The Legacy of Donald Olsen: Modern Master

Inspired by the teachings of the Bauhaus and curriculum of Walter Gropius while studying at Harvard, Donald Olsen transported the international style of modernism to the Bay Area. Olsen’s unwavering loyalty to modernism drove his career and allowed him to flourish both as a practicing architect and a professor at UC Berkeley.

This exhibit will explore the life and career of Donald Olsen from the start of his professional work with noted firms such as Saarinen, Swanson & Saarinen, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Wurster, Bernardi, & Emmons to establishing his own practice.

Materials for this exhibit come from the Environmental Design Archives’ Donald Olsen Collection.