Architect and engineer (Volume v.200-203 (1955)) online

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SAN FRANCItCO
lh>n.tC LIBRARY



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MODERN INTERIORS






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DESIGNED BY KLAUS PFEFFER



1955




THE NEW EQUITABLE BUILDING

in San Francisco is scheduled

for completion in May of this year.

Architects: W D. Peugh, and successors Loubet & Glynn

Consulting Architect: Irwin Clavan, New York

Structural Engineers: E W Kellberg. Foundation Engineer: Charles H. Lee

General Contractor: Dinwiddle Construction Co.

Steel Erection : Consolidated Western Steel Division



2 5 Stories Up ...
and 133 Feet Down!




To provide a firm foundation for the new 25-story Equitable Building required

446 H-Beam Bearing Piles (14 in., 102 lb.) driven to refusal in hard rock

at depths ranging from 107 to 133 feet below basement level. Piles

were designed for an allowable load of 135 tons. Construction on the new building

also features high-strength steel bolts instead of rivets. And in addition

to the 3300 tons of piling, 5300 tons of structural and 50 tons of

stainless exterior facing are used. It takes steel to change a skyline . . . and

all of this steel came from the mills of United States Steel.



O



USS Products for Heavy Construction

United States Steel Corporation • Columbia-Geneva Steel Division



UNITED STATES STEEL



Vol. 200 No. I



EDWIN H. WILDER
Editor

I. WELLS HASTINGS
Contributinq Editor

PROF. LELAND VAUGHAN
Landscape Architecture

JOHN A. BLUME

Structural Engiaeeriog

MICHAEL GOODMAN
Planning

JOHN S. BOLLES, A.LA.
Book Reviews

ERNEST McAVOY

Advertising Manager



COVER PrCTURE

MODERN

ir^TERIOR

DESIGN

By Klaus PfefFer,

Berkeley, California

AHention oi the world is being fo-
cused on California and the West
Coast, where great progress is being
made in modern, creative, design.
Some outstanding examples of today's
modern design is the work of Klaus
Pfeffer of Berkeley, California. See
page 7 for complete details.



ARCHITECTS' REPORTS—

Published DoUj

Vernon S. Yallop, Manager
Telephone DOuglos 2-8311



AHCHTTECT AND ENGINEER (Estab-
lished 1905) is published on the ISth
oi the month by The Architect and
Engineer, Inc., S8 Post St., San Fran-
cisco 4; Telephone EXbrook 2-7182.
President. K. P. Kierulii; Vice-President
and Manager, L. B. Penhorwood;
Treasurer, £. N. Kierulif.

Los Angeles Office: Wentwonh F.
Green, 439 So. Western Ave., Los An-
geles 5; Telephone DUnlrirk 7-8135.

Entered as second class matter. Novem-
ber 2, 1905, at the Post Office in San
Francisco, California, under the Act of
March 3, 1879. Subscriptions United
States and Pan America, S3. 00 a year;
S5.00 two years; foreign countries S5.00
a year; single copy 50c.




ARCHITECT



AND



-ARCHITECT & ENGINEER is indexed reguLjrly by ENGINEERING INDEX, INC.; ami ART INDEX-



Confenfs for



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EDITORIAL NOTES . . 4

WOODWORK INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA— Building With the West . 5

How Cooperation Within One Industry Is Paying Dividends to All Building Interests

NEWS & COMMENT ON ART 6

FOUR MODERN INTERIORS, Designed by Klaus Pfeffer .... 7

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION AWARD— Olympic Games 1956,

Swimming Pool, Me'bourne, Australia ....... 18

ALUMINUM USED FOR FALSEWORK

ON THE RICHMOND-SAN RAFAEL HIGHWAY BRIDGE ... 20

By FRANCIS J. MURPHY, C.E.

COMBINATION SALES OFFICE AND WAREHOUSE— Reynolds Aluminum . 25

A.I.A. ACTIVITIES 26

WITH THE ENGINEERS 28

PRODUCERS COUNCIL PAGE 30

Edited by ANDRE E. ROEGIERS, Arcadia Metal Produc-.s.

