Descriptive Summary
Biographical/Historical Note
Administrative Information
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Haralamb H. Georgescu papers
Date (inclusive): 1907-1992, bulk 1931-1977
Number: 2008.M.35
Creator/Collector:
Georgescu, Haralamb H., 1908-1977
Physical Description:
7.8 linear feet
(6 boxes, 2 flatfile folders)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The collection documents the professional career of Romanian-born architect Haralamb H. Georgescu. While incomplete, these
papers shed light on the prevalence of modernism and its European sources while further broadening the understanding of twentieth-century
California modernism.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language: Collection material is in
English with some
Romanian.
Biographical/Historical Note
Born in Piteşti, Romania in 1908, Haralamb H. Georgescu became a well-known modernist architect in his native country. He
graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of the University of Bucharest in 1933 and returned as professor from 1940 until
his immigration to America in 1947. His work, especially the buildings designed with Horia Creangă, is cited in the standard
works on twentieth-century architecture in Romania. Among his best known projects are the ARO Motion Picture Theater (Bucharest,
1934), the ARO Palace Hotel (Braşov, 1938), and the Pescăruş Restaurant (Bucharest, 1939). Georgescu also built several projects
for King Michael of Romania, including his residence in Eforie Nord.
In September of 1947, Georgescu fled to the United States, due to conflicts with Romania's Communist regime. After a short
stay in New York, he was hired in 1948 by the School of Architecture of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln to teach drawing
and urban planning. Wanting to return to architectural practice, Georgescu (who Americanized his name to Harlan Georgesco)
moved to Los Angeles in 1951, where he worked for a series of architects and designers including, Paul László, McAllister
and Wagner, and Kenneth Lind. In 1957, Georgescu was able to start a firm in partnership with James Larson, and then in 1959
began working with Howard Lapham on projects in Palm Springs. Georgescu received his California architect license in 1964
and established his own practice in Century City, which he continued until his premature death in 1977.
Georgescu's best-known work in the United States is the house he designed in Beverly Hills for UCLA professor Pier Maria Pasinetti
(1958). In addition to the Pasinetti House, he built many houses in Palm Springs, and designed several convalescent hospitals
in the Los Angeles area. He also developed a visionary plan for 640 feet high towers consisting of vertical streets and suspended
houselots termed Skylots (1965) - an integrated, sustaining environment intended to solve the congestion problem in Los Angeles.
Though never realized, and it remains ahead of its time in terms of ecological and environmental concerns.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers, with the exception of un-reformatted microfilm.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Haralamb H. Georgescu papers, 1907-1992, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2008.M.35
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2008m35
Acquisition Information
Gift of Christopher Georgesco. Acquired in 2008.
Processing History
Initial processing conducted by Vladimira Stefura in 2008. In 2012 Mitchell Erzinger conducted final processing, arrangement,
and description of the collection. Descriptive notes were derived from curatorial sources.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Haralamb H. Georgescu papers document the career of this architect who had prominent careers in both Romania and the United
States. Trained in Bucharest, Georgescu contributed substantially to Romanian modernism before immigrating to America, where
he began a new career and continued to expand his Modernist vocabulary, particularly in the Los Angeles area. Most of the
papers relate to Georgescu's American projects, but there are also photographic prints and negatives, in addition to some
drawings and publications that show the highly modernist work he did in Romania in collaboration with Horia Creangă prior
to his immigration to America.
Series I contains materials relating to Georgescu's architectural projects, in both Romania and America, consisting primarily
of photographic prints and negatives while also including some original drawings and reproductions, documentation, articles,
and microfilm. Also included are photographic prints of projects executed by Horia Creangă prior to, or without, the collaborative
relationship with Georgescu.
Series II includes other materials relating to Georgescu's professional career, in addition to personal materials. Included
are immigration files consisting of correspondence and original Romanian documentation, correspondence relating to Georgescu's
teaching career, personal histories, publicity including both Romanian and American articles, and some personal photographs.
Bulk dates represent the majority of the materials in the collection, with inclusive dates representing early family photographs
and later extant publications referencing Georgescu's work.
Arrangement
Arranged in two series:
;
.Series I. Project records, 1934-1977
Series II. Other professional and personal papers, 1907-1992
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Creangă, Horia, 1892-1943
Georgescu, Haralamb H., 1908-1977
Subjects - Topics
Architects--California--Los Angeles--20th Century
Architects--Romania--20th century
Architecture, Modern--20th century--California, Southern
Architecture, Modern--20th century--Romania
Architecture--California--Los Angeles--20th century
Architecture--Romania
Modern movement (Architecture)--California
Modern movement (Architecture)--Romania
Subjects - Places
Bucharest (Romania)--Buildings, structures, etc.--20th century
Los Angeles (Calif.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--20th century
Genres and Forms of Material
Architectural drawings (visual works)
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Microfilm
Negatives
Photographic prints--20th century
Contributors
Creangă, Horia, 1892-1943