Overview of the Collection |
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| Creator: | Seligmann, Werner. |
| Title: | Werner Seligmann Papers |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1948-1998 |
| Bulk Dates: | 1955-1998 |
| Quantity: | 95 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | Drawings (plans, elevations, perspectives), photographs, slides of the American |
| Language: | Majority in English, some in German and Italian. |
| Repository: |
Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 http://scrc.syr.edu |
Werner Seligmann (1930-1998) was a German-American architect, urban designer, and educator.
Werner Seligmann was born in Osnabrück, Germany in 1930. Surviving the Holocaust, he emigrated to the United States in 1949 and was naturalized in 1955. He married the former Jean Liberman of Cortland, New York in 1954 and had two children, Sabina and Raphael. In 1961 he founded Werner Seligmann and Associates, Architects and Urban Designers (WSA). He died in 1998.
Seligmann received a B.Arch. from Cornell University in 1955. He spent the next two years as an instructor at the University of Texas at Austin as one of the "Texas Rangers," a group of architects that also included John Hejduk, Lee Hodgden, Bernhard Hoesli, Colin Rowe, John Shaw, Robert Slutzky, and others. He completed his graduate study at the Technische Hochsschule in Braunschweig, Germany and then taught at E.T.H. (Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule) in Zürich, Cornell University, and Harvard University.
He served Syracuse University first as the Dean of the School of Architecture, 1976-1990, then as Distinguished Professor of Architecture until his death. In addition, he held several other appointments including Thomas Jefferson Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. He was a juror, guest lecturer and visiting critic at several institutions and received numerous awards throughout his career for his work. In 1998 he was awarded the Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier, Seligmann was known for his synagogues, public buildings, housing, and urban design work in the central New York region. His major built works include: Beth David Synagogue, Binghamton, NY; Science Building II, State University of New York, Cortland; Temple Brith Sholom, Cortland, NY; Ithaca Scattered Site Housing - Elm Street (also known as West Village) and Maple Avenue (also known as Maple Hill Apartments), Ithaca, NY; Willard State Hospital Administration Building, Willard, NY; Olean Central Fire Station, Olean, NY; Ithaca Commons Center (also known as Center Ithaca), Ithaca, NY.
Note: The inventory below contains only a listing of the slides. The remainder of the finding aid has not yet been converted to electronic format.
The Werner Seligmann Papers span the years 1948-1998 (1955-1998 bulk) and are arranged in two series: 1) Projects and 2) Writings and Biographical Material. The collection comprises drawings, presentation boards, slides, models, photographic materials, specifications, competition programs, newspaper clippings, articles, reports, studies, monographs, and scrapbooks.
There is very little material regarding the business or financial aspects of Werner Seligmann and Associates, Architects and Urban Designers (WSA) or Seligmann's personal or faculty life. No employee or job lists were found. The bulk of material is project related and represents all phases of the architectural process, in particular the design development and construction phases. Documented are Seligmann's built and unbuilt projects and the competitions he participated in under WSA or with colleagues and students.
Seligmann-assigned project names, tags, and job numbers were often used inconsistently. Project names created during the processing of these papers for those projects with no discernable names are noted with an asterisk. Completion dates for built works or competition dates are assigned if determined. Span dates note the earliest and latest dates found in the materials.
Seligmann's work from the mid 1950s into the 1960s includes private residences and businesses, a few competitions, and one major built religious work, Beth David Synagogue in Binghamton, New York. The papers also include a few drawings from his 1955 thesis work at Cornell University, a proposed hotel for Cortland, New York.
Most of the material dates from the late 1960s through early 1970s, highlighting the public and urban design work of WSA. Major clients include the Binghamton Urban Development Authority (BURA), the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC), the New York State University Construction Fund, and the New York State Health and Mental Hygiene Facilities Improvement Corporation. Major built projects completed during this period include Temple Brith Sholom, in Cortland, Ithaca Scattered Site Housing (Elm Street and Maple Avenue), the Science Building II (SUNY Cortland), and Willard State Hospital in Willard, New York. He also worked on several small residential projects, most notably a residence for astronomer Carl Sagan, which was not built.
