Pierre Koenig

Bailey House, Case Study House No. 21, at Los Angeles, California, 1956 to 1958.  * 3D Model *

Stahl House, Case Study House No. 22, at Los Angeles, California, 1960.

      map of works

(b. San Francisco, California 1925; d. Los Angeles, California, April 4, 2004)

Pierre Koenig was born in San Francisco, California in 1925. He studied at the University of Utah, School of Engineering in Salt Lake City, at the Pasadena City College and at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he received his Bachelors of Architecture. In 1950, he built his own small steel-frame house, as a kind of proof of principle. In 1952, after short stints with Raphael Soriano in Hollywood and Kistner, Wright and Wright in Los Angeles, he established a private practice in Los Angeles.

Koenig used steel frame structures and industrial technology to generate his own architectural style. He believed that truth in architecture lies in the natural expression of materials without ornamentation. He approached architecture in terms of simplicity based on economy in terms of money spent and energy consumed. He used passive cooling and solar heating techniques to create energy efficient buildings.

Koenig's houses became prototypes for his large-scale projects. He believed that floor plans could be evolved from the structural plan, and that the simple multiplication of standard structural parts can produce almost unlimited variations. He used steel in his buildings as much for aesthetic reasons as to maintain the economy of mass production that he envisioned from standard structural parts.

References
Muriel Emmanuel. Contemporary Architects. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980. ISBN 0-312-16635-4. NA 680-C625. p434-435.

"Learning from Pierre Koenig", by Kevin Matthews, ArchitectureWeek No. 190, 2004.0421, p1.

Pierre Koenig. James Steele, David Jenkins. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1998. ISBN 0-7148-3753-9. — Elegant, inspiring, and comprehensive on Koenig. Beautiful photographs! Available at Amazon.com

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Koenig Resources web page at USC.

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