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George T. Rockrise Collection, 1935-1991 (bulk 1950-1972)
2001-6
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Title: George T. Rockrise collection,
Date (inclusive): 1935-1991
Date (bulk): (bulk 1950-1972)
Collection number: 2001-6
Creator:
Rockrise, George T., 1917-2000
Extent:
5 boxes, 1 flat box, 2 flat file drawers.
Repository:
Environmental Design Archives. College of Environmental Design.
University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California
Abstract: The George T. Rockrise collection contains some personal documents, such as letters sent to family during Rockrise's years
as a Fulbright Scholar in Italy, holiday cards and travel sketches, but is mostly comprised of professional papers, office
records and project records. The documents in the professional papers series reveals Rockrise's diverse interests, active
involvement and success in all aspects of environmental design. The majority of projects in the office and project records
series were completed by Rockrise as a sole practitioner, often collaborating with landscape architects on projects such as
the Donnell Pool House with Thomas Church.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the
Curator.
[Identification of item], George T. Rockrise Collection, (2001-6), Environmental Design Archives. College of
Environmental Design. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, California.
This material was acquired in 2001.
Arrangement and description of this collection was funded by a grant from the LEF Foundation.
Architects -- California.
Architects -- Travel.
Architecture -- California.
Architecture -- 20th Century -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area.
Architecture, Domestic -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area.
Buildings -- California -- Dewey Donnell garden (El Novillero).
Dewey Donnell garden (El Novillero) (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
Landscape architecture -- California.
Braun, Ernest
Church, Thomas D.
Halprin, Lawrence
Rockrise, Thomas S.
ROMA Architects
Royston, Hanamoto & Mayes
Online Archive of California
George T. Rockrise (1917-2000)
George T. Rockrise, born in New York City in 1917, was the only child of Agnes Asbury and Thomas S. Rockrise, A.I.A. Thomas
S. Rockrise, a 1912 graduate of Syracuse University's School of Architecture, was a successful architect in New York City.
Rockrise also attended Syracuse University's School of Architecture, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1930. Upon graduation
he worked for several small architectural and construction firms before being named University Fellow in Architecture at Columbia
University in 1940. He graduated with his M.S. in Architecture from Columbia in 1941.
The Panama Canal Service recruited Rockrise immediately after graduation and he began working in Panama that year as an architect
for the Canal, the U.S. Navy and the Corps of Engineers Office of the Caribbean Defense Command. Returning to the United States
in 1945, Rockrise first worked with Edward Stone in NYC (where he first collaborated with landscape architect, Thomas Church)
and then transferred to the office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill where he worked directly with Le Corbusier, Niemayer, Markelius
and others as a staff architect on the United Nations Headquarters Building. In 1947 Thomas Church invited Rockrise to move
to San Francisco and become an associate of his internationally known landscape architecture firm. In San Francisco Rockrise
worked along side Larry Halprin and June Meehan on projects including the Dewey Donnell Garden in Sonoma County. He also began
teaching architectural design at the U.C. Berkeley and Stanford University.
In 1949, Rockrise opened his own practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. Notable projects include his joint venture proposal
with L. Halprin and L. Livingston for SPUR titled "What to do About Market Street," Married Student Housing projects for both
U.C. San Francisco and U.C. Davis, the U.S. Consulate Building in Fukuoka, Japan.
Rockrise expanded his practice in 1968 to include his associates, Robert Odermatt, Robert Mountjoy and James Amis. They established
ROMA, an architecture and planning firm, in 1980. The partnership resulted in several successful projects including Sun River
Lodge in Oregon, the Inn at Bodega Bay, and many residences. They were also asked to design the New American Embassy in Manama
Bahrain. In 1985 Rockrise retired from ROMA, but continued to work as a consultant and independent practitioner.
In addition to his architectural practice, Rockrise's career was distinguished by his continual and active involvement in
several local and Federal public associations and his leadership roles in civic and professional organizations. Rockrise served
as a consultant to the U.S. State Department for diplomatic facilities in Brazil, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Venuzuela, advised
the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, lectured at over 20 domestic and international
universities, received the Senior Fulbright Scholarship for Urban Design , living in Italy from 1978-79, sat on numerous national
and regional honor awards juries and received several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
In the early 1990s Rockrise moved with his family to Glen Ellen in Sonoma County where he passed away in 2000.
Note
- Rockrise, G.T. Biography
- San Francisco Chronicle, July 14, 2000 Obituary.
The George T. Rockrise collection spans the dates 1935 - 1991 with the bulk of the records dating between 1950 and 1972. The
collection contains some personal documents, such as letters sent to family during Rockrise's years as a Fulbright Scholar
in Italy, holiday cards and travel sketches, but is mostly comprised of professional papers, office records and project records.
The documents in the professional papers series reveals Rockrise's diverse interests, active involvement and success in all
aspects of environmental design. The majority of projects in the office and project records series were completed by Rockrise
as a sole practitioner, often collaborating with landscape architects on projects such as the Donnell Pool House with Thomas
Church. These projects range from residences to office buildings, churches, and urban planning projects. The collection contains
some work from his time with ROMA, mainly the Charbonneau Development in Wilsonville, Oregon.