PERSONALITIES 32

WILLIAM C. HARR, General Contractor, San Francisco.

BOOK REVIEWS, Pamphlets and Catalogues 37

ESTIMATOR'S GUIDE, Building and Construction Materials .... 39

ESTIMATOR'S DIRECTORY, Building and Construction Materials 41

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AWARDED and Miscellaneous Data 42

BUILDING TRADES WAGE SCALES, Northern, Central & Southern California . 43

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING . 43

IN THE NEWS 45

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS 48



THE OLDEST PROFESSIONAL .MONTHLY BUSINESS MAGAZINT OF THE ELEVEhf WESTERN STATES



. EDITORIAL



DIES .



TXO.i'



HOUSING BOOM

How long can the housing boom last?

Forecasters can give you an easy answer in double
talk — some say the end is clearly in sight, others are
equally certain today's accelerated home building
program will continue in the forseeable future.

One factor is certain. Formation of families deter-
mines the demand for housing on a realistic basis, and
the current high birthrate is causing many families
who bought small houses since the war to expand them
or buy larger ones.

Separation of doubled-up family units continues,
and higher incomes give earlier independence to young
couples. The long established policy of Americans to
"shift" with industry expansion places an added bur-
den upon housing facilities in certain areas of the
nation and thereby increases the need for adequate
housing.

Other factors which contribute to a continuing
need for new houses is a wider distribution of income,
comparatively easy credit, and the new federal Hous-
ing Act.

A.a^'^ * *

More than 7^50,000 homeowners are using oil as a
fuel in central heating systems, and another 9,000,000
7^031 {y*'^ "'' *" space heaters.

ATOMIC ENERGY PROGRAM

You may, or may not, have read considerable opin-
ion on the government's new atomic energy program,
and depending upon the source of such material is the
amount of emphasis placed upon the argument of
Government vs. Private Industry position in the
situation.

Advocates of bigger, better and more government
control of every social phase of our life contend the
program is a "giveaway" to private interests, while
there are some who feel private industry is inade-
quate in its abihty to develop the potentialities of the
Atomic Age.

Four important facts of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954 should be remembered in any consideration of
the situation:

1. The act does not give atomic plants to private
companies. On the contrary, it reaffirms the national
government's title to its existing atomic energy plants.

2. The act does not give uranium or other atomic
materials to private companies. The companies must
pay the government for any atomic materials which
they secure from government-owned plants. The act
merely increases slightly the range of such materials
which private industry can use for civilian purposes.

3. The act will not permit "profiteering" on atomic



patents. It forbids the exclusive use of patents accorded
inventors in other fields. Instead, it provides com-
pulsory licensing of patents to competitors over the
next five years.

4. The act will not prevent the use of atomic energy
for the "public good".

The economic development of the United States is
the result of competition among men free to set their
own goals.

* *

The future of free enterprise in the United States
could -well depend on the amount of education possessed
by citizens.

* *

NO STREET TAXES

How to pave streets without tax levies is a story
from Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

In 1951 the main downtown streets of the city
were in acute need of resurfacing. Through the co-
operation of local oil companies, a hotel and a bank,
two blocks were resurfaced with asphaltic concrete as
a demonstration project.

Two years later the Bartlesville chamber of com-
merce raised $60,000 from the property owners by a
voluntary subscription to complete the project. The
streets then were resurfaced with no taxes to pay and
no bonded debt incurred.

Local initiative is doing hundreds of jobs through-
out the country without waiting for government help.

Let us have your story.



When government has a major interest or control in
an industry, it is generally on a monopolistic basis and
labor and management must give up many of their rights.



A GOOD ARCHITECT

Today's Architect is pioneering in a profession
dedicated to better living. He is free from regulations
of Classic and Gothic, modes copies for hundreds of
years. He has come to a clear conclusion: for an archi-
tectural form to have lasting appeal it should make the
fullest and best natural use of its materials.

