Jan Ruhtenberg

Jan Ruhtenberg (a.k.a. Alexander Gustaf Jan Ruhtenberg or Alexander Gustav Jan Ruhtenberg) (born: 28 Feb 1896, died: Dec. 1975) was an architect who, "made significant contributions in introducing modern architecture to the United States as a teacher and a modern architect". [I-25 Environmental Assessment, Project No. 151077.13.BN, Historic Resources Survey Report, History and Survey Results Vol I. Quote is sourced from material regarding 5EP3854 St. Mary’s School - 1949] Ruhtenberg was involved in the Bauhaus movement in Germany, studying under Mies van der Rohe and worked with Phillp Johnson. He was active in many areas of country such as New York City with both his architectural skills (the renovation of 57 East 93rd Street that was reviewed by Architectural Forum in 1937 ["In 1937 the magazine Architectural Forum praised the removal of plaster from the interior brick walls, which "gained three inches (76 mm) of valuable space in the entry and provided a richly textured surface in the studio which shows off the severe furniture to great advantage." Source: http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES047.htm] );He is "credited" with the interior design of Nelson Rockefeller's Penthouse at 810 Fifth Avenue (62nd Street)by the New York Times; [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E3DD1230F937A25753C1A96F958260] and his opinions on the progressive housing movement which were recorded for the Library of Congress. [Library of Congress recording RXA 5645 A13-14, RXA 5663 A7-8 (playback copy) [Progressive housing movement speeches] * / LC Control Number: 92789162 Summary: Portions from five 1934 talks given on housing conditions in America and Europe. Langdon Post describes the terrible conditions of American city tenements and offers solutions to the problem, Raymond Unwin, England’s authority on housing, talks about housing in England, architects Jan Ruhtenberg and Horatio Hackett discuss their proposals for solutions to the housing problem, and Ernst Kahn, an expert on financing housing in Germany, offers his views of American housing and compares it to Europe’s housing situation. Subjects: Housing--United States. Housing--Great Britain. Housing--Europe. LC Classification: LWO 6312 reel 15, A13-14; reel 33, A7-8 (preservation master - not for playback) RXA 5645 A13-14, RXA 5663 A7-8 (playback copy)] He was a teacher at Columbia University in New York City, where he was hired by Joseph Hudnut. [Jill E Pearlman, "Joseph Hudnut's Other Modernism at the Harvard-Bauhaus," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (December 1997): 56 (4).452-477.] He married Polly King Ruhtenberg on August 4, 1935 in New York City. [ [http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv58495 Guide to the Polly King Ruhtenberg Papers 1946-1983 ] ]

Jan’s work can still be seen in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he was active during the 1940’s and 1950's. Julie Penrose hired the architect to design the now destroyed El Pomar Carriage House Museum at the Broadmoor Hotel in 1941 to house the collection of her late husband, Spencer Penrose. While Jan was active elsewhere in the country, [the Residence of Dr. Edmond Donoghue, 1952-1954, 650 Weatherhill Road SW Rochester Minnesota 55902] he maintained a house in Colorado Springs and continued to receive national press for his works in Colorado. [January 15, 1957, Time Magazine discussed "a $2,000,000 opera house has been projected for Colorado Springs by Architect Jan Ruhtenberg which features sculptural shell concrete forms with adjustable walls that can be thrown wide open to empty a full house (3,000) in 1½ minutes] He was also a member of the Central City Opera House's board of directors from 1947 to 1951, and contributed to rebuilding the opera house and some of the adjacent homes owned by the Central City Opera, which now are used as housing for cast and crew. [ "Dahlia: Opera house Flower Girls uphold legacy of giving" Rocky Mountain News, 27 July 2006]

One of Jan’s designs exists in its original form at 55 Marland Road in Colorado Springs. Designed for Hugo C. Fischer in 1951, the house was featured in the February 1954 edition of Progressive Architecture.February 1954 edition of Progressive Architecture, Pages 92-93.] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_architecture_award] It is steel framed, with insulated pumice block walls and a lightweight concrete roof. Inside, the pressed sugar-cane roof insulation is exposed, with the rough texture of the pressed sugar-cane complementing the rough pumice stone. A large fresco of Orpheus and Euridyce (4 ft wide by convert|11|ft|m|abbr=on high) occupies the Southern wall, which Jan apparently added in a flash of inspiration while the building was under construction. The fresco was painted by Edgar Britton, described as "One of Colorado's very important artists of the 20th century". [ David Turner, CEO, Turner Museum / Fine Arts Center, 2003 http://www.csfineartscenter.org/] . A photo of the fresco filed under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Elaine Freed of Colorado College has been photographing Jan’s buildings in order to preserve their legacy, working with the Jackson Fellowships which are associated with the Hulbert Center for Southwest Studies at Colorado College. [Elaine writes, "I have received numerous Jackson Fellowships toward the project "Sun Country Modern" – which is photo-documentation of modernist residences in the Southwest. (Modern at Mid-Century: the Early Fifties Houses of Ingraham and Ingraham, published in 2003 by the Hulbert Press.) Pollard and I are now working on documenting the residential work of Jan Ruhtenberg, an architect trained in Europe (he worked with Mies in Berlin in the 1920s), who designed houses in Colorado Springs beginning in the 1940s. We have photographed two houses thus far and will do several more this summer. I expect to use these images in a book on Ruhtenberg's work."] Additional photos of Jan's work are located at Pikes Peak Library District's website, such as http://www.ppld.org/specialcollections/project/admin/FullDisplay.asp?ID=4550, and http://www.ppld.org/specialcollections/project/admin/FullDisplay.asp?ID=5073, which are gifts from Guy Burgess.

A final interesting rumor/note, is that original designs for the famous Mies Van der Rohe Barcelona Chair, is rumored to bear Jan's signature http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona_Chair. Jan also maintains a myspace website with several excellent photos at http://www.myspace.com/janruhtenberg.

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