Charles Allan Haertling (October 21, 1928 - April 20, 1984) was an American architect, whose works often combined elements of

modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, ...

and

organic architecture Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is achieved through design approaches that aim to be sympathetic and well-integrated with a site, so buildings, furn ...

. He is best known for his distinctive residential projects in and around

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

and

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

Biography

Haertling was born in 1928 in

Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Ste. Genevieve (french: Sainte-Geneviève ) is a city in Ste. Genevieve Township and is the county seat of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,999 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1735 by French Canadian colonis ...

. After completing high school, he joined the Navy, serving from 1946 to 1948. Following his naval service, Haertling studied at the School of Architecture at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...

, graduating in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in architecture. In 1953, Haertling moved to Boulder, Colorado to serve on the architecture faculty of the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

, a position he would hold until 1955, and again later from 1965-1966. In 1957 he opened his own architectural practice in Boulder, completing his first project, a local residential expansion, the following year. Haertling would eventually design over 40 buildings, primarily residential structures in the Boulder-Denver region, completing his last project in 1983. In 1970, the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to ...

inducted Haertling as a member. In addition to his architectural career, Haertling was also an active participant in local government and community service. From 1967-1973 he served three terms on Boulder's city council, where he was an advocate for

greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

preservation, civic improvement projects such as the

Pearl Street Mall The Pearl Street Mall (also referred to as Pearl Street, or Downtown Boulder) is a four-block pedestrian mall in Boulder, Colorado. The pedestrian area stretches from 11th Street to 15th Street along Pearl Street and is home to a number of busine ...

, and environmental awareness. Between 1970-1971, he acted as Deputy Mayor for the City of Boulder. He also served on several local arts commissions and

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

church organizations. Haertling married Viola Brase, with whom he raised four children. He died of brain cancer in 1984 at age 55. A memorial foundation was created in his name to document and promote the preservation of his work.

Style and influences

Haertling's designs reflect an eclectic mix of different architectural styles and philosophies, incorporating elements of

and

, and drawing inspiration from the

Usonian Usonia () is a word that was used by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to the United States in general (in preference to ''America''), and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the planning of ...

principles of

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

and the works of

Bruce Goff Bruce Alonzo Goff (June 8, 1904 – August 4, 1982) was an American architect, distinguished by his organic, eclectic, and often flamboyant designs for houses and other buildings in Oklahoma and elsewhere. A 1951 ''Life Magazine'' article st ...

, among others. He often experimented with forms found in nature, including leaves (Leaneagh House, 1980),

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

s and

barnacles A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosiv ...

(Brenton House, 1969),

yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish ...

plants (Warburton House, 1963), and other natural shapes. At the same time, he also designed many structures according to more mathematical and geometric themes, as in the examples of the Willard House (1962) and the multifaceted Jourgensen House (1971). For his St. Stephens Church in

Northglenn, Colorado The City of Northglenn is a home rule municipality located in Adams and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Northglenn is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census the city's populatio ...

(1964), Haertling employed a tent-like thin-shell roof, evocative of similar curved concrete designs by

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...

. Haertling often made efforts to harmoniously integrate his buildings with their physical environments. For his strongly Usonian-influenced Menkick House (1970), he incorporated a local rock outcropping into the structure of the home, echoing Frank Lloyd Wright's

Fallingwater Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, about southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. It is built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill Ru ...

. He would also occasionally explore motifs inherent to a project's geographical and cultural environment. For his unbuilt Tambor Guest House project in Costa Rica (1973), he based his design upon traditional thatch hut architecture. For another unbuilt project, the waterfront Chart House Restaurant in

Mamaroneck, New York Mamaroneck ( ) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of ...

(1982), Haertling used forms reminiscent of wood pier pilings, boats and sails in his sketches.

List of works

* 1958: Wheat House, Boulder, Colorado * 1958
Noble House, Boulder
* 1958: White House, Boulder * 1960: Knudsen House, Boulder * 1961: Krueger House, Boulder * 1961: Willard House, Boulder * 1961: Quaker Meeting House, Boulder * 1961: Our Savior Parish Center,

* 1963: J.R. Knitting Mill, Boulder * 1963: Warburton House,

Gold Hill, Colorado Gold Hill is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the Gold Hill ...