His work in designing homes, airports, terminals,
shopping centers, schools and similar types of modern
building reflects today's dynamic architecture as it
deals with the living, flow of traffic, and requirements
of a people on-the-go.

The Architect, through a job well done, every day
shows the graces of a well-designed, practical building.
And he is shouldering a full moral responsibility for
building new cities measured in progress.



ARCHITECT AND ETNGINEER



BUILDING WITH THE WEST . .



WOODWORK INSTITUTE
of CALIFORNIA



How Cooperation Within One
Industry Is Paying Dividends
To All Building Interests

In the late fall of 1950 a small group of millmen
were gathered around a luncheon table in San Fran-
cisco, earnestly discussing the overall picture of Cali-
fornia's milKvork industry. Statistics were carefully
gone over which not only reflected the tremendous
increase in all types of buildings in California during
the past ten years, but they
also indicated that this
growth would continue for.
at least, another ten years, ^k f\

maybe longer. The added
problems, duties and respon-
sibilities that all this had
placed upon the millwork in-
dustry is what concerned
these men most. Nothing
escaped their deliberations.
They remained in session
through the dinner hour and
way into the night. When
the meeting broke up, it was

agreed that the following facets of the picture stood
out, crystal clear:

(1) Inasmuch that furnishing the proper kind and
quality of millwork is an essential feature of a building,
the millwork industry faces a big opportunity and, at
the same time, a big challenge. (2) Wood in millwork
products has suffered an alarming loss in business to
substitute materials. (3) For lack of good standards of
workmanship and materials, plus unwise competition
among millmen, the entire industry had lost consider-
able goodwill. (4) Both the millwork industry and the
architectural profession have drifted farther apart,
over the year, in their perspective of their mutual
problems and interests. (5) A perturbing amount of
misunderstanding seemed to exist among many groups
in the building field, as to what constitutes millwork,
where it begins and where it ends. (6) The logical
solution to these industr>^-wide problems can best be




ROBERT HOGAN
President



EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of a series of articles on the
Vi'ooduork Institute of California, published to show the indi-
vidual cooperation developing within the construction industry
to assure complete advantage of newest techniques, materials,
and scientific know-how to the greatly expanding building pro-
grams throughout the West. Subsequent articles will deal with
specific problems, their solution, and newest developments of
the uooduork industry.



accomplished through cooperative effort on the part
of those who comprise the millwork industry-.

Consequently, it was agreed that a large, organiza-
tional meeting should be held as quickly as possible to
which the entire industry would be invited. Such a
meeting was held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco
January 19th, 1951, attended by some forty-five mill-
men, representing manufacturers, jobbers and cabinet
makers. The result was the creation of a state-wide,
non-profit corporation known as The Woodwork In-
stitute of California.

On this occasion, the firms present, voluntarily sub-
scribde $31,200.00 to underwrite the financial success
of the organization during its critical first years of
formation. Mr. Larue Woodson was elected as W.I.C.
first President, an office he served with much credit for
two years. Mr. Russell Bjorn was offered the task as
Manager and given the responsibility of "putting the
pieces together." Starting from scratch the member-
ship, as of January 1, 1955, has passed the 100 mark.
It is the only business mens association, of similar type
in California, that is statewide. The Board of Directors
consist of fifteen, with representation from San Diego
in the south and up through the coast and valley to
Sacramento. They meet quarterly, holding such meet-
ings in different parts of the state. Two general meet-
ings are held annually, one in the south and one in the
north. Annual Conventions are also divided between
the north and south. The 1955 Convention will be
January' 13-14, Palace Hotel in San Francisco, with
President Robert Hogan presiding. The Staff consists
of Manager-Director Russell Bjorn, Secretary Mary
Yonemoto and LesHe Harter,
Technical Consultant. The
latter spends his entire time
in the field contacting archi-
tects, builders, millmen and
public officials doing a two-
fold job; service and selling.
The aims and purposes of
W.I.C. as stated in the By-
laws and Articles of Incor-
poration, in a few words,
are, "'to promote the further
use of wood in millwork in
RUSSELL BJORN all types of building con-

