Collection Guide
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Pflueger (Timothy L.) Papers
BANC MSS 2012/182
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Timothy L. Pflueger papers
creator:
Pflueger, Timothy Ludwig
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 2012/182
Physical Description:
109 linear feet
(32 cartons, 3 boxes, 149 tubes, 47 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1906-2000
Date (bulk): 1914-1946
Abstract: The Timothy L. Pflueger Papers contain records related to the professional career of architect Timothy L. Pflueger (1892-1946)
as a member of the firms Miller and Colmesnil, Miller and Pflueger, and Timothy L. Pflueger and Associates. These records
include manuscript materials, photographs and drawings. Records also reflect Pflueger’s collaborative relationships with artists,
as well as his involvement with numerous professional organizations.
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for
any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html
Requests to reproduce images from photographer Gabriel Moulin should be submitted to Moulin Studios: http://www.moulinarchives.com/contact/
[Identification of item], Timothy L. Pflueger Papers, BANC MSS 2012/182, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt5k4026zk/ Arthur Brown, Jr. Papers, BANC MSS 81/142 c
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt7b69r95s/ A.A. and A.M. Cantin Collection, 2006-3, Environmental Design Archives, UC Berkeley
Edward Weston photographic proofs of Timothy L. Pflueger have been transferred to the
Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Timothy L. Pflueger Papers were purchased by The Bancroft Library in 2012. Auction catalogs and item photographs were
donated by the Environmental Design Archives in 2014.
No additions are expected.
Arranged to the folder level.
Processed by Emily Vigor and Cailin Trimble from 2013-2015.
Timothy Ludwig Pflueger was born in San Francisco on September 26, 1892 the eldest of seven children. In 1907, following the
1906 earthquake, he began his architectural training as a draftsman in the office of James Rupert (J.R.) Miller (1869-1946)
and George T. De Colmesnil. He continued to assist Miller and Colmesnil, and was given his first solo assignment to design
the Our Lady of the Wayside Church for The Family Club in Portola Valley when the firm was busy with their entry for the 1912
San Francisco City Hall competition. Miller continued to run the firm after the departure of Colmesnil in 1913, and partnered
with Pflueger on larger projects, including the Neoclassic Metropolitan Life Insurance Company building in San Francisco from
1914 to 1919. Following his successful design for the Castro Theater, Miller invited Pflueger to join him as a full partner
in 1923. Miller and Pflueger continued their partnership until 1937 when Miller retired.
While Pflueger never received formal architectural training through a university, he was a member of the San Francisco Architectural
Club, which provided him with opportunities to study architectural design and practice as well as foster new social connections.
He received his architect’s license from the State of California in 1920. His youngest brother Milton became an architect
and took over the firm upon Timothy’s death His most renowned projects include the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Building,
the San Francisco Stock Exchange, the 450 Sutter Medical Dental Building, the Castro Theater and the Paramount Theater in
Oakland.
Pflueger served on the Design Committee for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE). The fair was to celebrate
the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, for which Pflueger was one of the consulting
designers to the engineers. The fair was part of a New Deal project and would coincide with the New York City World’s Fair.
He was selected in June 1935 as one of six architects to design several core buildings, including the Federal Building, the
California State Building and the Court of Pacifica.
Pflueger was a friend to numerous artists and frequently commissioned them to create work for his buildings. He commissioned
artist Ralph Stackpole to sculpt figures for the exterior of the San Francisco Stock Exchange building, and it was Stackpole
who recommended that Pflueger work to bring Diego Rivera to the United States to paint a mural for this project. In the summer
of 1940, Pflueger curated a large exhibit to be held in the Palace of Fine Arts at the GGIE. The exhibit, titled Art in Action,
highlighted over 68 artists’ works, many of which were created on site. Pflueger brought Diego Rivera to San Francisco to
paint Pan American Unity on ten steel-framed panels while the exhibit was open to the public. These murals are now on display
at the City College of San Francisco.
Pflueger was also a skilled interior designer, and was well known for his architectural lighting design which provided indirect
lighting through detailed sheets of metal. His designs provided soft lighting through a decorated façade while disguising
the lighting instruments. He first used this technique over the San Francisco Stock Exchange floor, and it was so well received
that he continued to use it in several other large projects, including the Paramount Theater, the Bal Tabarin Restaurant,
I. Magnin, and the Patent Leather Bar. He patented his lighting design in 1934.
He was a member of the American Institute of Architects, Architectural League of New York, Bohemian Club (San Francisco),
Family Club (San Francisco), Olympic Club (San Francisco), and the San Francisco Art Association (President, 1932-1937, Director,
1930-1946). Pflueger died suddenly from a heart attack on November 20, 1946.
Sources: Poletti, Nancy and Tom Paiva. Art Deco San Francisco: The Architecture of Timothy Pflueger. New York: Princeton Architectural
Press, 2008.
