Steilberg, Walter T., 1817-1974

Biography

Walter T. Steilberg was born in 1887 in Louisville, Kentucky. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1910 with a bachelor's degree in architecture and a minor in structural engineering.

Steilberg worked with Julia Morgan from 1910-1920 as draftsman, architect, office manager, and structural engineer. In 1920 he formed his own architecture and consulting firm, and designed the Berkeley College Women's Club, Claremont Junior High School in Oakland, the Pavilion at Lake Merritt, and numerous residential projects. In addition, he designed buildings on many University of California Campuses, and directed the preservation of Sather Tower. He also supervised the dismantling of Spanish monastery in Santa Marin de Oliva, Spain. The building was shipped piece by piece to San Francisco as a gift to the city from William Randolph Hearst, but was never reassembled. As a consultant, Steilberg collaborated with Gardner Dailey on many projects.

Steilberg became an expert in seismic architecture and engineering issues. He researched and wrote a book entitled "Earthquakes Made Simple," presented illustrated lectures, and collected reference materials on the subject. Additionally, he did extensive experimental research in concrete.

He was a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Seismological Institute and the Concrete Institute of America. Steilberg died in 1974 at the age of 88.

Sources: University of California job application, 1942 (folder II.1)

"W. T. Steilberg Dies; San Simeon Designer," San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle: 8 December 1974: 4.

From the guide to the Walter T. Steilberg Collection, ca. 1910-1974, (Environmental Design Archives. College of Environmental Design. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, California)