A Guide to the Dorothee Stelzer King Architectural Collection, 1950-2008
A Collection in
Special Collections
Collection Number
Ms2013-023
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Special Collections, Virginia Tech
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
USA
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Email: specref@vt.edu
URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/
©20183 By Virginia Tech. All rights reserved.
Processed by: Sherrie A. Bowser, Special Collections
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish material from Dorothee Stelzer King Architectural Collection must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Dorothee Stelzer King Architectural Collection Ms2013-023, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Acquisition Information
The Dorothee Stelzer King Architectural Collection was donated to Special Collections in December 2008.
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Dorothee Stelzer King Architectural Collection was completed in May 2013.
Biographical Note
Born in Berlin, Germany. King is an architect and professor who has practiced in Germany, the United States, and the Bahamas. She graduated from the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste (HBK) with the title 'Diplom Architect HBK Berlin' in 1962. Upon graduating from HBK she worked for two years (1962-1964) in the architectural office of Dipl. Ing. Hilde Westrom , one of the few independently working women architects in Berlin. King would go on to receive the Airlift Memorial Scholarship and Fulbright Travel Grant allowing her to study under Louis I. Kahn in his Master Studio at the University of Pennsylvania (1965-1967). Her experiences with Kahn would greatly influence her own style of teaching at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture (1969-1981) and other organizations.
King and her husband, fellow architect Douglas King, were offered the opportunity to work as architects with the Government of the Bahamas in Nassau (1981-1985). There she primarily worked on projects for the Ministries of Health and Housing including: public rental units with a senior citizen complex, design for a high school library in Cooperstown, and as project architect and head construction supervisor for the Bahamas Nursing School. 1985-1991 saw King commuting between New York, Nassau, and Florida as she finished supervising the Bahamas Nursing School and partnered with her husband on a design-build company called Kingston Homes in West Palm Beach, Florida. Shortly after returning to New York full-time (1991) King began teaching at several New York institutions and public schools within the city (1993-2008).
Scope and Content
The collection consists of material created and accumulated by King during the course of her days as a student and her professional career. This material primarily comprises drawings, presentation boards, photographs, and printed material related to various design projects undertaken by King during the time period 1957 to 1988. Also included within the collection is a detailed biographical narrative written by King describing the trajectory of her career and a family history and genealogy titled "From the Basilius, Gersdorff and Horn Families to the King, Kruppa and Stelzer Families," also written by King.
Index Terms
- Architecture
- International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)
- Women -- History
- Architects
- Architectural drawings
Subjects:
Occupations:
Genre and Form Terms;
Contents List
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 1
Biographical narrative, 2008
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 2
Certificates, Awards, Diplomas, etc., 1950-1976
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 3
Family history and genealogy, "From the Basilius, Gersdorff and Horn Families to the King, Kruppa and Stelzer Families ", written by Dorothee Stelzer King, 2007
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 4
Photograph, Dorothee S. King, c.1980
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 5
Scholarships [applications, correspondence, award, and recommendations], 1964
- Student Projects, 1957-1962
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 6 Folder oversize: 3
Austellungbau Variabel-Tranportabel [Exhibition Hall Flexible -Transportable], HDK Berlin, 1962Scope and Content
Materials present include a project description, 2 model photographs, 1 set of photographic reductions of the model, 1 set of slides of the drawings and model, along with a publication "ars viva 62" featuring the project. Drawings include: 7 original ink drawings on board and transparent paper and 2 blueprints.
- Folder oversize: 3
Ferienhaus in Muggelheim [vacation cottage], 1957Scope and Content
2 original ink drawings on board and transparent paper.
- Folder oversize: 3
Reihenhaus [rowhouses], 1958Scope and Content
9 original ink drawings in transparent paper.
- Folder oversize: 3
Trauerhalle/Kapelle [chapel], 1959Scope and Content
7 original ink drawings on transparent paper.
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 7
Various Projects, HDK Berlin, 1960-1962
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 6 Folder oversize: 3
- Bahamas Nursing School, Nassau, Bahamas, 1983-1988
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 9
Project description, 1985-1987
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 10
Concept sketches, 1985-1987
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 11
Contract with the Ministry of Finance, Invoices, 1985-1987
-
Drawings
- Folder oversize: 6
Blue print copy at 1/4" scale of detailed furniture and equipment layouts for main lecture hall, library, and commons
- Folder oversize: 6
Blue print copy at actual drawing size of the architectural drawings: title sheet plus A-1 thru A-35
- Folder oversize: 6
Hand colored blue print copy showing landscaping at actual drawing size of architectural drawing A-1: Site and Location Plan
- Folder oversize: 6
Maps and land drawings
- Folder oversize: 4
Original presentation drawings - ink on vellum
- Folder oversize: 4
Pencil and ink sketches and line drawings used to prepare the final presentation drawings
- Folder oversize: 1
Photo-static copies at 1/2 original drawings scale of the architectural drawings A-1 thru A-35
- Folder oversize: 6
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 12
Landscape, 1986-1987
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 13
Material and color samples, light fixture schedule, signage, room finishes, 1985-1987
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 14
Memorandums and Correspondence, 1982-1987
- Box 2
Model, study model in chipboard
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 15
Opening ceremony, June 16, 1987
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 16
Opening program and press clippings, 1986-1987
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 17
Overall program, office management, building program, list of drawings, 1981-1984
-
Photographs, 1985-1988
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 18
Negatives, completed building and opening ceremony, 1987-1988
- Folder oversize: 1
Negatives, original presentation drawings
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 19
Photographs of completed project, 1985-1987
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 20-24
Progress photographs (5 folders), January 1986-April 1987
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 18
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 9
- Folder oversize: 2
Cottage on Rose Island, Bahamas, 1988Scope and Content
2 hand colored presentation drawings on prints.
3 original construction drawings, pencil on vellum.
- Daylite Apartments Physical Survey and Proposal, Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, 1980
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 25
Project report, May 1980
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 25
- Library and Administrative Building Coopers Town High School, Abaco, Bahamas, 1983
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 26
Project description, 1983
- Folder oversize: 5
Drawings: blue print copy at actual drawing size of the architectural drawings: title sheet plus drawings 1-13
- Folder oversize: 2
Drawings: pencil on vellum Drawing 2 showing preliminary plan layout, elevations and sections at 1/8"= 1'-0"
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 26
- Folder oversize: 2
Townhouse Renovation, King Residence, New York, NY, 1971Scope and Content
2 hand colored original presentation drawings on board.
- Sutton Street Public Rental Housing Grants Town Urban Improvement Project, Nassau, Bahamas, 1983
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 27
Project description, 1983
- Folder oversize: 5
Drawings: blue print copy at actual drawing size of prototype 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom townhouse units -- drawings 1-11.
- Folder oversize: 5
Drawings: blue print copy at actual drawings size of Sutton Street Public rental units - site plan and sanitary waste plan. [Note: this project utilizes the prototype 3 and 4 bedroom townhouse units above.]
- Folder oversize: 2
Drawings: pencil line axonometric drawings on yellow tracing paper and vellum of Sutton Street public rental units
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 28
Nassau, Bahamas Ministry of Housing Specifications, 1983
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 29
Photographs of completed project, 1983
- Box-Folder 1 folder: 27