The Timothy L. Pflueger Papers contain records related to the professional career of architect Timothy L. Pflueger (1892-1946)
as a member of the firms Miller and Colmesnil, Miller and Pflueger, and Timothy L. Pflueger and Associates through manuscript
materials and visual materials. Records also reflect Pflueger’s collaborative relationships with artists, as well as his involvement
with numerous professional organizations.
The Timothy L. Pflueger Papers are organized into six series according to the Standard Series for Architecture and Landscape
Design Records (Kelcy Shepherd and Waverly Lowell, 2010): Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Office Records, Project Records,
Golden Gate International Exposition, and Additional Donations. Materials dated post 1946 were not created by Pflueger. His
brother, Milton Pflueger, oversaw projects still under planning and construction and continued on with his own architecture
practice. Milton continued to contribute materials to this collection through the later part of the 20th century.
The Personal Papers are limited in scope and contain biographical information, correspondence, and photographs. Items of interest
include paperwork concerning a lawsuit for a Boeing plane crash in the Sierra Nevada’s in which Pflueger was a passenger,
as well as Pflueger’s passport for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition.
Professional Papers consist primarily of paperwork relating to the numerous associations and committees of which Pflueger
was a member; San Francisco Art Association records; and reference files used by Pflueger on topics relating to his built
projects. This series also contains correspondence, writings, presentations, awards, photographs and patents for Pflueger’s
ceiling and wall lighting designs.
The Office Records series is extensive and contains records from Pflueger’s time working for Miller & Pflueger as well as
Pflueger & Associates. Records include administrative paperwork and financial records, correspondence with clients, clippings
on Pflueger’s architectural practice as well as his projects, and appointment books. Materials of note include the contract
agreement between Miller and Pflueger from 1919 and the Miller & Pflueger dissolution agreement paperwork from 1937; records
from the lawsuit between the Methodist Episcopal Church and Miller & Pflueger; and correspondence with Diego Rivera from 1930-1931.
The Project Records series is extensive covering the period from 1908 to 2000 and includes project lists, files, photographs
and drawings relating to the numerous projects that Pflueger was associated with throughout his career. Miller was the architect
for projects that date prior to 1923, as Pflueger was still a staff member at this time. The firm Miller & Pflueger Associates
created projects that date from 1923-1937. Projects dating 1938-1946 were created by Pflueger & Associates. Following Pflueger’s
death 1946, his brother Milton continued the practice and completed several projects that were still in process, including
the I. Magnin flagship store in San Francisco’s Union Square. Well documented projects in this series include the 450 Sutter
Medical Dental Building for Dr. F.E. Morgan, the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Headquarters, the San Francisco Stock Exchange,
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the Union Square Garage and Plaza.
The Golden Gate International Exposition series is separated into three sub-series relating to the various roles Pflueger
played in creation of the exposition: Consulting Architect, Pflueger Projects, and Arts. The Consulting Architect subseries
includes planning records, reference files, correspondence, proposals and contracts for the buildings and grounds, photographs
of the construction and completed site, publicity for the exposition, and news clippings. The Pflueger Projects subseries
includes materials relating to Pflueger’s construction of the Federal Building, as well as the Indian Exhibit which took place
in the completed structure. The Arts subseries includes records relating to Pflueger’s work as the vice-chairman to the GGIE
Department of Arts, the Palace of Fine Arts Exhibit (1939) and the Art in Action Exhibit (1940). The Art in Action records
include correspondence with numerous artists that participated in the exhibit, including Ansel Adams, Margit Varga, Diego
Rivera, and Emmy Lou Packard.
The Additional Donations series consists of materials donated by the Environmental Design Archives from the Butterfield &
Butterfield auction of The John Pflueger Collection of Architectural Renderings, Maquettes, Photographs and Paintings that
took place on December 5, 1989 and March 22, 1990. Materials include auction catalogs and a list of items for auction, as
well as photographs of items at auction. As materials purchased at the auction are not included in this collection, this series
will be useful to researchers wanting a more comprehensive view of drawings relating to certain projects.
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.
The Project Index may be viewed at http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/findingaids/ucb/ead/m2012_182_Project_Index.pdf
For instructions on interpreting the Project Index, see http://archives.ced.berkeley.edu/guide-to-the-project-index
The Guide to the Project Index.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Pflueger, Timothy Ludwig
Miller, James Rupert
Pflueger, Milton Theodore
Miller and Pflueger (San Francisco, Calif.)
Adams, Ansel
Cantin, Alexander Aimwell
Stackpole , Ralph
Architects -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area
Architectural drawing--United States--20th century
Architectural firms
Architectural firms--California--San Francisco Bay Area--20th century
Architecture -- Designs and Plans
Architecture -- Pictorial works
Buildings--California--San Francisco Bay Area
Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940 : San Francisco, Calif.)
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)
Public buildings
San Francisco (Calif.) Buildings, structures, etc.
San Francisco City Hall (San Francisco, Calif.)
Municipal buildings