Victor Steinbrueck was a Seattle

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

, and University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 faculty member, and best known for his efforts to preserve the city's Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers,...

.

Biography

Steinbrueck came to Seattle from North Dakota in 1913. In 1930 he enrolled in the University of Washington Program in Architecture, graduating in 1935 with a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.). In this period he also worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps

Civilian Conservation Corps

The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...

. After apprenticing in a number of private Seattle firms and serving in the military during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he joined the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Washington in 1946. He also initiated his own practice and, over the next two decades, designed a series of regional-modernist residences, built with indigenous materials suited to the climate.

Steinbrueck's focus on the character of Seattle's architecture and urban places dates from the early 1950s when he authored A Guide to Seattle Architecture, published for American Institute of Architects

American Institute of Architects

The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

 national convention held in Seattle in 1953. Steinbrueck went on to publish several other books promoting awareness of the unique character of Seattle: Seattle Cityscape (1962; published to coincide with Century 21

Century 21 Exposition

The Century 21 Exposition was a World's Fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962 in Seattle, Washington.Nearly 10 million people attended the fair...

, the Seattle World's Fair), Market Sketchbook (1968), and Seattle Cityscape #2 (1973).

In the 1960s Steinbruck became active in historic preservation

Historic preservation

Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...

, and, with others, successfully fought developers' plans to obliterate Seattle's most significant historic district. He was instrumental in the creation of Seattle's first two historic districts, Pioneer Square (1970) and Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers,...

 (1971). His own projects were guided by a strong sense of public spirit and social consciousness: low-income housing, the inclusion of social services, and a number of city parks co-designed with landscape architect

Landscape architect

A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....

 Richard Haag

Richard Haag

Richard Haag is a United States landscape architect. He is famous for his work on Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington and on the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. He is also noted for founding the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Washington and for holding multiple design...

, including the one that now bears his name.

Working as a consultant to John Graham & Company, Steinbrueck played a key role in the design work of the Space Needle

Space Needle

The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington and is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over...

. In 1963, Steinbrueck was elected a Fellow

FAIA

Fellow of the American Institute of Architects is a postnomial, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects...

 in the American Institute of Architects

American Institute of Architects

The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

.

His son, Peter Steinbrueck

Peter Steinbrueck

Peter Steinbrueck is an American architect and Seattle, Washington politician. He is a licensed architect in the State of Washington, and principal and founder of Steinbrueck Urban Strategies.-Early life and education:...

, has had an architecture degree (although he is not currently practicing) and was a member of the Seattle City Council from 1997 to 2007.

Publications

• Steinbrueck, Victor, A Guide to Seattle Architecture, 1850-1953, Reinhold Publishing Co., New York 1953.
• Steinbrueck, Victor, Seattle Cityscape, University of Washington Press, Seattle 1962
• Steinbrueck, Victor, Market Sketchbook, University of Washington Press, Seattle 1968
• Steinbrueck, Victor, Seattle Cityscape #2, University of Washington Press, Seattle and London 1973
• Steinbrueck, Victor, and Nyberg, Folke, A Visual Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources for Seattle, Washington, Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority, Seattle 1975-77. Available from Historic Seattle

External links

• Steinbrueck, Victor Eugene (1911-1985) at HistoryLink.org
• Victor Steinbrueck, Life & Ideas