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Raphael S. Soriano Collection
cpp.ENVarchives.2.
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Title: Raphael S. Soriano Collection
Dates: Donated 1988, Date Range 1935-1987
Collection Number: cpp.ENVarchives.2.
Creator/Collector:
Raphael S. Soriano
Soria Structures
Extent: 30 flat file drawers including presentation boards, construction documents, and design sketches. 3 Vertical file drawers including
office documents, and photographs.
Repository:
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. ENV Archives-Special Collections
Pomona, California 91768
Abstract: Raphael Soriano collection contains project records as well as some correspondence. The records document projects in the form
of correspondence, reports, photographs, and drawings. Primarily the collection contains project records relating to residential,
commercial and medical buildings as well as regional planning projects. For select projects the collection contains photographs
by well-known architecture photographer Julius Shulman.
Language of Material: English
Contact
ENV Archives-Special Collections, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
3801 West Temple Avenue
Pomona, CA, 91768
(909) 869-6837
envspeccoll@cpp.edu
Permission to publish this collection has been assigned to ENV Archives-Special Collections, California State Polytechnic
University, Pomona, which can grant permission to publish materials for which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission
to publish or quote must be submitted in writing to the ENV Archives-Special Collections director.
Preferred Citation
Raphael Soriano Collection, ENV Archives-Special Collections, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Raphael S. Soriano Collection. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. ENV Archives-Special Collections
This collection was donated to Cal Poly Pomona by the estate of Raphael Soriano.
Biography/Administrative History
Raphael S. Soriano was born in Rhodes, Greece in 1904. He immigrated to the USA in 1924, becoming a citizen in 1930. Soon
after arriving, he began taking music and English classes. In 1929 he enrolled in USC’s school of architecture where he studied
until graduation in 1934. While studying he interned under Richard Neutra, and later Rudolph Schindler. He opened his firm
in 1935 completing his first commission, the Lipetz house, in 1936.
Soriano is recognized as one of Los Angeles’ great Modernist architects for his contribution to the image of Los Angeles as
a city receptive to innovative design. Soriano was an early proponent of steel frame construction in a variety of building
types – especially residences. He recognized that the open quality of steel construction and later aluminum enabled him to
design buildings that embraced Southern California’s benign climate. His innovations were recognized by Arts + Architecture’s
Case Study House Program – as the architect of 1950 Case Study House, and through his influence on the works Pierre Koenig
and Jerrold Lomax in the office of Craig Ellwood.
Near the end of his career Soriano was invited to teach architecture at Cal Poly Pomona’s college of the extended university.
Sadly, he passed away during this period in 1988.
Soriano should not be seen as strictly a technocrat. He had a highly refined artist sensibility. This may have been nurtured
by an enduring passion for music. His drawings housed in his archives at Cal Poly Pomona reflect a keen sense of color – which
could run to magenta and bright yellow – juxtaposed with the natural properties of molded plywood and cork. The drawings also
reflect his desire to balance the geometry of architectural form with the organicism inherent in plant vegetation.
Scope and Content of Collection
The projects contained in this collection represent the vast majority of Soriano’s practice from the 1918 through 1973. Among
his best-known works are the 1950 Case Study House, Eichler house (Palo Alto, CA), Colby Apartments (Los Angeles, CA) and
Adolph’s Office Building (Burbank, CA). Many of Soriano’s projects were never completed. His works are presented through presentation
drawings, sketches, working drawings, construction photographs and photos of exterior, interior and details of his projects.
Architecture
Student Work
Residential
Commercial
Mixed-Use
Masterplan
Steel Frame
Aluminum Frame
Prefabricated
California
Construction Drawings
Presentation Drawings
Sketches
Manuscript Materials
Photographs
Office Records
Architect