Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Fritz Block papers
- Dates:
- circa 1918-circa 1955
- Creators:
- Block, Fritz, 1889-1955
- Extent:
- 7.0 Linear feet (4 record storage boxes and 1 flat file drawer)
- Language:
- Preferred citation:
-
Fritz Block papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Fritz Block papers span 7 linear feet and date circa 1918 to circa 1955. The collection is composed of pencil drawings of furniture designs, presentation and working drawings primarily of apartment residences located in Germany, pencil drawings of tombstone lettering and design, sketches of building exteriors, slides, glass plate negatives, newspaper and magazine clippings, correspondence, scrapbooks, lecture notes, and black-and-white photographs taken by Block documenting architecture, interior design, nature, and people. The Fritz Block papers also include a folder of reprographic copies of other architects work: Ain, Johnson, Day; Clark & Frey; Richard E. Lind; and R.M. Schindler. The majority of material is in German.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Fritz Block was born in Hamburg Germany in 1889. He studied under Wilhelm Kreis and in 1921 opened an architectural office in Hamburg with Ernst Hochfeld. Block & Hochfeld were dedicated to the functional building style of the 1920s. Block documented his work extensively with photography. He traveled extensively to North Africa, France, Asia, North America, and the Dalmatian coast producing, with the help of his wife Anna Sophia, travel reportages that were published in Hamburg magazines. In 1938, Block liquidated his architectural firm and moved to Los Angeles, California to focus exclusively on photography. Two years later in 1940, Block started his own color slide company in Hollywood, California called Dr. Block Color Productions where he sold 2 x 2 in. kodachrome sets of slides on the subjects of modern architecture, modern ceramics, and nature. His major clients were museums and universities. Fritz Block died in 1955.
- Custodial history:
-
Gift of Ingrid Levy-Huneberg, 1986.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Sponsor:
- The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2014-01-09T16:12-0800
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.
- Preferred citation:
-
Fritz Block papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA 93106-7130, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-2724