Wiener, Paul Lester, 1895-1967

Paul Lester Wiener was born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1895. He was educated in the Royal Academy of Berlin with post graduate study in Vienna and Paris. He came to the United States in 1913 and became a citizen in 1919. He returned to Europe for further study and work until 1927. With Bruno Paul, Wiener founded Contempora, a group of international artists, in 1928. Returning to the United States that year, Wiener took up a comfortable architectural practice and in 1937 designed the U.S. Government building and its interiors for the International Exposition in Paris. For his work, he was awarded three Grand Prix by the Jury of the Exposition.

In 1938, Paul Lester Wiener was commissioned by the governments of Ecuador and Brazil to organize and design interiors and exhibits for these countries' pavilions at the New York World's Fair. The war years found him working with the U.S. Office of Production and Research Development as well as in his own company, Ratio Structures, Inc., to develop prefabricated and demountable housing, suitable for post war housing construction and retail marketing. In 1942, Wiener joined José Luis Sert, formerly of Barcelona, Spain, to form Town Planning Associates which was to operate until 1959 as an architectural, urban planning and site planning consultant firm of international reputation. During this period, Wiener lectured extensively in the United States and Latin America as an expert in urban planning.

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