The material from the mid 1970s to 1998 centers on residential and business projects and work for the municipalities of Olean and Ithaca, New York. Major works built during this period include the Olean Central Fire Station, the North Barry Street Community Building, also located in Olean, and the Ithaca Commons Center. In the 1980s and 1990s he entered several national and international competitions.
The strength of this collection lies in the many original sketches on trace for competitions such as the Arizona Historical Society and Museum, the Cardiff Bay Opera House, the Felix Nussbaum House, the National Museum of Korea, Roosevelt Island, and the Topography of Terror. Original sketches also exist for a few private residences and major projects such as Ithaca Commons Center, Olean Central Fire Station, and Temple Brith Sholom.
Projects (1948-1998; bulk 1955-1998) includes drawings, presentation boards, photographic materials, specifications, competition programs, newspaper clippings, articles, reports, studies, correspondence, slides, and models. Some of the material is in German or Italian and is noted in the inventories. Drawings may be duplicated in a variety of formats throughout the collection.
Within this series are five subseries. Project materials (span dates: 1954-1998) includes professional photographs, snapshots, negatives, positives, or photocopies of the site or drawings. May also include sketches, small presentation boards, specifications, competition programs, newspaper clippings, articles, reports, studies, correspondence, or other miscellaneous items. Note: Boxes are numbered 1-95, but only 82 physical boxes exist due to "ABC" boxes and "see" references in the box container list.
Drawings (span dates: 1948-1993) consists of approximately 6,200 plans, elevations, sections, perspectives, axonometrics, maps, studies, sketches, preliminary, presentation, working, mechanical, electrical, structural, landscaping, and as-built drawings.
Presentation boards (span dates: 1955-1993) vary in size up to three by nine feet and comprise photographs, site maps, descriptive text, and drawings.
Approximately 4,400 Slides (span dates: 1955-1987) depict plans, elevations, sections, perspectives, referential images, earlier existing structures, interiors and exterior views and details, analytical or explanatory drawings, models, construction, and some text.
Models (not dated) exist for Beth David Synagogue, Congregation Beth Sholom Addition, East Syracuse Library, Felix Nussbaum House Competition, Rosefsky Summer House 4a,b, Temple Brith Sholom and the Willard State Hospital Rehabilitation Center.
Writings and biographical material (span dates: 1966-1998) includes published and unpublished magazine articles and newspaper clippings by or about Seligmann and his work, lists of competitions and exhibitions, awards and honors, page layouts for proposed book, and a videotape of the American Institute of Architects Topaz Award Introduction and text of Seligmann's acceptance speech. The five monographs on architecture are located in the Department of Special Collections. Arranged by date or project.
Project materials are arranged by project. Drawings, housed in tubes 1-177, are arranged by project. Presentation boards 1-89 are arranged by project. Slides are arranged alphabetically by job name.
There are no access restrictions on this material.
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Published monographs on Seligmann have been transferred to Rare Books for cataloging. Please refer to SUMMIT, our main catalog to locate these items.
