Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from Sigrid L. Rupp Architectural Collection must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Residential client's names are restricted from being publicly identified these projects may only be identified by their location.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Sigrid L. Rupp Architectural Collection, Ms1997-006, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Sigrid L. Rupp Architectural Collection was donated to Special Collections in 1997 with additions arriving in 2004 and 2006.

Processing Information

An inventory of the collection was completed in April 1998 by Brad Shearer, student assistant, and Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator, Special Collections Department. The 2004 addition and the remainder of the collection was processed by Sherrie A. Bowser, February 2011.

Biographical Note

Sigrid Lorenzen Rupp was born January 3, 1943, in Bremerhaven, Germany. Her family relocated to California when Rupp was ten years old (1953). Rupp had been fascinated with the built environment since her early childhood growing up in post-war reconstruction Germany. However, when she entered University of California-Berkeley, in 1960, she had won many small scholarships to study physics. Her physics career lasted two semesters after which she was able to convince everyone that she should study her first love, architecture (Boulgarides).

While at Berkeley Rupp was mentored by three renowned architects and professors, Joseph Esherick, AIA, Harold Stump, and Donald Reay. Upon graduation in 1966 with a Bachelor of Architecture, Rupp worked for Van Bourg/Nakamura Associates of San Francisco, D'Amico Associates of Mill Valley, Hawley & Peterson of Mountain Valley and Spencer Associates of Palo Alto. During this time she received her architecture license in the State of California (1971).

In 1976, Rupp stating that architecture was in the "doldrums" and recognizing that there was no future for her in the 'major firm' where she was currently employed decided to open her own firm exclaiming, "I could do nothing on my own as well as for someone else"(Boulgarides). She served as president and principle architect for SLR/Architects from 1976 until 1998 when she closed the office.

SLR/Architects specialized in technical facilities, industrial work, and residential structures. The company provided architectural services for many of the pre-eminent Silicon Valley firms: Apple Computer, Sun Microsystems, Tandem, Amdahl, Claris, Raychem, and IBM. Other prominent clients included: AT&T, Pac Bell, United Airlines, Pan Am, Stanford University and Hospital and San Jose State University. Some of her significant projects were the Press Building and Storey House at Stanford University, an RF Testing Facility for Apple Computer (winner of an AIA Honor Award), and a six-year factory retrofit and rehab for the Raychem Corporation. At its height SLR/Architects employed eight professional and paraprofessional staff (1987) and established an international branch SLR/International in Tel Aviv, Israel (1983).

Rupp was active in many professional and local civic organizations. She was a former board member and chairperson of the City of Palo Alto Architectural Review Board, former director of the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and former president of California Women in Environmental Design (CWED). She also served on the boards of the New Performance Gallery in San Francisco, Theater Artaud of San Francisco, Family Planning Alternatives of Sunnyvale, Diablo Ballet of Walnut Creek and the Lawrence Pech Dance Company of San Francisco. She was an active member of the Organization of Women Architects (OWA), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and the Union Internationale des Femmes Architectes (UIFA).

An ardent champion for women’s rights, Rupp stated that she became involved in women’s issues “…simply because I did not want there to be any [women's issues]. It seemed that the time for gender differences should be long over." She was a mentor to many women and minorities in the course of her practice encouraging and facilitating their entry into architecture.

In retirement, Rupp turned her attention to painting and traveling. Her watercolors primarily focused on California bay area landscapes and were featured in several local juried shows. She also traveled extensively documenting her experiences in beautifully illustrated and annotated travel diaries (present in the collection).

Sigrid Lorenzen Rupp passed away May 27, 2004. Her legacy in her own words, "I'd like to be remembered for dissenting when everyone else thought it easier to go with the grain even when the grain was wrong. I'd like to be remembered for being a competent architect who did competent work, a competent painter who did competent painting and someone who told good stories” (OWA).

~~~~~~~~~~~

References:

"Dr. James D. Boulgarides, Study Looking at Women in Architecture," Sigrid Lorenzen Rupp Architectural Collection (Ms1997-006) Special Collections, University Libraries, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

(Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals 2004) http://owa-usa.org/newsletter/jul04.htm

Scope and Content

Rupp's collection encompasses over twenty years of her firm, SLR/Architects, and includes administration and project files, sketches, drawings, blueprints, slides and photographs representing approximately 700 designs. The collection also contains Rupp's personal papers -- biographical information, student work, travel diaries and photographs, and artwork. The materials range in date from 1950-2004 (bulk 1976-2004) and are divided into five series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Office Records, Project Records, and Art and Artifacts. See the contents list below for more detail about the individual series.

Related Material

See also Ms1990-059 California Women in Environmental Design Records, 1990-1994.

Index Terms

Genre and Form Terms:

• Architectural drawings.
• Diaries.
• Photographs.
• watercolors (paintings)

Occupations:

• Architects.

Subjects:

• Women travelers--Asia
• Women travelers--Europe
• Women travelers--South America
• Women travelers--United States
• Women-owned architectural firms.

Local Subjects:

• International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)

Adjunct Descriptive Data

See also Ms1990-059 California Women in Environmental Design Records, 1990-1994.