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Stanley Tigerman (September 20, 1930 – June 3, 2019) was an 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 ...
, theorist and
designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...
.


Biography


Early years

Tigerman was born into a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family, the only child of Emma (Stern), a typist for the federal government, and Samuel Tigerman, an engineer whose career struggled by the Depression.Chicago Reader: "Can Stanley Tigerman Play Nice? - The legendarily combative architect is trying to keep his cool as he works toward what may be the crowning achievement of his career" By Mara Tapp
November 20, 2013
He grew up in his paternal grandparents' boardinghouse in
Edgewater, Chicago Edgewater is a lakefront Community areas of Chicago, community area on the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois six miles north of the Chicago Loop, Loop. The last of the city's 77 official community areas, Edgewater is bounded by Foster A ...
. He won the 'beautiful baby' contest at the 1933 World's Fair. When he was a child, he wanted to be a musician and took six years of piano lessons. At Senn High School he studied
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
.


Education and apprenticeships

He studied at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...
, but flunked out after one year. After, the dean of architecture at MIT helped Tigerman get an apprenticeship with Chicago architect
George Fred Keck George Frederick Keck (1895-1980) was an American modernist architect based in Chicago, Illinois. He was later assisted in his practice by his brother William Keck to form the firm of Keck & Keck. Biography Keck was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, ...
. After a year with Keck, he left to start his own practice, which failed. He then joined the U.S. Navy for four years, serving in the Korean War. After the navy, he returned to Chicago and worked for two years for A.J. Del Bianco doing suburban architecture; then with Milton Schwartz on the Executive House Hotel; and then as junior designer for Skidmore Owings & Merrill on the
Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...
. In 1958, Tigerman was officially an architect through his many years of apprenticeships, and he wrote to MIT, IIT, Yale, and Harvard to apply to their graduate programs, though he still did not have a bachelor's degree. MIT and Harvard told him he would have to come back as an undergraduate, but after an interview with chairman Paul Rudolph, the Yale School of Architecture allowed Tigerman to enter a graduate program. While at Yale, he worked nights at Rudolph's architectural office. After two years, he graduated from the Yale School of Architecture with a Masters in 1961.


Architectural career

In 1961, Tigerman established a small practice. From 1964 until his retirement in 2017, Tigerman was a principal of Stanley Tigerman and Associates Ltd. (later, Tigerman McCurry Architects), in Chicago. He also taught at several universities in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. A collection of his papers is held by the
Ryerson & Burnham Libraries The Ryerson & Burnham Libraries are the art and architecture research collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The libraries cover all periods with extensive holdings in the areas of 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century architecture and 19th-century ...
in the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...
. The residential apartment building originally named "Boardwalk Apartments", located at the southeast corner of Montrose and Clarendon Avenues and completed in 1974, was Tigerman's first built project inspired by
Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...
. During his early career, Tigerman borrowed extensively from an eclectic blend of styles. In 1976, he was the central figure of the
Chicago Seven The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants—Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner—charged by ...
, a group which emerged in opposition to the
doctrinal Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...
application 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, ...
, as represented particularly in Chicago by the followers of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. In later years, Tigerman's diverse design style progressively assumed more sensual and dramatic qualities. Tigerman's early skill with curves and perspective expanded to include organic shapes, bright color,
topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...
, and allegory. From the days of his early eclectic stylings, Tigerman developed into an idiosyncratic theorist. Tigerman's architectural achievements included the designs for institutional projects such as The Five Polytechnic Institutes in
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
, The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in
Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...
, the
Illinois Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
, and the POWERHOUSE Energy Museum in Zion, Illinois. Tigerman designed both mixed use high-rise and low-rise housing throughout the United States, and in
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 ...
and Japan. He worked in
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
with
Louis I Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whi ...
and Muzharul Islam. His broad ranging collaborations included projects such as The Chicago Central Area Plan,
1992 Chicago World's Fair Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...
, and London's Kings' Cross and St. Pancras High Density Mixed Use Urban Plan. In the early 1980s, he partnered with his third wife,
Margaret McCurry Margaret McCurry (born 1942) is an American architect and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Early life McCurry was born in Chicago in September 1942. She grew up in two Chicago houses designed by her father, architect Paul McCurr ...
, also an architect, to form Tigerman McCurry Architects. While McCurry primarily designed homes for wealthy clients, Tigerman's focus was on bringing architect to underprivileged communities, with the design of a homeless shelter in Chicago called the Pacific Garden Mission and an Anti-Cruelty Society animal shelter. Sometimes McCurry and Tigerman collaborated on projects, but they typically worked on their own projects. In May 2017, Tigerman closed his Chicago office and announced that he was retiring from active practice, but that his wife,
Margaret McCurry Margaret McCurry (born 1942) is an American architect and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Early life McCurry was born in Chicago in September 1942. She grew up in two Chicago houses designed by her father, architect Paul McCurr ...
, would carry on the work of the firm, Tigerman McCurry Architects.Crain's Chicago Business: "So we're not retiring after all: Tigerman, McCurry" By Dennis Rodkin
May 16, 2017
Tigerman is credited with over 390 projects, and over 175 built works, representing almost every building type.


Other work

Tigerman designed exhibition installations for museums in the United States,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
and
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. In 1976, he helped organize a museum exhibition titled "Chicago Architects" highlighting work from lesser-known architects that he thought were overlooked in Chicago's
modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
architectural history. In 1988, Tigerman designed an exhibition at the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...
on the architectural history of Chicago. Tigerman was director of the School of Architecture at the
University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois s ...
from 1988 until he was fired in 1993, after his outspokenness style was not appreciated by the university administration. In 1994, Tigerman and the designer Eva L. Maddox co-founded Archeworks, a nonprofit institute in Chicago for students focused on urban problems. Tigerman was director at Archeworks for 15 years. In addition to architecture, Tigerman designed products, such as tableware for the Swid Powell Company, a cookie jar, a coffee and tea set, and watches for Projects. Tigerman wrote several books, including ''Versus: An American Architect's Alternatives'' in 1982, a monograph of his work in 1989, and ''Architecture of Exile''.


Personal life

Tigerman was married three times. He had a son and daughter from his first marriage. In 1979, he married his third wife
Margaret McCurry Margaret McCurry (born 1942) is an American architect and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Early life McCurry was born in Chicago in September 1942. She grew up in two Chicago houses designed by her father, architect Paul McCurr ...
, an Episcopalian, a fellow architect, and later his partner. They were married 40 years and lived at
900-910 North Lake Shore 900 910 North Lake Shore are a pair of glass and steel buildings, perpendicular to one another, designed by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago. Completed in 1956, they marked the refinement of Mies' ...
apartments designed by Mies van der Rohe on Chicago's lakefront. He died on June 3, 2019, aged 88.


See also

* Chicago Seven (architects)


References


Further reading

* Robert A. M. Stern. ''Modern Classicism'' (1988), * Ruth A Peltason. ''100 Contemporary Architects'', * Muriel Emmanuel. ''Contemporary Architects'' (1980), * Emmanuel Petit ed. ''Schlepping Through Ambivalence: Essays on an American Architectural Condition'' (2011),


External links


Official WebsiteStanley Tigerman Bloch Residence, Highland Park, Illinois, Model, 1982 Discussion with Stanley Tigerman at AIA Chicago, May 15, 2012Stanley Tigerman's tribute to Fazlur Rahman Khan in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

Stanley Tigerman Papers and Records (MS 1947).
Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tigerman, Stanley 1930 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American architects 20th-century American Jews Artists from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois Deaths from emphysema Yale School of Architecture alumni 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American architects