Special Collections Research Center has more than thirty collections relating to architecture, including the papers of Marcel Breuer, Pietro Belluschi, William Lescaze, and Richard Neutra. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Werner Seligmann Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Library
Gift of Jean L. Seligmann,
Created by: DO
Date: Dec 2002
Revision history:
| Slides | |||||||||||
| Box S-1 | A - Broome | ||||||||||
| A.V. Zogg Auction Pavilion (McGraw, NY) Arizona Historical Society Bailey residence (Cortland, NY) Bancroft residence remodeling (Cortland, NY) Beth David Synagogue (Binghamton, NY) Binghamton City Hall (Binghamton, NY) Binghamton Court St. area study (Binghamton, NY) Binghamton Court St. bridge railing (Binghamton, NY) Bradley residence (Corning, NY) Brewer-Titchener Corporation (Cortland, NY) Broome County Cultural Center competition (Binghamton, NY) |
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| Box S-2 | Capri - Ithaca | ||||||||||
| Capri Theater impact study (Binghamton, NY) Cardiff Bay Opera House (Cardiff, Wales) Centre Culturel du Congo Belge competition (Belgian Congo) Chenango River promenade (Binghamton, NY) Congregation Beth Shalom addition (Rochester, NY) Congregation Beth Shalom Chevras Shas (Dewitt, NY) Cortland County Historical Society Library addition (Cortland, NY) Cortland County fire station restoriation (Cortland, NY) Cortland County bowling center (Cortland, NY) Cultural Arts Pavilion project design competition (Newport New, VA) Cultural Center competition (Singen, Germany) Dates Chevrolet (Groton, NY) East Syracuse Library (East Syracuse, NY) Ellis Field redevelopment (East Syracuse, NY) Enrico Fermi Memorial Pavilion competition (Chicago, IL) Felix Nusbaum house competition (Osnabruck, Germany) First Congregational Church remodel (Cortland, NY) Franklin School Pre-K renovation (Binghamton, NY) Ft. Lauderdale riverfront design competition (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Heritage Park (Elmira, NY) Higgins summer residence (Skaneateles, NY) Huntington Camp dormitory (Raquette Lake, NY) Interfaith Chapel (Cortland, NY) Ithaca Commons Center (Ithaca, NY) |
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| Box S-3 | Ithaca - Olean | ||||||||||
| Ithaca scattered site housing, Elm St. (Ithaca, NY) Ithaca scattered site housing, Maple Ave. (Ithaca, NY) Lachman residence (Binghamton, NY) Lake George Village waterfront (Lake George, NY) Lake short competition Marlborough, Mass. elderly housing competition Martin's Way competition, Hamilton College (Clinton, NY) Melzer residence (Fayetteville, NY) Memorial Bridge (Binghamton, NY) Menands housing (Menands, NY) Miami University Charette (Oxford, OH) Miller summer residence (Skaneateles, NY) Monder[?] project (Binghamton, NY) Monroeville Area Civic Center (Monroeville, NY) Nordweststadt competition (Frankfurt, Germany) North Barry St. Community Building (Olean, NY) Old Port Harbor (Ithaca, NY) Olean Central Fire Station (Olean, NY) |
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| Box S-4 | Olean - Topography | ||||||||||
| Olean Central Fire Station (Olean, NY) Olean elderly housing (Olean, NY) Opera de la Bastille competition (Paris, France) Pfortzheim competition (Pfortzheim, Germany) Potter Punt Company addition (Cortland, NY) Prinz-Albert-Palais competition (Berlin, Germany) Ripley Motors (Ithaca, NY) Rolt Row housing (Ithaca, NY) Rosefsky summer house (Silver Lake, PA) Sagan residence (Ithaca, NY) Sangsar housing (Sangsar, Iran) Scherz residence (Homer, NY) Science Building II (Cortland, NY) Seligmann office and residence remodel (Cortland, NY) Stigum house (Cortland, NY) Syracuse University campus Charette (Syracuse, NY) Syracuse University residential dorm (Syracuse, NY) Temple Brith Shalom (Cortland, NY) Tokyo International Forum (Tokyo, Japan) Topography of Terror (Berlin, Germany) |
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| Box S-5 | Topography - XVII Triennale | ||||||||||
| Topography of Terror (Berlin, Germany) Utica elderly housing competition (Utica, NY) Utica urban design study (Utica, NY) Urban renewal areas (BURA) (Binghamton, NY) (see also Binghamton Urban Renewal Areas, above) Washington St. (Binghamton, NY) Wheaton Triangle competition (Silver Springs, MD) Willard State Hospital administration building (Willard, NY) Woodburn Court proposal (Binghamton, NY) XVII Triennale di Milano Exhibit (Bologna, Italy) |
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