Manager-Direetor struction." To carry out this

program the Directors established at the outset, as
policy, that all that W.I.C. does in its programming
and activities must be along constructive and positive
(See page J2)




JANUARY, 1955



NEWS and
COMMENT ON ART



M. H. deYOUNG
MEMORIAL MUSEUM

The M. H. dcYoung Memorial Museum, Golden
Gate Park, San Francisco, under the direction of
Walter Heil, will offer the following exhibitions and
special events for January:

Exhibits: Art in Science, original cover paintings for
Scientific American; Gouache Paintings, by H. R. H.
Prince Eugen of Sweden, 1865-1947; Fifty Prints by
California Artists; Contemporary Ethiopian Paintings;
and Thonet Furniture.

Events: Classes in Art Enjoyment for Adults will
include Modes of Representation (Conducted by
Charles Lindstrom) ; Seminars in the History of Art;
Painting Workshop; and for the Children, classes in
Picture Making, Art and Nature and the Art Club
arc scheduled.

The Museum is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. No
admission charge.



Applications should be made to Dean Allen S.
Weller, College of Fine and Applied Arts, Room
110, Architecture Building, University of Illinois,
Urbana, Illinois, not later than May 15, 1955.



CITY OF PARIS

The Rotcnda Gallery of the City of Paris, San
Francisco, under the direction of Beatrice Judd Ryan,
is preccnting an exhibition of Handwoven Textiles
together with French, English, Italian ahd Pacific
Coast Lithographs and Silk Screen Prints during the
month of February.

A special group of Watercolors by Alexandra
Bradshaw will be shown in the Little Gallery at the
same time.



KATE NEAL KINLEY
MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP

By authority of the Board of Trustees of the Uni-
versity of Illinois the Committee in charge has an-
nounced the twenty-fourth annual consideration of
candidates for the Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fel-
lowship.

The Fellowship, established in 1931 by the late
President-Emeritus David Kinley in memory of his
wife and in recognition of her influence in promoting
the Fine Arts, yields the sum of one thousand three
hundred dollars which is to be used by the recipient
toward defraying expenses of advanced study of the
Fine Arts in America and abroad.

The award is open to graduates of the College of
Fine and Applied Arts of the University of Illinois and
to graduates of similar institutions of equal educa-
tional standing whose principal or major studies have
been in one of the following: Music, Art or Archi-
tecture.



SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM
OF ART

The San Francisco Museum of Art, War Memorial
Building, Civic Center, under the direction of Dr.
Grace McCann Morley, has arranged a program of
special exhibitions and events for January, which
include the following:

Exhibits: 20th Anniversary Exhibitions, presenting
a large number of selections from the Museum and
its collections; Co'lections of Modern Art in the Bay
Area; and a continuation of the exhibition of Younger
European Painters.

Events; Concerts and Lecture Tours and Wednes-
day Evening Discussions on various subjects of art.
Museum activities include Adventures in Drawing
and Painting, Art Studio for the Layman, and Chil-
dren's Art Classes each Saturday morning.

Museum hours are Monday, 12-5; Tuesday through
Saturday, 12-10 p.m.; and Sunday's and Holiday's
1-5 p.m.



SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OBSERVES
ITS 20th ANNIVERSARY

A gala group of exhibitions will honor the 20th
Anniversary of the San Francisco Museum of Art.

Originally located in the Palace of Fine Arts, site
of the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915, the Mu-
seum moved into its present location in the War
Memorial Building in 1935, and gradually through the
past 20 years the Museum has evolved a program
v^'hich includes exhibiting and collecting contem-
porary art and serving as a center for the cultural
life of the community.



BRAYTON V/ILBUR ANNOUNCES
GIFTS FOR MUSEUM OF ART

Brayton Wilbur, President of the San Francisco
Museum of Art, announced a number of gifts of
works of art to the Museum in honor of its 20th an-
niversary.

