Pierre Francis Koenig (October 17, 1925 – April 4, 2004) was an American architect and a Professor of Architecture at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. He taught at the USC School of Architecture from 1964 until his death in 2004. He was the director of the undergraduate building science program from 1980 to 2004. He lectured widely at other universities, and received more than 20 awards for his work. The architecture of Pierre Koenig was the subject of the book ''Pierre Koenig'' written by James Steele in 1998. Also in 1998, Koenig was elevated to "Distinguished Professor" after 35 years on the USC faculty. He received the USC Distinguished Alumni Award and the Gold Medal from the Los Angeles chapter of the

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Early life

The son of a salesman, Koenig was born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The family moved to Southern California in 1939.Pierre Koenig, Architect, 78, In Los Angeles
''

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'', April 7, 2004. After returning from a four-year tour in the Army during World War II, he enrolled in architecture school. He received his Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) degree from USC in 1952.

Career

Koenig worked with Raphael Soriano and Edward H. Fickett among others, and began private practice in 1952. Koenig practiced mainly on the West Coast and was most notable for the design of the Case Study Houses No. 21 and 22 in 1960. Both 21 (the Bailey House) and 22 (the Stahl House) were constructed on dramatic, otherwise-unbuildable sites. Particularly the Case Study House #22, photographed by Julius Shulman, is widely considered the iconic postwar L.A. home, with its sweeping city views and openness to the outdoors.Eryn Brown (August 4, 2005)
A Modern dream come true
''

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''. At USC, Koenig led the undergraduate building science program and helped direct the Natural Forces Laboratory created by Ralph Lewis Knowles. The Building Science group at USC also included Knowles, Douglas E. Noble, Marc Schiler, Karen M. Kensek, Goetz Schierle, David Brindle, and Konrad Wachsmann. Koenig died of leukemia in 2004 at 78. He was survived by his wife, Gloria; sons, Randall and Jean Pierre; and two stepsons, Barry and Thomas Kaufman. In 2007, Koenig's Case Study House #21 sold at auction for $3.1 million. His personal residence in the Brentwood neighborhood of

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was built in 1985. After a restoration overseen by his stepsons, the steel and glass residence went up for sale in 2017 for $3.8 million.

References

External links

Pierre Koenig's website
* Finding aid for Pierre Koenig drawings and papers Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. Accession No. 2006.M.30.
The Squire House
A unique example of Pierre Koenig’s early work in La Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Koenig, Pierre 1925 births 2004 deaths Modernist architects from the United States USC School of Architecture alumni Architects from Los Angeles Architects from San Francisco 20th-century American architects