Rockrise worked with several notable Bay Area photographers, including Ernest Braun, Morley Baer, Rondal Partridge, Phillip
Fein, and Karl H. Riek.
The following is a list of architectural projects from the Rockrise Collection. For more complete information about collection
contents for each project, as well as shelf location and microfilming status, download the complete
http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/pindex/rockrise.xls . For instructions on interpreting the Project Index, see
The Guide to the Project Index at
http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/pindex/guide.htm .
The project list below, derived from the Project Index, is arranged alphabetically by Project/Client Name and contains information,
where available, about the location, date, project type, collaborators, photographers, and formats for each project in the
collection.
Project/Client Name (location, date, project type) Collaborator (role), Photographer [Format - Ms=Manuscripts, Dr=Drawings, Ph=Photographs]
- * Acorn Redevelopment Project ( Oakland , CA ; n.d. ; planning ) [Dr, Ph]
- * Algarve New Town Plan ( Algarve , Portugal ; n.d. ; planning ) [Ph]
- * Allen & Rice ( Marin County , CA ; 1953-1954 ; residential ) Photographer: Braun, E. [Dr, Ph]
- * American Consulate Office Building ( Fukuoka , Japan ; 1957 ; governmental ) Photographer: Ratto, A.G. [Dr, Ph]
- * Aptos Seascape Recreation Center ( Aptos , CA ; 1964 ; recreational ) Collaborator: Watson, W.J. (architect) [Dr]
- * Ashland Redevelopment ( Ashland , OR ; n.d. ; planning ) [Dr]
- * Bell, Harmon ( Piedmont , CA ; 1964 ; residential ) Collaborator: Watson, W.J. (architect) [Dr]
- * BEQ Modernization Naval Air Station ( Alameda , CA ; n.d. ; governmental ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) [Ph]
- * Bergin ( Sausalito , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) Photographer: San Francisco Examiner [Ph]
- * Bomberger, Bruce ( Kent Woodlands , CA ; 1955-1957 ; residential ) Collaborator: Halprin, L. (landscape architect), Mountjoy, R.C. (architect) ; Photographer: Baer, M., Stone, D. and Steccati, H., Kerr, D. [Dr, Ph]
- * Brown ( Belvedere , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Bulotti Machinery Company ( San Francisco , CA ; 1961 ; commercial ) [Dr]
- * Calvary Presbyterian Church ( San Francisco , CA ; 1968 ; religious ) Collaborator: Johnson [Ms, Dr]
- * Carpenter Root Development ( Medford , OR ; 1967 ; planning ) Collaborator: Royston, Hanamoto, Mayes & Beck (landscape architect), Watson, W.J. (architect) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Carpenter, Dunbar ( Medford , CA ; 1953 ; residential ) Collaborator: Halprin, L. (landscape architect) ; Photographer: Braun, E. [Dr, Ph]
- * Charbonneau Contract 513 ( Wilsonville , OR ; 1972 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) Balsinger-Peterson & Associates (architect) Mitchell McArthur Gardner O'Kane (landscape architect) [Dr]
- * Charbonneau Neighborhood L ( Wilsonville , OR ; 1978 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) [Dr]
- * Charbonneau Neighborhood M ( Wilsonville , OR ; 1977 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) [Dr]
- * Charbonneau Neighborhood Q ( Wilsonville , OR ; 1979 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) [Dr]
- * Charbonneau Neighborhoods F & G ( Wilsonville , OR ; 1971 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) [Dr]
- * Charbonneau Section I ( Wilsonville , OR ; 1971 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) Balsinger-Peterson & Associates (architect) Mitchell McArthur Gardner O'Kane (landscape architect) [Dr]
- * Charbonneau Shopping Center ( Wilsonville , OR ; n.d. ; commercial ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) [Dr]
- * Coit Drapery Cleaning Plant ( Burlingame , CA ; 1961 ; industrial ) Collaborator: Watson, W.J. (architect) [Dr]
- * Coohan, Michael ( San Mateo , CA ; 1962 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Cosmopolitan House ( Hillsborough , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) Photographer: Braun, E. [Ph]
- * Day ( Jackson County , OR ; 1954 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Donnell ( Sonoma , CA ; 1949 ; residential ) Collaborator: Church, T.D. (landscape architect) ; Photographer: Partridge, R. [Ph]
- * Ehrman ( Rafael , CA ; 1959 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Fahrney, Paul ( Kent Woodlands , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) Collaborator: Church, T.D. (landscape architect) ; Photographer: Braun, E. [Dr, Ph]
- * Fairman, Derek ( Belvedere , CA ; 1953 ; residential ) Photographer: Braun, E. [Dr, Ph]
- * Garden Apartments ( Menlo Park , CA ; 1953 ; residential-multi ) [Dr]
- * Gilman, P.K. ( Kent Woodlands , CA ; 1952-1953 ; residential ) Photographer: Braun, E. [Ph]
