Grossman House, All Aluminum, Studio City, California. (Photo taken 2001.)

Raphael Soriano, FAIA, (August 1, 1904–July 21, 1988) was an influential architect and lecturer who helped define a style of modern architecture that came to be known as "California modernism." Soriano pioneered the use of modular prefabricated steel and aluminum structures and units in residential construction. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (3060x2320, 4459 KB)Wolfgang Wagener, 2001 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (3060x2320, 4459 KB)Wolfgang Wagener, 2001 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Acronym used as a postnomial designating an individual who is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1904 (MCMIV) is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The old steel cable of a colliery winding tower Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... Aluminum is a soft and lightweight metal with a dull silvery appearance, due to a thin layer of oxidation that forms quickly when it is exposed to air. ...

Born in Rhodes to a Sephardic Jewish family, Soriano attended the College Saint-Jean-Baptiste there before emigrating to the United States in 1924. After settling with relatives in Los Angeles, Soriano enrolled in the University of Southern California's School of Architecture in 1929, from which he graduates in 1934. In 1930 Soriano became an American citizen and in 1931 he secured an internship at the practice of Richard Neutra, working alongside fellow intern Gregory Ain. This was followed by a brief internship with Rudolph Schindler in 1934, but Soriano quickly returned to his unpaid position at Neutra's office. Main entrance to the medieval city of Rhodes Rhodes, Greek Ρόδος (pron. ... In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal: ספרד, Standard Hebrew Səfárad, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄áraḏ / Səp̄āraḏ), or whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled from... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the largest city in California. ... The University of Southern California (also known as USC, SC, Southern California and Southern Cal), Californias oldest private research university, is located in the urban center of Los Angeles, California. ... -1... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Kaufman House, Palm Springs, California. ... Lovell Beach House, Los Angeles California Rudolf Michael Schindler (1887–1953) was an Austrian-American architect who worked in Los Angeles during the mid-20th century. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

With America in the midst of the Great Depression, upon graduation Soriano managed to find work with the County of Los Angeles on several WPA projects and with a local architect's office. By 1936 he had completed his first commission — the Lipetz house, which was included in the 1937 International Architectural Exhibition held in Paris. Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, a mother of seven children, age thirty-two, in Nipomo, California, March 1936. ... Map of California showing Los Angeles County. ... The Works Progress Administration (later Works Projects Administration, abbreviated WPA), was created on May 6, 1935 with the signing of Executive Order 7034. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

With U.S. residential and commercial construction largely curtailed by America's involvement in the World War II, Soriano took up lecturing at USC and contributing designs to various competitions and publications featuring proposals for post-war housing. Of these, Soriano received Third Prize in the Postwar Living Competition sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine in 1943 with his "Plywood House" prototype. With the end of the war Soriano found no trouble in securing commissions, and now it was his built houses receiving the awards, with his Katz house in Studio City picking up an award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Southern California Chapter Three in 1949. 1950 found Soriano completing a residential design for friend and renown architectural photographer Julius Shulman one of the few Soriano structures still standing today, and along with the 1964 Grossman House, the last that was occupied by the original commissioning party. Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII or World War Two), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... ... Studio City is a district in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California. ... The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is the professional organization for architects in the United States. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ...

Invited by John Entenza of Arts & Architecture magazine to participate in the Case Study Houses program, Soriano completed his entry in 1950. It marks a turning point for the program with its pioneering use of steel in residential construction, culminating in Pierre Koenig' s Case Study Houses #21 and #22. Soriano's Colby Apartments of 1951 were distinct not only for their modern design but also for their extensive use of steel, and were recognized, receiving the National American Institute of Architects Award for Design, the VII International Pan American Congress Award, and the AIA Southern California Chapter One Honor Award. The Case Study Houses were experiments in residental architecture sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day, including Richard Neutra, Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, to design and build inexpensive and efficient model homes for the residential housing boom caused by the end of... Pierre Koenig was architect of the Case Study Houses No. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is the professional organization for architects in the United States. ...

In 1953 Soriano relocated from Los Angeles to Tiburon, in Marin County, across the bay north of San Francisco. By 1955 Soriano designed the first mass-produced steel house, built by developer Joseph Eichler in Palo Alto. His work with Eichler would garner two awards from the Northern California Chapter of the AIA. 1953 (MCMLIII) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Nickname: City of Angels Motto: Official website: http://www. ... Tiburon is a town in Marin County, California. ... Official website: http://www. ... Nickname: The City by the Bay Motto: Official website: http://www. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Joseph Eichler was one of the merchant builders. ... Nickname: Motto: Official website: http://www. ...

Soriano was made a Fellow by the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) in 1961. In 1965 Soriano started a venture to design and build prefabricated aluminum houses called Soria Structures, Inc.; the structures were marketed as "All Aluminum Homes." The last designs of Soriano's to be realized were eleven All Aluminum Homes on the island of Maui, Hawaii, built in 1965. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is the professional organization for architects in the United States. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Maui is also the name of the mythological demigod of various Polynesian cultures, including that of ancient Hawai‘i; see Maui (mythology). ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ...

From 1970 to his death in 1988 Soriano focused on traveling the world as an architectural lecturer, writer and researcher. Soriano was recognized by the AIA with a Distinguished Achievement Award and by USC with an Distinguished Alumni Award, both in 1986. 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Of the 50 buildings of Soriano's built, only 12 remain standing, the others suffering poorly from southern California's wildfires, earthquakes, and demolition. Of those remaining, a number suffered from unsympathetic make-overs and additions. The several that remain intact and unmolested now benefit from municipal preservation codes. Southern California Downtown Los Angeles Skyline Southern California, sometimes abbreviated SoCal or colloquially, the Southland, is an informal name for the megalopolis and nearby desert that occupies the southern-most quarter of the state of California. ...

References

• Wagener, Wolfgang. Raphael Soriano. New York, London: Phaidon Press, 2002. ISBN 0714840637

External links

• http://www.archinform.net