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Biographical Summary
Chermayeff was born in 1901 in Groznyy, Azerbaijan, and was educated
in England. He began his career as an interior designer for the
London firm of Waring & Gillow. In 1930 he formed his own
architectural office and was joined by German emigre Erich Mendelsohn,
with whom he designed several buildings. Together they won the
design competition for the noted Bexhill Pavilion in Sussex. In
1940 Chermayeff immigrated to the United States, where he designed
several residences, including the Clarence Mayhew house in Oakland
and the Horn house in Marin County, California. He taught at various
colleges and universities before Walter Gropius recommended him
in 1946 to serve as president of the Institute of Design in Chicago.
Chermayeff left Chicago in 1951 when the Institute of Design merged
with the Illinois Institute of Technology. He taught at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in 1952, at Harvard from 1953 through
1962, and at Yale from 1962 until retiring in 1970. Chermayeff
was the author of several books, co-founder of the American Society
of Planners and Architects, and founding member of several other
architectural societies.
Interview Highlights
Chermayeff speaks about his years as president of the Institute
of Design in Chicago; his early background; work and colleagues
in England; immigrating to the U.S.; traveling in the U.S.; colleagues
and curriculum at the Institute of Design; the "Chicago Plans"
exhibition in 1950; the merger of the Institute of Design with
the Illinois Institute of Design; urban concerns; his own writings
and opinions.
Chair prototypes designed by Serge Chermayeff.
Photographed in Chermayeff's studio, Wellfleet, Massachusetts,
1985, by Betty Blum.
Interview Highlights
Chermayeff speaks about his years as president of the Institute
of Design in Chicago; his early background; work and colleagues
in England; immigrating to the U.S.; traveling in the U.S.; colleagues
and curriculum at the Institute of Design; the "Chicago Plans"
exhibition in 1950; the merger of the Institute of Design with
the Illinois Institute of Design; urban concerns; his own writings
and opinions.
Interview Excerpt
"In an open world...urbanity really is the new form of intensity,
quality and frequency... This kind of an intensity leads to its
own problems. When people make cars now they don't really think
that that car sleeps motionless for something like two-thirds
of its life, dead, parked. And, where is it parked? On the most
precious land that you have, the urban land, because you could
walk from A to B if you didn't have a parking lot [there] which
is half a mile long." (p. 67)
Other Resources at The Art Institute of Chicago
See also the oral histories of other architects associated with
the Institute of Design: William
Keck and Robert
Bruce Tague; see also the oral histories of George
Danforth, Myron
Goldsmith, Reginald
Malcomson, and Harry
Weese.
Funding for this oral history was provided by William M. Drake,
Jr.
Funding for the electronic presentation of this transcript
was provided by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council.
About the Chicago Architects Oral History Project
Department of Architecture • Ryerson & Burnham Archives
Send questions or comments to:
Ryerson & Burnham Archives, Chicago Architects Oral History Project
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