Résumé

Student draftsman, Anshen and Allen Architects, San Francisco, CA, c. 1951. Kappe worked there while the firm worked with the modern tract house builder, Joseph Eichler.

Draftsman, Carl Maston, Architect, Los Angeles, CA, 1952-1954.

Principal, Raymond Kappe, Architect, Los Angeles, CA, 1954-1968.

Partner, Kahn, Kappe, Lotery Architects/Planners, Los Angeles, CA, 1968-1973.

Partner, Kahn, Kappe, Lotery, Boccato Architects/Planners, Los Angeles, CA, 1973-1978.

Partner, Kappe, Lotery, Boccato Architects/Planners, Los Angeles, CA, 1978-1981.

Principal, Kappe Architects/Planners, Los Angeles, CA.

Teaching

Professor of Architecture, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, -1968.

Professor and Founding Chair, California Polytechnic University, Pomona, Department of Architecture, Pomona, CA, 1968-1972.

Professor and Member of the Board of Directors, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Los Angeles, CA, 1972- . Kappe assisted in the foundation of the SCI-Arc in 1972, the avant-garde Los Angeles architecture school. Kappe co-founded the school along with his wife Shelley Kappe, Thom Mayne, James Stafford, Glen Small, Ahde Lahti, and William Simonian.

Professional Activities

Member, American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Jury Member, American Institute of Architects, Southern California Chapter, 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Gateway Arch Competition, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1982. Other members of the jury included architect Frank O. Gehry, (born 02/28/1929 in Toronto, ON), John Lautner (1911-1994), and sculptor Clare Falkenstein (1908-1997). (See "Architects, Sculptor Named to Arch Jury," Los Angeles Times, 06/19/1983, part VIII, p. 9.) Sculptor Robert Graham (1938-2008) unvelied his design for the archway with torsos of male and female athletes on 06/01/1984.

Kappe participated in a panel discussion investigating "the characteristics of architecture that give value to built environment" at the 1985 AIA Annual Convention in San Francisco, CA, 06/8-12/1985.

Professional Awards

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA).

Recipient, AIA, Topaz Medallion.

Recipient, AIA, Lifetime Achievement in Education Award.

Recipient, AIA California Council (AIACC), Bernard Maybeck Award for Design Excellence.

Recipient, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Neutra Medal for Professional Excellence, 1999.

Archives

The papers, drawings and models produced by the architect have been housed at the Getty Research Institute (GRI), in its Ray Kappe Papers, 1954-2007, Collection.

High School/College

Graduate, Emerson Junior High School, Westwood, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1940.

Graduate, University High School, Los Angeles, CA.

Coursework, University of California, Los Angeles, Westwood, Los Angeles, CA, one semester, 1945.

Topological surveying instructor, United States Army, Corps of Engineers, 1945-1946.

B.Arch., University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, CA, c. 1951. Kappe attended the UCB while William W. Wurster (1895-1973) served as Dean of the Department of Architecture.

Relocation

Ray Kappe, the only child of Phineas and Betty Kapelowitz, was born in Minneapolis, MN, where he lived until he was 13. In 1930, the family dwelled in an apartment building at 3440 Dupont Avenue South in Minneapolis. Phineas and his wife paid $67.50 a month in rent. The building housed people of various ethnicities, but a number were Eastern European, Jewish immigrants, like Kappe's parents. His father worked as a "hair dresser" according to the 1930 US Census, and Betty did not work outside the home. At some point between 1930 and 1940, the family saved enough money to start its own business in Downtown Minneapolis.

His parents owned and operated Kappes Beauty Salon (at 825 Nicollet Avenue, Room #304) in the Medical Arts Building, as per the 1940 US Census. Betty served as the bookeeper, Phineas, the manager. (See Minneapolis, Minnesota, City Directory, 1940, p. 731.) On 04/02/1940, the Kappes remained living at 3440 Dupont Avenue South. The family paid $45 per month in rent (down from $67.50), on par with others in the building. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota; Roll: m-t0627-01985; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 89-244, accessed 01/10/2025.)

In later 1940, his family moved to Los Angeles, CA. The Kappes resided at 10925 Wellworth Avenue on 08/04/1945. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 935, accessed 01/10/2025.)

Parents

Raymond's paternal grandmother, Rebecca Mae Bernstein Kapelovitz (born 02/16/1872 in Romania-d. 04/22/1944 in Dickinson, ND) divorced her husband and moved herself and her four sons from Focșani, Romania, to the US in 04/1910, sailing on the Hamburg-Amerika Linie's steamship, the Amerika. Focșani was in Vrancea County in east-central Romania. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Staatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 221; Page: 819; Microfilm No.: K_1813, accessed 01/10/2025.) Rebecca and her sons settled by 1920 in Dickinson, ND. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Dickinson, Stark, North Dakota; Roll: T625_1339; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 201, accessed 01/10/2025.)

Ray's father, Pincus Kapelovitz (born 03/24/1904 in Focșani, Romania-d. 07/241956 in Los Angeles County, CA), was likely eager to assimilate into the US. He altered his first name from "Pincus" to "Phineas" and changed the family surname from "Kapelovitz" (sometimes spelled "Kapelowitz") to "Kappe" sometime during the 1930s. The family was known as Kapelovitz in the 1930 US Census, but had become Kappe by that of 1940. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 935, accessed 01/10/2025.)

His mother was Betty Gold (born 01/18/1905 in Romania-d. 09/1998 in CA). The 1940 US Census indicated that his father had completed high school, while his mother's education ended at grade 8. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota; Roll: m-t0627-01985; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 89-244, accessed 01/10/2025.)

His parents both emigrated from Romania and were naturalized in Ramsey County, MN.

Ray Kappe married Rochelle (Shelly) Diamond, a design student whom he had met at UCLA, in 1950.

Biographical Notes

His World War II draft registration card of 08/04/1945 indicated that Kappe was Caucasian with a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. It listed his height as being 5-feet, 10-and-½-inches tall and his weight being 155 pounds. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 935, accessed 01/10/2025.)

• Minneapolis, MN (Architect's Birth)
  Minneapolis, MN

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