The new acquisitions are being shown for the
first time, as are a number of other gifts presented
during the past year, in the Anniversary Exhibition
currently being seen at the Museum in the War
Memorial Building in San Francisco.



ARCHITECT AND ENGINEER




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BARRY EVANS PHOTO



FOUR MODERN

INTERIORS

designed by

Klaus Pfeffer



JANUARY, 195S




'v_.





FTERt
EFORE I




AN ILLUSION OF SPACE AND DEPTH WAS CREATED
IN THESE TWO BLANK WALLS BY SETTING RECTAN-
GLES OF MIRROR ABOVE PANELS OF REDWOOD

PLYWOOD IN BLACK
LACQUERED FRAMES,
THEREBY LEADING THE
EYE TOWARD LIMITLESS
DISTANCES FAR BE-
YOND THE CONFINES
OF THE ROOM.

BARRY EVANS PHOTOS

COURTESY OF
THE AMERICAN HOME



n



REMODELLED STUDY



FOR DR. DONALD A. MACFARLANE
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA



JANUARY.




iFTERt
BEFORE I



MACFARLANE STUDY LOOKING TOWARD
GARDEN COURT. STRING AND COPPER
CHAIRS CUSTOM MADE BY BON AND
VAZA MARTIN.




ALL CABINET WORK

BY
MERRILL BECKWITH




' v,.<L'..;c-^*^'c«?'^i?t;..i-*s



BEACH COTTAGE

FOR MR. AND MRS. HERBERT WILLIAMS
SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA

INTERIORS BY KLAUS PFEFFER AND ASSOCIATE PEARL BANK STEWARD
ALL CUSTOM MADE FURNITURE BY BON AND VAZA MARTIN




ERNEST BRAUN
PHOTOS




REMODELLED LIVING ROOM

FOR MR. AND MRS. ROBERT S. JOHNSON
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

INTERIORS BY KLAUS PFEFFER AND ASSOCIATE PEARL BANK STEWARD



ERNEST BRAUN PHOTOS

COURTESY OF
THE AMERICAN HOME



BEFORE




!

1

1


J.




1



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HIGH FIDELITY RADIO AND PHONOGRAPH INSTALLATION
PLACES RECORD PLAYER AND TUNER CONVENIENTLY
BESIDE SOFA AND LOUDSPEAKER ACROSS THE ROOM FOR
BEST SOUND.



JANUARY, 1955




ALL CUSTOM MADE LAMPS AND FURNITURE
BY BON AND MAZA MARTIN



ARCHITECT AND ENGINEER







VtEW OF DINING AREA

IN ROBERT JOHNSON HOME



ALL CABINET WORK

by

A. J. YERRICK



ALL FABRICS

from
EMILY THOMPSON



t AFTER
i BEFORE





VRRY EVANS PHOTO. COURTESY OF SUNSET



ElEMODELLED LIVING ROOM

OR DR. AND MRS. ROBERT D. BRIGHT
ERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

VTERIORS BY KLAUS PFEFFER AND ASSOCIATE PEARL BANK STEWARD

LAMPS MADE OF COMMON SEWER PIPE
SERVE AS DRAMATIC ACCENTS AT EACH
END OF THE LONG BUILT-IN SOFA UNIT.
THE TEA CHEST PAPER ON THEIR SHADES
IS REPEATED UNDER THE GLASS TOP OF
THE COFFEE TABLE.



ARCHITECT AND ENGINEER




ERNEST BRAUN PHOTO, COURTESY SUNSET



JANUARY, 1955




DESIGN is "Brilliant, Daring, and Original."



ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION AWARD

OLYMPIC GAMES 1956



SWIMMING POOL
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA




By JOHN LOUGHLIN

An Australian-wide contest to select the architects
for the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games pool has
brought to light a revolutionary winning design.

It was submitted among 72 entries by a group of
four young Melbourne architects and an engineer who
graduated together from the University of Melbourne
in 1949.

