Dahlstrand, Olof

Biographical Note

Olof Dahlstrand, born in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin in 1916, earning his degree in architecture from Cornell University in 1939. After receiving his degree, Dahlstrand worked briefly in Wisconsin, and then moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1948. He worked as an associate for Fred and Lois Langhorst, both modernist architects gaining recognition in Northern California. While working for the Langhorsts, Dahlstrand worked on the Muscatine residence and a show at the San Francisco Museum of Art (later San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). The trio's sketches, renderings, photographs, and drawings were a sensation.

When the Langhorsts moved to Europe in 1950, Olof became responsible for the practice. During this uncertain period, Olof and John Lautner discussed a partnership but nothing came of their discussions. Later, Olof worked in the San Francisco offices of Skidmore, Owens & Merrill, and produced renderings for a number of other architects including John Carl Warnecke.

Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, Dahlstrand's work exhibits elements and ideals emphasized by the strong horizontal and vertical elements of the Prairie style. His work also reflects Wright's "organic architecture" and its ideas that: a building (and its appearance) should follow forms that are in harmony with its natural environment; that the materials used on the exterior should be sympathetic to the building's locale, thereby relating the building to its setting; and that use should be made of low-pitched overhanging roofs to provide protection from the sun in the summer and to provide some weather protection in the winter. In addition, maximum use should be made of natural day lighting. During a nine-year period between 1950 and 1958, seven clients who wanted site-specific, custom-designed, homes came to Dahlstrand. These "Usonian" residences are built on sites that range from flat parcels, to steep hillsides, to cliff sides on the San Francisco Bay.

In the early 1960s, Dahlstrand relocated to Carmel in the Monterey Bay area. Here he established his own practice and continued to work on residences, commercial centers, and educational facilities located throughout Northern California. His significant projects included the 1966 Carmel Valley Shopping Center and the U.C. Santa Cruz Faculty Housing begun in 1974. Dahlstrand retired in 1984 and currently resides in Carmel where he has become active in city politics. He has continued to do renderings for other architects.

Source: Welty, William. Olof Dahlstrand: The Usonians, the Magnificent Seven of the East Bay. Brook House Press, 2007.

From the guide to the Olof Dahlstrand collection, 1938, 1947-2004, (Environmental Design Archives College of Environmental Design)