Gruen, Victor, 1903-1980

Victor Gruen (1903-1980) was born Victor David Gruenbaum in Vienna, Austria. He worked as an architect in Vienna until 1938 when he emigrated to the U.S. to escape World War II. He first worked as a set and store designer in New York City and then established Victor Gruen Associates, one of the nation's leading architectural, planning and engineering firms. Gruen Associates designed the first regional shopping center, the Northland Shopping Center in Detroit in 1954 and the first fully enclosed shopping center, Southdale Shopping Center near Minneapolis in 1956. Gruen retired in 1967 and wrote extensively on urban planning and urban sprawl, including "Shopping Towns USA" (1960), "The Heart of Our Cities" (1964) and "Centers for the Urban Environment" (1973).

From the description of Papers, 1933-1980. (University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center). WorldCat record id: 28776788

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