They are John Murphy and his wife, Phyllis, who
are in practice together; Peter Mclntyre and Kevin
Borland, also practicing together, and William Irwin,
who collaborated with the structural engineering.

WINNERS: Arthur W. Coles congratulates the winning
team: John Murphy (left), Peter Mclntyre, William Irwin
(collaborating engineer), K. Borland and Mrs. Phyllis Mur-
phy.



ARCHITECT AND ENGINEER



OLYMPIC GAMES — 1956
Swimming Pool
Sections




LONGIIUDINAL



Their reward is the architectural commission for the
pool.

Costing a maximum of $784,000, the pool will be
built on the Fawkner Park, near the comer of St.
Kilda Road and Toorak Road, about a mile from the
center of the city. It will seat just over 6,000.

The chosen design gains its unconventional appear-
ance from the fact that it consists of only two com-
ponents — the sloping tiers of seating on opposite sides
of the pool, and the roofing. It is like a conventional
structure with the walls and supports knocked away,
leaving the girders that carry the seating jutting out-
wards with no apparent support.



Ultra-modern style was not the aim of the archi-
tects. The final form, they e.vplained, was incidental,
resulting from close collaboration with the structural
engineer to meet the contest's requirements of econ-
omy and utilit)'.

The building w-ill be 60 ft. high, 340 ft. long, and
220 ft. wide, with a ground floor area of 68,908 sq.
ft. The seating area will be 32,852 sq. ft.

A regulation Olympic pool of 50 metres by 20

metres will have a false end to be removed after the

games to leave a pool 55 yards long for Australian

swimming distances. The separate diving pool will

(See page 35)



pun



1 -f -+- -1 I I It— I - I I I 1 -4 -i- -t - -{ I 1




GBOUND PLAN



OLYMPIC P




Fig. 1 — Aluminum Falsework Truss Being Towed Into Position.



ALUMINUM FALSEWORK

IS USED ON THE

Richimond-San Rafael Bridge

SAN PABLO BAY, CALIFORNIA



By FRANCIS J. MURPHY. C.E.'



A contract in the amount of approximately $25,-
000,000.00 for the construction of the superstructure
of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was recently
awarded to Judson Pacific Murphy-Kiewit, a Joint-
Venture consisting of the Judson Pacific Murphy
Corporation of Emeryville, California; Peter Kiewit
Sons' Company of Omaha, Nebraska; Stolte, Inc., of



'NOTE: Francis J. Murphy received his B.S. in Civil Engineer-
ing at the University of Santa Clara. He is an associate member
of the ASCE and project manager on the superstructure contract
of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, A registered engineer in
the State of California, Mr. Murphy has been employed by the
Judson Pacific-Murphy Corporation since its formation in 1945.



Oakland, California, and the Fred J. Early Company
of San Francisco.

This job is the largest bridge under construction
in the world today and, when completed, will be the
second longest over- water bridge in the world; the
longest being the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge,
and the third longest being the recently completed
Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

There are many new developments being used by
the contractors in the construction of this job. One
of the most noteworthy, and the one we shall dwell
upon in this article, is the use of structual aluminum
for falsework. It is believed that this is the first such



ARCHITECT AND ENGINEER



RICHMOND-SAN RAFAEL BRIDGE



use of aluminum in construction history.

The job is composed of thirty six 100-foot girder
spans, two cantilever spans, and thirty six 289-foot
truss spans. The aluminum falsework will be used for
the erection of twenty eight of the thirty six 289-foot
spans. The remaining eight 289-foot truss spans will
be floated into place in one piece because they are
so low the use of aluminum is not necessary.

The aluminum span as shown in Figure # 1 was
fabricated in Judson Pacific-Murphy Corporation's
plant in Emeryville and riveted and assembled by
joint venture personnel at their Richmond yard. It
was then raised by two conventional derrick barges
onto two Army surplus BK barges and floated out to
the jobsite. It was then raised into position between
towers as shown in figure #2 by using the two derrick



barges mentioned above. The aluminum is supported
by vertical wooden piling attached to the existing