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.

Ray Kappe was born in Minneapolis, MN, where he lived until he was 13. In 1940, his family moved to Los Angeles, CA.

His father changed the family name from Kapelowitz to Kappe.

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

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

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