Max O. Urbahn (1912–1995) was a German-born American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

in practice in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

from 1945 until his death in 1995. Among his notable projects is the

Vehicle Assembly Building The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Saturn V and th ...

at the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 196 ...

, one of the largest buildings in the world. He served as president of 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 ...

for the year 1972.

Life and career

Maximilian Otto Urbahn, known professionally as Max O. Urbahn, was born February 2, 1912, in

Burscheid Burscheid is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town is known for its sub-communities (somewhat equivalent to the American concept of neighborhoods) and the town centre with its marketplace and c ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, to Maximilian Otto Urbahn and Hedwig (Hilbertz) Urbahn. His family immigrated to the United States in 1925, and Urbahn later became a citizen."Urbahn, Maximilian Otto" in ''Who's Who in America'' (Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1982): 3396. He earned a BS in architecture from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...

in 1935 followed by a BFA and an MFA from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

. Over the next few years he worked for

Eggers & Higgins Eggers & Higgins was a New York architectural firm partnered by Otto Reinhold Eggers (August 4, 1882 – April 23, 1964) and Daniel Paul Higgins (September 12, 1886 – December 26, 1953). The architects were responsible for the construction phase ...

and in the New York City branch office of

Holabird & Root The architectural firm now known as Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm has changed its name several times and adapted to the architectural style then current — from Chicago School to Art Deco to Modern ...

. He served in the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

from 1942 to 1945.R. Randall Vosbeck, ''A Legacy of Leadership: The Presidents of the American Institute of Architects, 1857–2007'' (Washington: American Institute of Architects, 2008): 124-126. In 1945 he cofounded the firm of Reisner & Urbahn, architects, with Jedd Stow Reisner, and in 1952 the partnership was expanded to include Richard M. Brayton and John S. Burrows Jr. When Reisner withdrew in 1954 the firm became Urbahn, Brayton & Burrows. Burrows withdrew in 1961, followed by Brayton in 1963, and the firm was again reorganized as the Office of Max O. Urbahn. Urbahn was noted as a coordinator of large teams for the design of complex projects. In 1962 he was hired to lead the design of what would become the

for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

at the

. To complete this project he organized URSAM, a joint venture of the Urbahn firm and the engineering firms of Roberts & Schaefer, Seelye Stevenson Value & Knecht (STV) and Moran, Proctor, Mueser & Rutledge. The resulting building, completed in 1966, is still one of the largest buildings in the world by volume. Other major projects completed by Urbahn include

Fermilab Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory specializing in high-energy parti ...

, designed by a DUSAF, the joint venture of

Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm. AECOM has approximately 51,000 employees, and is number 157 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list. The company's official name from 1990 to ...

, Urbahn, STV and the

George A. Fuller Company George A. Fuller (1851 – December 14, 1900) was an American architect often credited as being the "inventor" of modern skyscrapers and the modern contracting system. Early life and career Fuller was born in Templeton, Massachusetts, near Wo ...

, and 909 Third Avenue in New York City. In the 1970s Urbahn again reorganized his firm as Max O. Urbahn Associates. He retired from his New York practice in 1978 but continued to practice on a smaller scale near his home in eastern Connecticut. As of 2023, his firm, now known as Urbahn Architects, remains active in New York City. Urbahn joined the

(AIA) in 1947 as a member of the New York City chapter. He served in various chapter roles before being elected to the AIA board of directors in 1968. In 1969 he was elected first vice president/president elect for 1971 and president for 1972. During his presidency Urbahn oversaw significant revisions to the AIA code of ethics under pressure from the

Nixon administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment because of the Watergate Scanda ...

and advocated for a national land-use policy. Urbahn was elected a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the AIA in 1966. Urbahn was also a member and post president of the

Society of American Military Engineers The Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) unites public and private sector individuals and organizations from across the architecture, engineering, construction, environmental, facility management, contracting and acquisition fields and ...

(SAME), a vice president of the Pan American Federation of Architects' Associations (FPAA) and a director of the

American Arbitration Association The American Arbitration Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization in the field of alternative dispute resolution, providing services to individuals and organizations who wish to resolve conflicts out of court, and one of several arbitrat ...

Personal life

Urbahn was married three times: first to Marion Frank in 1937, second to Allyn Delano Smith in 1957 and third to Bess (Engelbrethsen) Balchen in 1979. He had a total of three children, all sons: Eric McGregor, Maximilian Otto III and John Arthur. Urbahn died July 9, 1995, at home in Stonington, Connecticut, at the age of 83. Urbahn's eldest son, Eric M. Urbahn is an architect in practice in

Cabarete Cabarete is a town in the Puerto Plata province of the Dominican Republic, noted for its tourism and beaches. It is located on Camino Cinco approximately from the airport of Puerto Plata (POP). History Cabarete was founded in 1835 by the merc ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, and his grandson is

Keith Urbahn Keith Urbahn is the president and a founding partner of Javelin, a literary and creative agency located in Alexandria, Virginia that offers representation and public relations services. Education Urbahn studied religion and Arabic as an undergra ...

Legacy

SAME has awarded a medal in his name since 1997.

Architectural works

* University Hospital of Brooklyn, 445 Lenox Rd,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

(1966) * 909 Third Avenue,

(1967) * Junior High School 144 Michelangelo, 2545 Gunther Ave,

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

(1968) * Bronx Children's Psychiatric Center, 1300 Waters Pl,

(1969) * Public School 214 Lorraine Hansberry, 1970 W Farms Rd,

(1973) * Lincoln Hospital, 234 East 149th St,

(1976) *

Nassau University Medical Center Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) is a public teaching hospital affiliated with the Health Sciences Center of Stony Brook University and with Northwell Health. The 19-story, 631-bed Level I Trauma Center is located at 2201 Hempstead Turnpi ...

East Meadow, New York East Meadow is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York. The population was 38,132 at the 2010 census. Many residents commute to Manhattan, which is away. History In ...

(1974) *

Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building The Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building is an historic structure located in Downtown Washington, D.C. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. History The structure was built to house the Acacia Mutual Insurance Compa ...

, 1700 G St NW,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

(1977, NRHP 2016)Pamela Scott and Antoinette J. Lee, ''Buildings of the District of Columbia'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993): 206. * James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 W Kingsbridge Rd,

(1979)

References

External links

Urbahn Architects website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urbahn, Max O. Architects from New York City Architects from Connecticut 20th-century American architects Presidents of the American Institute of Architects Fellows of the American Institute of Architects German emigrants to the United States University of Illinois alumni Yale University alumni People from Stonington, Connecticut 1912 births 1995 deaths