Benjamin Polk Collection 1994.-01

Amir Soltani
Arrangement and description of this collection was funded by a grant from the Getty Foundation.
University of California, Berkeley. College of Environmental Design. Environmental Design Archives
1998
230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820
Berkeley, CA 94720-1820
designarchives@berkeley.edu


Contributing Institution: University of California, Berkeley. College of Environmental Design. Environmental Design Archives
Title: Benjamin Polk Collection
Creator: Polk, Benjamin K., 1916-2001
Identifier/Call Number: 1994.-01
Physical Description: 2 Linear Feet: 2 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1938-1993
Language of Material: English .

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the Director.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], Benjamin Polk Collection, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.

Biographical / Historical

Benjamin Kauffman Polk was born in 1916 in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended Amherst College, the University of Chicago, and studied structural engineering at Iowa State University. In 1952 he earned an equivalent master's degree from the School of Planning, Gordon Square, London, in the field of Research in Regional Development. Polk served in the U.S. Army from 1942 until 1946, and married Emily De Spain, poet, artist, and designer in 1946.
Polk practiced architecture in San Francisco from 1946-1952, and in Asia from 1952-1966. He designed and constructed more than fifty projects during this time. In 1957 he established the partnership of Chatterjee and Polk, which become the largest architecture firm in Asia. His major projects include: The Jallian Walabagh National Memorial in Amritsar, India, the Royal Palace for King of Nepal in Katmandu, and the great Buddhist Tipitaka Library in Rangoon, Burma. He also designed many large commercial and industrial buildings, universities and schools, and a theater in Calcutta, India.
In 1966 he returned to California, settling in Los Osos. From 1966-1980 he was a professor of architecture at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. During these years he also developed an improvisational piano technique, and traveled to Paris in 1977 to study with French composer Nadia Boulanger. After living in Salisbury, England, from 1981-1991, he returned to his home in Los Osos, California.
Polk is the author of Architecture and the Spirit of the Place, published in Calcutta in 1961, and India Notebook - Two Americans in South Asia of Nehru's Time, written with his wife Emily.

Scope and Contents

The Benjamin Polk collection spans the years 1938-1993 and is comprised of his scrapbooks. The collection contains photographs, correspondence, Polk's writings, and news clippings, primarily about Polk's projects. The scrapbooks also include some personal papers, such as biographical information, correspondence, and material about his music.
The collection was donated in 1994 in four binders, and its order has been maintained. The original binder number is marked on each folder.

 

Project Records I.

Box 1, Folder 1

Triptake Library Rangoon Burma 1956

Box 1, Folder 2

Royal Palace n.d.

Box 1, Folder 3

Jallianwala Bagh, National Memorial Amritsar India 1954-55

Box 1, Folder 4

Times Press Building New Delhi India 1954-55

Box 1, Folder 5

Architecture & the Spirit of the Place 1961

Box 1, Folder 6

A Structure of Music 1978

Box 1, Folder 7

Map from thesis, School of Planning London England 1953

Box 1, Folder 8

Correspondence n.d.

Box 1, Folder 9

Baharat Ramhorn New Delhi India 1961

Box 1, Folder 10

American Library New Delhi India n.d.

Box 1, Folder 11

Paliani Central Museum n.d.

Box 1, Folder 12

Domestic Science College Karachi India n.d.

Box 1, Folder 13

Karachi Polytechnic 1953

Box 1, Folder 14

Utkal University Bhubenswar Bengal 1960

Box 1, Folder 15

Material testing lab Rouikela India n.d.

Box 1, Folder 16

Kalingo Tubes Orissa n.d.

Box 1, Folder 17

Imperial Chemical Industries House Calcutta India n.d.

Box 1, Folder 18

India National Theater New Delhi India 1961

Box 1, Folder 19

Miscellaneous n.d.

Box 1, Folder 20

Reviews and Articles (general) n.d.

Box 1, Folder 21

A Figure in the Landscape 1993

Box 1, Folder 22

Kalmandir Theater Calcutta India n.d.

Box 1, Folder 23

Woodland Residence Flats Calcutta India n.d.

Box 1, Folder 24

Minto Park Residentia Calcutta India n.d.

Box 1, Folder 25

Nepal Schools Katmandu Nepal n.d.

Box 1, Folder 26

Fireplaces of Polytechnic Institute Sani Thimi Nepal n.d.

Box 1, Folder 27

Young Island Hotel St. Vincent WI n.d.

Box 1, Folder 28

Education Development Center 1967

Box 1, Folder 29

Miscellaneous Clippings n.d.

Box 1, Folder 30

Article, Town Planning, "Architecture & the Spirit of the Place" n.d.

Box 2, Folder 31

Project House 1938

Box 2, Folder 32

Biography and Resume n.d.

Box 2, Folder 33

Wallace Belvedere n.d.

Box 2, Folder 34

Hall, Lowell Los Osos CA n.d.

Box 2, Folder 35

Dorby, Michael Los Osos CA n.d.

Box 2, Folder 36

Miscellaneous Photographs 1948

Box 2, Folder 37

Kitchen Breakfast Difference Santa Barbara CA n.d.

Box 2, Folder 38

Prestressing Detail n.d.

Box 2, Folder 39

Litpon Tea Company Calcutta India n.d.

Box 2, Folder 40

Tensa Master plan 1958

Box 2, Folder 41

Summary of Polk's books n.d.

Box 2, Folder 42

Design in 49, Open Fireplace, Article 1947

Box 2, Folder 43

Garden Shelter and Showcase 1948

Box 2, Folder 44

Miscellaneous Industrial Architecture n.d.