that went beyond the professional, with Gropius treating his colleague as a substitute son.
Cvijanović spoke several languages, including Russian, Italian, French and German. His knowledge of German and close working relationship with Gropius, as well as his considerable talent, resulted in him working on many TAC projects in Germany.
Selected projects
* 1958-1963
University of Baghdad
The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public university, public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world.
History
The College of Isl ...
,
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, Iraq
*1958-1963
Pan Am Building,
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, USA
*1962 Berlin Double School and Children’s Centre, Berlin, Germany
*1962-75
Gropiusstadt,
Neukölln
Neukölln (), officially abbreviated Neuk, is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located south-east of Berlin's center and stretches from the inner city southward to the border with Brandenburg, encompassing the eponymous quarter of Neu ...
, Berlin, Germany
*1968-1970
Rosenthal glass factory (known as the "Glass Cathedral"),
Amberg
Amberg () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate about halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1034 with the name Ammenberg. It became an important trading c ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
, Germany
*1965
Rosenthal
Rosenthal is a German and Jewish surname meaning "rose valley". The Lithuanized form is Rosenthalis. Notable people with the name include:
A
* Abe M. Rosenthal (1922–2006), ''New York Times'' editor and columnist
* Albert Rosenthal (1863– ...
Porcelain Factory;
Selb, Bavaria, Germany
*1975
Jubail Industrial Complex,
Jubail
Jubail (, ''Al Jubayl'') is a city in the Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, with a total population of 474,679 as of 2022. It is home to one of the largest industrial cities in the world. It is also home to the Middle ...
, Saudi Arabia
*1976-1979
The Bauhaus Archive,
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Germany
* 1982-1986 Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences,
Sharq, Kuwait
*1984 O'Neill Library,
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
,
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA
*1984
Copley Place,
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts, USA
Later career and life
After the demise of The Architects Collaborative, Cvijanović continued to work internationally (Kuwait, Singapore, Berlin) and in the USA. In 2019, Cvijanović's recollections of working with Gropius and sketches for the projects they undertook together in
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
were used to create the virtual reality experience film "Bauhaus in Bavaria".
He lived in Boston with his third wife, Maria, and died on 7 May 2019.
Gallery
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cvijanovic, Alexander
1923 births
2019 deaths
People from Dalj
Serbs of Croatia
20th-century American architects
Modernist architects
Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Yugoslav emigrants to the United States