2024-11-14T11:31:28-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150022901/gunnar-birkerts-founder-of-gunnar-birkerts-and-associates-has-died Anastasia Tokmakova 2017-08-15T19:23:00-04:00 >2021-10-12T01:47:32-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/df/dfnx15amqn7bjxst.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><figure><p>On Tuesday Gunnar Birkerts, Detroit-based Latvian-American architect passed away at&nbsp;the age of 92. Born in 1925, in Riga, Birkerts was a graduate of the University of Stuttgart in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1949. He began his architectural career with <a href="http://archinect.com/news/tag/65818/perkins-will" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Perkins+Will</a> before joining <a href="http://archinect.com/news/tag/51409/eero-saarinen" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eero Saarinen</a> Bloomfield Hills, office. Birkerts later worked for <a href="http://archinect.com/firms/cover/15409182/minoru-yamasaki-associates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Minoru Yamasaki</a> before opening his own practice, Gunnar Birkerts and Associates, in the 1960s.&nbsp;<br></p></figure><p>Some of his most notable projects include the Kansas City Museum of Contemporary Art, the Calvary Baptist Church of Detroit, The Corning Glass Museum, Lincoln Elementary School in&nbsp;Columbus, IN; and The Latvian National Library.&nbsp;</p> <figure><p><a href="http://cdn.archinect.net/uploads/bf/bfhfzziyay1do6fd.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/1028x/bf/bfhfzziyay1do6fd.jpg"></a></p><figcaption>The Corning Glass Museum</figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://cdn.archinect.net/uploads/i0/i0nuzrcxzi6k6pi3.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/1028x/i0/i0nuzrcxzi6k6pi3.jpg"></a></p> <figcaption>Marquette Plaza. Image by Richard Langendorf</figcaption><figure><p><a href="http://cdn.archinect.net/uploads/fw/fwlxdc2trli2sp7j.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/1028x/fw/fwlxdc2trli2sp7j.jpg"></a></p><figcaption>The Latvian National Library Image via wikimedia</figcaption></figure><figure><p><a href="http://cdn.archinect.net/uploads/mb/mb305ljh9yto39g1.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/1028x/mb/mb305ljh9yto39g1.jpg"></a></p><figcaption>Calvary Baptist Church of Detroit</figcaption></figure><figure><p><a href="http://cdn.archinect.net/uploads/7c/7cip6ckwhzv4rfwc.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/1028x/7c/7cip6ckwhzv4rfwc.jpg"></a></p><figcaption>Kansas City Museum of Contemporary Art Image via wikimedia</figcaption></figure>