* 1964: St. Stephens Church,

* 1964: Volsky House, Boulder * 1964: Fredrick House, Lakewood * 1965: Triframe Modular, Denver,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

* 1965: Frederick House, Denver * 1965: Albersheim House, Boulder * 1966: Moment House, Boulder * 1966: Fahrenkrog House,

Snowmass, Colorado Snowmass (sometimes known locally as Old Snowmass) is an unincorporated community and a U.S. Post Office located in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. It is situated in the valley of the Roaring Fork River, near the mouth of Snowmass Creek ...

(unbuilt) * 1966: Dammann I House, Boulder * 1967: McConnell House, Boulder * 1967: Conlin House, Boulder * 1968: Caldwell House, Boulder * 1968: Smith House, Snowmass * 1968: Faye-Peterson House,

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statis ...

* 1969: Boulder Eye Clinic, Boulder * 1969: Brenton House, Boulder * 1970: Kahn House, Boulder * 1970: Menkick House, Boulder * 1970: Steward House, Boulder * 1970: Evergreen Apartments, Boulder * 1970: Grace Lutheran Church remodeling, Boulder * 1970: Davis House, Boulder * 1970: Razee House, Denver * 1970: Gill House, Boulder * 1971: Jourgensen House, Boulder * 1971: Barrett House, Boulder * 1971: Stead House, Boulder * 1971: Solarcrest Condominiums,

Vail, Colorado Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the num ...

* 1971: Matheson House, Boulder (destroyed in Marshall Fire, December 30, 2021) * 1971: Wilson House, Boulder * 1971: Seminar Center, Boulder * 1973: Tambor Guest House, Tambor, Costa Rica (unbuilt) * 1974: Rink Office remodeling, Boulder * 1974: Dammann II House, Boulder * 1975: Goodman House,

Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The firs ...

* 1975: Ford House, Boulder * 1975: Gosko House, Snowmass * 1975: Baumgartner House,

Brighton, Colorado Brighton is a home rule municipality city located in Adams and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Brighton is the county seat of Adams County and a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Ran ...

* 1976: Johnson House, Boulder * 1976: Riverside Building, Boulder * 1978: Roitz House, Boulder * 1980: Leaneagh House, Boulder * 1981: Fleck House,

Golden, Colorado Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountain ...

* 1982: Chart House Restaurant,

(unbuilt) * 1983: Mountain Shadows Montessori School, Boulder (unbuilt) * 1983: Cunningham Addition, Boulder The Brenton House (1969), also known informally as the "Mushroom House", is notable for making an appearance in

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

's 1973 futuristic sci-fi film, '' Sleeper'', along with several other modernist buildings in Colorado, including

I.M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

NCAR The US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR ) is a US federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and funded by the National Science Foundatio ...

labs and

Charles Deaton Charles Utter Deaton (January 1, 1921 – December 18, 1996) was an American architect. He designed several athletic stadiums, and is noted for his futuristic Sculptured House that was featured in the 1973 film ''Sleeper''. He is also noted as t ...

Sculptured House The Sculptured House, also known as the Sleeper House, is a distinctive elliptical curved house built in Genesee, Jefferson County, Colorado, on Genesee Mountain in 1963 by architect Charles Deaton. It is featured prominently in the 1973 Woody A ...

References

External links

Charles A. Haertling - Architect A.I.A.

"The art of Haertling" (''Kitsap Sun'', Oct. 9, 2004)

* [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/19/outside-the-box/ "Outside the box: Architect Charles Haertling left a controversial organic footprint on house design in Boulder" (''Rocky Mountain News'', Jan. 19, 2008)]
ModMidMod - Photos of several Haertling houses

BoulderMod - Architect Profiles: Charles Haertling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haertling, Charles 1928 births 1984 deaths American residential architects Architects from Colorado 20th-century American architects People from Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Architects from Missouri Washington University in St. Louis alumni University of Colorado faculty Deaths from cancer in Colorado Neurological disease deaths in Colorado Deaths from brain cancer in the United States