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Male, US, born 1911-12-29, died 1999-11-04
Associated with the firms network
Franklin and Kump and Associates; Franklin, Kump and Falk, Architects; Kump and Falk, Architect and Engineer; Kump, Ernest J., Associates, Architects; Kump, Ernest J., Sr., Architect; Saffell, James M., Architect
Résumé
Draftsman, Ernest J. Kump, Sr., Architect, 1933-1934.
Designer, Charles H. Franklin, Fresno, CA, 1934-1935.
Partner, Franklin and Kump, Architects, Fresno, CA, and Bakersfield, CA, 1935-1942.
Major, US Army Corps of Engineers, 1942-1945;
Partner, Franklin, Kump and Falk, Architects, San Francisco, CA, c. 1945-c. 1950.
Partner, Kump and Falk, Architects, 1950- .
Partner, Ernest Kump Associates, Palo Alto, CA, and New York, NY, 1960- . In the American Architects Directory, Second Edition, 1962, George S. Koyl, ed., (New York, NY: R.R. Bowker Company, 1962), p. 397, Kump did not mention his partnership with Charles H. Franklin after World War II, nor did he indicate his partnership with Mark Falk after World War II. In this volume he indicated his work history as follows: "Proj. Archt. w. Ernest J. Kump I, 33-34. & w. Chas. H. Franklin, 34-35. Prev. Firms: Kranklin [sic] & Kump, 35-42; Ernest J. Kump Co, 42-49; Ernest J. Kump, 50-55; Off. of Ernest J. Kump, 55-60. Present firm: Kump Assocs, org. 60")
Teaching
Kump lectured on school architecture at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1948, at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1949-1955, and at Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 1955.
Professor of Architecture and Chairman of Advanced Research, Columbia University School of Architecture, New York, NY;
Professional Activities
Member, American Institute of Architects, Northern California Chapter, 1941- .
Member, State Association of California Architects, 1945.
Member, U.S. Office of Education, Advisory Council on School Building Problems, Washington, DC.
Consultant, British Planning Mission to North America on School Building, 1945.
Chair, American Institute of Architects Committee on School Buildings, 1948-1949.
Kump served as a judge for the American Institute of Steel Construction's 1949 contest for the most beautiful bridge in the US. On this panel, he served with Ralph Walker, then AIA-President, New York, NY; Cyrus Silling, Charleston, WV; Warren Raeder, Colorado Springs, CO; and Nathaniel Owings, New York, NY.
Kump was a panelist on the very significant "Planning Man's Physical Environment" a three-day symposium held at Princeton University in 1947 as part of the school's bicenntenial celebration; the panel included some of the best-known architects and planners of the day including Alvar Aalto, Frederick J. Adams, Sigfried Giedion, Walter Gropius, Richard Neutra, Carlos Contreras, Mies Van der Rohe, and William W.Wurster.
Kump was an American Institute of Architects Delegate to the International Congress of Architects, 1951-1955.
Member, City of Palo Alto, School Planning Committee, 1949-1955.
Member, Burdell Report Commisssion, Survey on Architectural Practice and Education, 1950-1954.
Member, AIA Committee on School Building, Union Internationale des Architectes, 1951-1954.
Kump was featured in a 1956 recording called “Conversations Regarding the Future of Architecture,” put out by the Reynolds Metals Company. Other architects speaking on this LP included Gordon Bunshaft (1909-1990), Eero Saarinen (1910-1961), Philip Johnson (1906-2005), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), Walter Gropius (1883-1969) and Richard Joseph Neutra (1892-1970). The narrator was John Peter (1917-1998).
Kump served on a competition committee judging entries for the design of City of Los Gatos's Civic Center in 02-03/1963, along with Los Gatos Vice-mayor Henry Crall, planner Nestor Barrett, architect Charles W. Moore (1925-1993) and Gerald McCue (born 1928).
Kump obtained several patents for his structural systems and building mechanisms.
Professional Awards
Kump and engineer, Mark Falk, were together awarded the U.S. Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Emblem for designing and supervising the construction of Navy war-time construction worth $35 million, 1945;
Recipient, Progressive Architecture magazine, Best Design Award for the White Oaks Elementary School, San Carlos, CA, 1949.
Recipient, American Institute of Architects, Award of Merit, San Jose High School, San Jose, CA, 1954.
Recipeint, AIA Honor Award in the Schools K-12 category for the North Hillsborough Elementary School, Hillsborough, CA, 1955.
Recipient, American Lumber Industry, Award for Design, 1962. Kump was the first recipient of this prize for his 39 buildings on the Foothill College Campus, Los Altos, CA. The award was bestowed at the National Lumber Manufacturers Association at its annual meeting in Miami, FL.
Recipient, Carnegie Foundation Grant sometime between 1946-1955.
Recipient, honorary membership as a Lifetime Fellow, Royal Society of Arts, London, UK;
Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA) in 1956 for Design.
Archives
Kump's archives went to the University of California, Berkeley. An earlier record here indicated that they had been accessioned by the California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, which was incorrect. (Thank you to Kevin Enns-Rempel, Archivist, Fresno Pacific University, for making this correction. Alteration made 09/18/2008.) The papers were originally donated to Stanford University, but were not retained by its library system.
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1932; M.Arch., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1937, Kump studied with Walter Gropius. (In the American Architects Directory, Kump's Harvard graduation date was given as 1933; see Second Edition, 1962, George S. Koyl, ed., [New York, NY: R.R. Bowker Company, 1962], p. 397.) Still another source, "Perspectives," an article written by architect,John Lyon Reid, in 1945, indicated that Kump graduated from Harvard in 1934; (See John Lyon Reid, "Perpsectives: He Sees Farther Through a Sieve than Most: Ernest Joseph Kump," Pencil Points, XXVI:4, 04/1945, p. 81)
Parents
His father was the architect, Ernest Kump, Sr., who left his wife, Mary P. Kump, and son--then in Bakersfield, CA--and moved to Fresno, CA, in 1914. Ernest Kump, Sr., remained estranged from his family for most of his life; Kumps Sr. and Jr. worked together briefly in 1933-1934, although the elder Kump seems to have fired his son relatively quickly. Mary Petsche Kump (06/10/1889-05/21/1984), born outside the U.S., died in San Mateo County, CA, at the age of 94; Ernest Kump, Jr., had a brother, Peter Kump, four years younger, who became an architect in 1946, working in Menlo Park, CA, for most of his career. Peter Kump operated his own firm at 1075 Curtis Street in Menlo Park, CA, beginning in 1950, but also participated in the firm of Ernest Kump and Associates, formed in 1960.
Spouse
Ernest Kump, Jr., married Josephine Clark Miller in 1934.
Children
In 1945, he had two children, a daughter, Romanda (known as "Mondi"), and, son, Peter C. Kump. Peter C. Kump became a chef living in New York, NY. (Thank you to Mary Kump Byrnes who clarified family relationships in an email to the author, 05/06/2011.)
Biographical Notes
Kump was very sociable, many finding him a brilliant conversationalist. He had a gift for organization and an ability to lead that he exhibited in college and his working life.
PCAD id: 378
