Résumé

Los Angeles Times architectural critic Christopher Hawthorne summarized his career in the architect's obituary: "With only a handful of completed projects to his credit, Abraham, based for most of his career in New York, was well known in the profession as a theorist and, perhaps most of all, a teacher who struck his students by turns as deeply passionate, gruff and quixotic. During a Friday afternoon gathering at SCI-Arc’s Arts District campus, Abraham was remembered chiefly for his refusal to bend his designs to meet client demands, architectural fashion or popular taste. “Raimund was pure,” architect and former SCI-Arc Director Michael Rotondi said at the event." (See Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times.com, "Raimund Abraham dies at 76; Austrian-born architect, theorist and teacher," published 03/06/2010, accessed 08/26/2021.)

Principal, Raimund Abraham, Architect, Vienna, Austria, 1959-1964.

Teaching

Periodic instructor, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), 2003-2010.

College

Dipl., Technische Universität Graz (TU Graz), Graz, Austria, 1952-1958.

Relocation

Raimund Abraham was born in Linz, Austria, in 1933. Although his early years were focused in Central Europe, his travel and career became global in nature by the late 1950s. Abraham associated with many leading artists and architects in Central Europe, becoming a key member of the profession's avant-garde during the 1950s. He often collaborated with different architects, particularly for competition entries.

By 1964, Abraham emigrated to the US, where he became engaged as an architectural teacher. He taught at at least eight American universities during the following decades, including for extended periods at Cooper Union and Pratt Institute in New York, NY. He also took on teaching assignments in Europe at the Architectural Association, London, and other schools.

Abraham later designed and built a residence for himself at Mazunte, Mexico. He died in an accident in Los Angeles, CA, in 2010. An article in the Los Angeles Times said of his death: "[Abraham] ...was killed early Thursday when the car he was driving collided in downtown Los Angeles with a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus. He was 76. The accident, at 5th and Main streets, came just hours after Abraham delivered a lecture Wednesday evening at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, where he had taught periodically since 2003." (See Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times.com, "Raimund Abraham dies at 76; Austrian-born architect, theorist and teacher," published 03/06/2010, accessed 08/26/2021.)

Spouse

He had a daughter, Una Abraham.