- * Hoover ( Upper Napa Valley , CA ; 1955 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Kimball ( Woodside , CA ; 1967 ; residential ) Collaborator: Ossidoff, V. (architect) [Dr]
- * Kuzell Lodge ( Squaw Valley , CA ; 1959 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Laguera ( Monterey N.L. , Mexico ; 1965 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Lapham, Rodger D., lodge ( Pebble Beach , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) Collaborator: Watson, W.J. (architect) ; Photographer: Baer, M. [Dr, Ph]
- * Magowan, Robert ( San Francisco , CA ; 1961 ; residential ) Collaborator: Ruegg, T.G. (architect), Halprin, L. (landscape architect) ; Photographer: Baer, M. [Dr, Ph]
- * Marion ( Los Gatos , CA ; 1950 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Matzinger, Merrill ( Belvedere , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) Photographer: Baer, M. [Dr, Ph]
- * Mauney, Guy ( Floras Lake , OR ; 1950 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Mohler ( n.d. ; residential ) Photographer: Molino, K. [Ph]
- * Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church ( Moraga , CA ; 1963 ; religious ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Moss, John M. ( Walnut Creek , CA ; 1955-1956 ; residential ) [Dr, Ph]
- * Murphy, Jack ( San Francisco , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) Collaborator: William B. Gilbert & Associates (engineer) ; Photographer: Riek, K.H. [Dr, Ph]
- * Newell Garden Apartments ( n.d. ; residential-multi ) Photographer: Fein, Philip (photographer) [Ph]
- * Novato General Hospital ( Novato , CA ; 1972 ; medical ) Collaborator: ROMA, Lawrence Halprin & Assoc.(landscape architects) ; Photographer: Baer, M. [Dr, Ph]
- * Paradise Ridge Winery ( Santa Rosa , CA ; n.d. ; commercial ) Collaborator: Lufkin & Macnair (landscape architect) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Paxton, Glen V. ( Sausalito , CA ; 1953 ; residential ) Photographer: Partridge, R. [Ph]
- * Perlman, David ( Squaw Valley , CA ; 1954 ; residential ) Photographer: Braun, E. [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Post ( Kentfield , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Riley, William T. ( Atherton , CA ; 1956-1957 ; residential ) Collaborator: Royston, Hanamoto & Mayes (landscape architect) Braun, E. [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Rockrise, George T. ( Squaw Valley , CA ; 1956 ; residential ) Braun, E. [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Rockrise, George T. ( San Francisco , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) Riek, K.H. [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Ross Valley Clinic ( Kentfield , CA ; 1957 ; medical ) Photographer: Riek, K.H. [Dr, Ph]
- * Santa Clara Redevelopment ( Santa Clara , CA ; 1963-1964 ; planning ) [Ph]
- * Sharp / Robinson ( Belvedere , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Sheeks ( Belvedere , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Ph]
- * Sonnenberg Apartments ( Larkspur , CA ; 1962 ; residential-multi ) [Dr]
- * Stephens, Ellis M. ( Ross , CA ; 1965 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Sun River Lodge ( Deschutes County , OR ; 1968 ; recreational ) Collaborator: ROMA (architect) [Dr, Ph]
- * Sunset Add-a-Part Cabin ( 1951 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Sunset Village Retirement Housing ( Sunset , CA ; n.d. ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Watson, W.J. (architect) [Dr]
- * Tacoma Urban Renewal Project ( Tacoma , WA ; n.d. ; planning ) Photographer: Riek, K.H. [Ph]
- * Teigland ( Orinda , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Ph]
- * United States Energy Commission : Theoretical and Computational Building ( Livermore , CA ; n.d. ; governmental ) [Dr]
- * University House ( San Francisco , CA ; 1964-1966 ; educational ) [Dr]
- * University House, remodel and carport ( San Francisco , CA ; 1969 ; educational ) [Dr]
- * University of California (UC): Married Housing ( Davis , CA ; ca 1960 ; educational ) Photographer: Baer, M. [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * UC: Married Student Housing ( San Francisco , CA ; ca 1961 ; educational ) Photographer: Baer, M. [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Varian Associates Central Research Facility (Stanford) ( Palo Alto , CA ; n.d. ; commercial ) Photographer: Stoll, J.and Baer, M. [Ph]
- * Village at Wilsonville - Contract 518 ( Wilsonville , OR ; n.d. ; residential-multi ) [Dr]
- * What to do About Market Street ( San Francisco , CA ; 1962 ; planning ) Collaborator: Livingston & Blayney (planners), Halprin, L. (landscape architect) [Ms]
- * Winton ( OR ; n.d. ; residential ) Photographer: Braun, E. [Dr, Ph]
- * Young, Dallas ( Oakland , CA ; n.d. ; commercial ) [Ph]
- Thomas D. Church (ARCH 1997-1) Environmental Design Archives
- Robert Royston / RHAA (ARCH 1999-12) Environmental Design Archives