Leipziger-Pearce, Hugo, 1902-1998

Professor Hugo Leipziger-Pearce (1902- ), established the Community and Regional Planning Program at the University of Texas at Austin, and worked as an independent planning consultant in Texas and Germany.

From the description of Hugo Leipziger-Pearce papers, 1920-1990. (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 28382904

Hugo Leipziger-Pearce was born on December 8, 1902, the son of a court-appointed expert on furniture and interiors of castles and the numerous manor houses in Silesia and neighboring Poland. Early on, he was introduced not only to beautiful interiors and to architecture in general but also to famous architect Hans Poelzig. Poelzig, until 1916, was the Director of the Art Academy in Breslau [the precursor to the Bauhaus]. After finishing the "Real Gymnasium" Hugo Leipziger-Pearce was enrolled in the Art Academy, where he was the student of several notable German architects of the time, including August Engell, Otto Mueller, and Adolph Rading.

In the 1920's, Leipziger-Pearce traveled and studied at the University of Hamburg studying art history and economics. While Leipziger-Pearce never completed any official course of study, an examination made later in the US determined that his studies were the equivalent of a Master's degree. He was admitted to the German Institute of Architects in 1927.

In 1927 Leipziger-Pearce returned to Breslau to open a practice with a colleague, Gerhard Schonborn. His first commission was a housing group with 64 units in Namslau. This was the beginning of mass housing, which would become the theme of his life: housing for everyone in a city for everyone.

In 1934 he accepted a position with an architectural firm Stephenson and Turner in Australia. His design for the firm's Women's Hospital in Melbourne, which Sir Arthur Stephenson wrote in 1955, "is still regarded as an outstanding instance of contemporary design," was prize-winning. His work in Melbourne brought him to New York to complete work on the Australian Pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair.

It was in New York that Leipziger-Pearce was given the unique opportunity to come to The University of Texas at Austin to develop a curriculum in city and regional planning. Leipziger-Pearce arrived at the University in 1939 and stayed until his retirement in 1974, with a brief stay in Germany from 1950-51, where the US State Department appointed him a "Special Consultant" to the US High Commissioner for the former American Zone. During his long tenure at UT Austin, Leipziger-Pearce initiated the Program in Community and Regional Planning and directed it for 19 years. He also worked with the Urban Planning Assistance Progam for Texas.

Hugo Leipziger-Pearce died on July 13, 1998.

Sources: "Portrait of Hugo Leipziger-Pearce" by Dr. Gert Kalher, Architectural Critic, Hamburg, Germany from Der Architekt (Journal of the German Institute of Architects), May 1992. Translated by Hugo and Martha Leipziger-Pearce

Acosta, Teresa Palomo. "In Memoriam: Hugo Leipziger-Pearce" http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/2000-2001/memorials/AMR/Leipziger/leipziger.html

From the guide to the Hugo Leipziger-Pearce (1902-1998) Manuscript material, photographs, Community and regional planning HUGO Accession number(s): 1987010, 1998013, 2000017, 2000021, 2000022., 1920-(1955-1978)-1990, (Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.)