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Male, US, born 1892-09-26, died 1946-11-20
Associated with the firms network
Cantin, A.A., and Miller and Pflueger, Associated Architects; Meyer, Peugh, Pflueger and Rist, Architects; Miller and Pflueger, Architects; Miller, James Rupert, Architect; Pflueger Architects; Pflueger, Milton T., Architect; Pflueger, Timothy L. Architect
Résumé
Pflueger, along with James R. Miller, designed some of the most notable office buildings in San Francisco of the 1920s, such as 450 Sutter Street (San Francisco, 1927) and the Executive Offices of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company (San Francisco, 1927). During the short span of his independent practice, 1939-1946, Pflueger designed the "Top of the Mark" Lounge at the top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel (San Francisco, c. 1940), the Union Square Parking Garage (San Francisco, 1942), and I. Magnin stores throughout California. The stark form, white marble cladding, and striking fenestration of his Union Square store in San Francisco were especially notable.
Office Boy/Draftsman, Miller and De Colmesnil, Architects, San Francisco, CA, 1907-1923; Pflueger was retained at age 15 as a draftsman, mentored by James R. Miller; the year following the Earthquake and Fire of 1906, the Miller-De Colmesnil Office, like most in the city, must have been inundated with work; Pflueger worked on the Our Lady of the Wayside Church, Portola Valley, CA (1912), his first solo design project, while the rest of the Miller and De Colmesnil Office was focused on plans for the San Francisco City Hall competition project.
Partner, Miller and Pflueger, Architects, San Francisco, CA, 1923-1937.
Principal, Timothy Pflueger, Architect, San Francisco, CA, 1937-1946.
Professional Activities
Member, American Institute of Architects (AIA); Member, Architectural League of New York.
Member, Board of Directors, San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco, CA, 1930-1946; President, San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco, CA, 1932-1937.
Pflueger filed a patent application for a new form of ceiling and wall construction with the US Patent Office on 12/28/1931. It was granted on 06/12/1934. The patent application stated: "This invention relates to construction of ceilings and walls of rooms and the object of the invention is to provide a special construction whereby illuminated effects are secured, also whereby elaborate designs may be carried out and the illuminated effects may be of varied or changing colors. The invention is principally adapted for the ceilings of theaters, large halls and rooms for public gatherings, where unusual lighting and color effects are desired, and it has also been applied with succedd to the side walls of large public rooms." (See United States Patent Office, no. 1,962,648, "Ceiling and Wall Contruction, Timothy L. Pflueger, San Francisco, Calif. Application December 28, 1931, Serial No. 583,466," accessed 07/07/2016.)
In 1937, Pflueger was on the Consulting Board of Editors for Architect and Engineer magazine.
Vice-Chairman, Department of Fine Arts, Golden Gate International Exhibition, San Francisco, CA, 1939-1940. According to the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Bancroft Library, Pflueger's involvement with the GGIE began in 1935: "Pflueger served on the Design Committee for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE). The fair was to celebrate the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, for which Pflueger was one of the consulting designers to the engineers. The fair was part of a New Deal project and would coincide with the New York City World’s Fair. He was selected in June 1935 as one of six architects to design several core buildings, including the Federal Building, the California State Building and the Court of Pacifica."
Archives
The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), bought the Timothy Pflueger Papers (BANC MSS.2012/182) in 2012. The collection was extensive, consisting of 109 Linear Feet, in the form of 32 cartons, 3 boxes, 149 tubes, 47 oversize folders.
The Butterfield and Butterfield auction house in San Francisco sold a number of original drawings, models, photos and paintings by Timothy Pflueger as part of the John M. Pflueger Collection, December 5, 1989. This was apparently Part I of a planned two-part auction. It is not clear if a second auction was held. (See Jon King, Elisabeth Ozbburn, Butterfield & Butterfield Staff, The John Pflueger Collection of Architectural Renderings, Maquettes, Photographs and Paintings, [San Francisco: Butterfield and Butterfield, 1989], [part of the Butterfield and Butterfield Bulletin series, vol. 57], in 2 volumes.)
High School
Pflueger never graduated from high school, his education ending with 8th grade in 1906; he apprenticed with the firm of Miller and De Colmesnil, Architects, and, with the encouragement of James Rupert Miller, attended night classes at the San Francisco Architectural Club; this training imparted to him the main aspects of the Beaux-Arts architectural method.
Relocation
He lived at 1015 Guerrero Street in San Francisco, with his parents and five brothers according to the US Census of 1910.
Pflueger died of a heart attack outside of San Francisco's Olympic Club at age 54 on 11/20/1946.
Parents
Timothy Pflueger's father was August Pflueger (b. 02/1859 in Germany), a tailor, who arrived from Germany c. 1886. In 1910, August had his own tailor's shop. Pflueger's mother was Attilee Quandt (B. 03/1864 in Germany); she had emigrated from Germany in 1882. Timothy had a five brothers: Paul A. (b. 01/1891 in CA), Hugo A.(b. CA 01/1895 or 06/1895 in San Francisco), William (b. 02/1898 in CA), Otto H. (b. c. 1902 in San Francisco) and Milton T. Pflueger (b. 10/12/1907 in orn in San Francisco). One of his siblings had died by 1900. Milton would go on to become a significant architect in the Bay Area.
Spouse
Pflueger never married.
Biographical Notes
Pflueger's birthdate was given variously as 1898 and 1892 in the Los Angeles Public Library's California Index.
Pflueger traveled to Paris in 1938.
Member, Bohemian Club, San Francisco, CA.
Member, Family Club, San Francisco, CA.
Member, Olympic Club, San Francisco, CA.
PCAD id: 89
