Marshall Erdman was a Lithuanian-American builder and colleague of Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

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Early life

Erdman was born Mausas Erdmanas on September 29, 1922, in Tverai, Lithuania. He emigrated to the United States at age 17 to live with an uncle in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

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Education

Following high school, Erdman studied architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

. He joined the United States Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

 in 1943, where he helped build the Remagen

Battle of Remagen

The Battle of Remagen was a World War II battle between the forces of the United States of America and Nazi Germany in and around the German town of Remagen, particularly centred on the Ludendorff Bridge, the short-term reason why the Americans were fighting the Germans in Remagen.The fighting...

 pontoon bridge

Pontoon bridge

A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...

. He returned to his studies after the war, receiving a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

 in 1946.

Career

Erdman started a construction company in 1946, which he incorporated in 1951 as Marshall Erdman & Associates. An integrated healthcare design-build company, Marshall Erdman & Associates grew rapidly, expanding into six different markets throughout the U.S. In early 2008, Marshall Erdman & Associates was purchased by Cogdell Spencer, a healthcare real estate investment trust, for $247 million. This part of Marshall's legacy is now traded on the NYSE as CSA.

In addition to founding Marshall Erdman & Associates, he introduced U-Form-It prefabricated house kits to the market in 1953 and Techline office furniture in 1969.

Legacy

The Middleton Hills neighborhood in Middleton, Wisconsin

Middleton, Wisconsin

Middleton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. It is a western suburb of the state capital, Madison but it was actually founded before Madison. It got its name from Middletown, Connecticut; the "w" being dropped was due to a paper work error made by long time historian Edward Kromrey...

 had its first homes completed in 1996. This development is considered a Neo-traditional design

New urbanism

New Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually continued to reform many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use...

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Projects

• 1949–1950: First Unitarian Society of Madison, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
• 1956–1961: Marshall Erdman Prefab Houses
  Marshall Erdman Prefab Houses
  Throughout his career, Frank Lloyd Wright was interested in mass production of housing. In 1954, he discovered that Marshall Erdman, who contracted the First Unitarian Society of Madison, was selling modest prefabricated homes...
  
  , designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
• 1956–1967: medical offices at Doctor's Park, Madison
• 1957: Wyoming Valley School, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
• 1958: Faith Baptist Church
• 1959: 100 homes in Sherman Village, Madison
• 1965–1966: Peace Corps camps at St. Croix and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
• 1965 Medical office building, Georgetown, Massachusetts
• 1974: first modular medical building, Delbarton, West Virginia
  Delbarton, West Virginia
  Delbarton is a town in Mingo County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 474 at the 2000 census. Delbarton was incorporated September 6, 1946 by the Mingo County Circuit Court. The name Delbarton comes from the New Jersey country estate of one of the officials of the United Thacker Land Company...
  
  
• 1975: first Marshfield Clinic building
• 1989: Charlotte Memorial Hospital
  Carolinas Medical Center
  Carolinas Medical Center is a large, public, non-profit hospital located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The hospital was organized in 1940 as Charlotte Memorial Hospital on Blythe Boulevard in the Dilworth neighborhood. Since that time, the hospital has undergone several major expansions and...
  
  
• 1993: Middleton Hills planned community, Middleton, Wisconsin
  Middleton, Wisconsin
  Middleton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. It is a western suburb of the state capital, Madison but it was actually founded before Madison. It got its name from Middletown, Connecticut; the "w" being dropped was due to a paper work error made by long time historian Edward Kromrey...
  
  

External links

• Marshall Erdman & Associates
• About Marshall Erdman on ASHRAE - Madison, WI chapter website