Access Statement
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Biographical Note
Scope & Contents note
Related Collections
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Berkeley. College of Environmental Design. Environmental Design Archives
Title: Henrik Bull Collection
Creator:
Bull, Henrik, 1929-2013
Identifier/Call Number: 2009.-02
Physical Description:
34 Linear Feet:
3 cartons, 2 tubes, 10 flat file drawers
Date (inclusive): 1950-2009
Abstract: The Bull Collection is comprised of four series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Office Records, and Project Records.
The small amount of Personal Papers contains a student project and correspondence. The Professional Papers include correspondence
with clients, colleagues and the public and articles written by Bull regarding architectural practice and building techniques.
Office records are comprised of general correspondence, public relations brochures and portfolios, a firm award and portfolios
documenting single projects assembled as award submissions, tear sheets and clippings for different projects, and photographs,
drawings and documents of projects for use in publication, public relations or presentation material. The Project Records
contain design documents, correspondence, and drawings for work done independently and with his partnerships and firms.
Language of Material:
English
.
Access Statement
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the
Curator.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of Item], Henrik Bull Collection, [2009-02] Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
Biographical Note
Henrik Helkand Bull (1929, New York City - d. 2013, Berkeley, CA) was the only child of Johan Bull (1893–1945) and Sonja Geelmuyden
Bull (1898–1992). Johan Bull, a native of Norway, was an illustrator who had regularly contributed to New Yorker magazine.
A cousin of Bull's grandfather, also named Henrik Bull, designed several of Oslo's landmark civic buildings at the end of
the 19th century.
Bull began his studies at MIT in aeronautical engineering, and switched to architecture after the first year. While at MIT
he studied with Ralph Rapson, Buckminster Fuller, and Alvar Aalto. Prior to his graduation from MIT in 1952, Bull worked the
summer of 1951 in San Francisco with architect Mario Corbett. As a first lieutenant in the USAF, Bull was stationed at MIT
Lincoln Laboratory and worked with Buckminster Fuller on developing the geodesic radar domes for the Distant Early Warning
Line (DEW Line) system at the north slope of Alaska. He built an early A-frame ski cabin in the United States with his friend
John Flender in Stowe, Vermont in 1953. In 1954, Bull returned to San Francisco to work again with Mario Corbett.
On the basis of being commissioned to design several ski cabins, Bull opened his own architectural office in 1956. His early
practice included homes, condominiums and later hotels and institutional buildings. In the 1950s and the 1960s, Bull designed
several prefabricated or kit cabins. In 1962, he was chosen to design the Sunset Magazine Discovery House: a "dream house"
limited to 2,000 square feet. Bull designed the home as a series of four sky lit pavilions built around an enclosed courtyard.
It was the first home built in the newly established town of El Dorado Hills.
In 1967, Henrik Bull, John Field, Sherwood Stockwell and Daniel Volkmann formed Bull Field Volkmann Stockwell. Their first
large project together was the planning and architecture for Northstar at Tahoe, a new four season resort. [7] The firm continued
under the following names:
Bull Field Volkmann Stockwell
Bull Volkmann Stockwell
Bull Stockwell Allen
Bull Stockwell Allen & Ripley
Bull Stockwell Allen / BSA Architects.
Classified in both the Northern California Modern and the Bay Regional Styles, the question of an appropriate architecture
for its location has always been Henrik Bull's main concern. He felt that a building of quality does not unnecessarily disturb
the site and should be comprehensible to everyone and that creating lasting architecture can be achieved by placing priority
on client needs and relationship to the site.
Bull was elected Vice President (1967) and President (1968) of the American Institute of Architects / San Francisco Chapter
(AIA SF), and elected to Fellowship in National AIA in 1969. Bull died in Berkeley, CA in 2013 at the age of 84.
Sources:
Bull, Henrik. Curricula Vitae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_H_Bull [captured 15 June 2011]
Weinstein, Dave. "Signature Style: Henrik Bull: Buildings That Belong." San Francisco Chronicle. 16 September 2006. Online:
sfgate.com.
Scope & Contents note
The Bull Collection is comprised of four: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Office Records, and Project Records. The small
amount of Personal Papers contains a student project and correspondence. The Professional Papers include correspondence with
clients, colleagues and the public and articles written by Bull regarding architectural practice and building techniques.
Office records are comprised of general correspondence, public relations brochures and portfolios, a firm award and portfolios
documenting single projects assembled as award submissions, tear sheets and clippings for different projects, and photographs,
drawings and documents of projects for use in publication, public relations or presentation material. The Project Records
contain Contains design documents, correspondence, and drawings for work done independently and with his partnerships and
firms.
Related Collections
Records of John L. Field (2014-06)