Koenig, Pierre

▪ 2005

      American architect (b. Oct. 17, 1925, San Francisco, Calif.—d. April 4, 2004, Los Angeles, Calif.), advanced the Modernist school of architecture in southern California. His low-cost steel-and-glass dwellings were designed to bring the efficiency of the Modernist aesthetic to middle-class suburbia. His Case Study House Number 22, built in 1960 in the Hollywood Hills overlooking downtown Los Angeles, became one of the most photographed private residences in the world. While he received ample critical acclaim, the environmentally friendly designs never found widespread acceptance with the middle-class audience that Koenig sought. He spent 40 years at the University of Southern California, initially as a design instructor and later as the coordinator of the school's Natural Forces Laboratory.

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