Karl Kamrath
Karl Kamrath | |
---|---|
Born |
Enid, Oklahoma | April 25, 1911
Died |
January 29, 1988 76) Houston, Texas | (aged
Education | Bachelor of Architecture, 1934[1] |
Alma mater | University of Texas |
Occupation | Architect |
Religion | Christianity (Methodist[2]) |
Spouse(s) | Eugenie Sampson (1934-1975), Gardina McCarthy (1977-1988)[1] |
Karl Kamrath (April 25, 1911 – January 29, 1988) was an American architect and tennis player. He, along with Frederick James MacKie, Jr., created the Houston-based architectural firm Mackie and Kamrath. The firm's buildings reflected the principles of Organic Architecture and Usonian architecture, an outcome of Kamrath's friendship with Frank Lloyd Wright.[3] His career spanned over five decades during which he designed residential, commercial, institutional and government buildings.[4] Prior to founding MacKie and Kamrath, Karl Kamrath worked for Pereira and Pereira, the Interior Studios of Marshall Field and Company, and the Architectural Decorating Company in Chicago, Illinois.[2]
Karl Fred Kamrath was born in Enid, Oklahoma to G.A. and Martha Kreplin Kamrath on April 25, 1911. While still a child, Kamrath's family moved to Austin, Texas. Throughout his life, Kamrath was an avid tennis player, and married fellow tennis player Eugenie Sampson in 1934.[2] That same year that he graduated the University of Texas with a Bachelor's degree in architecture.[1] In 1955, Karl Kamrath was elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), an organization he was affiliated with since 1939.[2] He became the Houston AIA chapter president in 1960 and acted as the chairman of the Frank Lloyd Wright Memorial Committee from 1960 to 1962.[1] He was inducted into the University of Texas Longhorn Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984.[5]
Major Buildings
- Phyllis Wheatley High School[6] (1948)
- Temple Emanu-El (1949, with Lenard R. Gabert)[4]
- Houston Contemporary Arts Association Museum (1949, demolished)
- Dow Chemical Company complex, Freeport (1953)
- Schlumberger Corporation complex (1953) now University of Houston Energy Research Center[7]
- Humble Oil Research Center (1954)
- St. John the Divine Church (1954, with H. A. Salisbury)
- University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute (1954, altered), featured in TIME magazine in December 1954[8]
- Commercial Standard Insurance Company Building,[9] Fort Worth (1956)
- Farnsworth and Chambers Building (1957) an early office facility for NASA and Project Mercury, now Houston Parks Gragg Building[10]
- Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Bunker Hill Village (1957, 1973)
- Temple Rodef Shalom, Waco (1962)
- First Pasadena State Bank Building,[11] Pasadena, Texas (1962)
- Science and Research Building, University of Houston (1968)
- Travertine Nature Center, Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Sulphur, Oklahoma (1968)
- Big Three Industries Building (1974)
- Kamrath Second Residence, on Tiel Way in River Oaks, Houston (1953)[12]
- George P. Mitchell house, Piney Point Village (1963, demolished), profiled in Fortune Magazine
- C.B. Ellis house, on Green River Trail in Ft. Worth, Texas (1966)
References
- 1 2 3 4 Karl Fred Kamrath (1911-1988), American Institute of Architects
- 1 2 3 4 Kamrath, Karl Fred, Handbook of Texas On-Line
- ↑ Miller, Scott Reagan, "Wright", The Architecture of MacKie and Kamrath, Rice University, 1993, pg 16-27
- 1 2 Miller, Scott Reagan, "Chronological List of Works", The Architecture of MacKie and Kamrath, Rice University, 1993, pg 193-237
- ↑ Karl Kamrath Archive, University of Texas at Austin
- ↑ http://www.houstonmod.org/bldg_detail.asp?id=5&by=arch&seled=MacKie%20and%20Kamrath
- ↑ http://cincoranch.uh.edu/magazine/09f/features/energy/index.php
- ↑ Miller, Scott Reagan, The Architecture of MacKie and Kamrath, Rice University, 1993
- ↑ http://www.cosmicool.com/midcent/6421/index.html
- ↑ http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/graggpark.html
- ↑ http://www.houstonmod.org/bldg_detail.asp?id=97&by=arch&seled=MacKie%20and%20Kamrath
- ↑ http://www.americanheritage.org/Houston_House___Home_Article.pdf
Further reading
- Strom, Steven, Mackie & Kamrath Architects: Guide to the Architectural Collection, Houston Public Library, 2000, softcover booklet.
- Miller, Scott Reagan, The Architecture of MacKie and Kamrath, Houston, Texas : Rice University, 1993.