The Pierre Koenig papers and drawings contain the archive of this Los Angeles architect best-known for his work in steel and participation in the Case Study House Program. Consisting of drawings, photographs and slides, documents, client correspondence, and three models, the archive provides in-depth information about Koenig's 50-year career. The archive is an important resource for the study of Southern California Modernism, as well as for the study of pre-fabrication in housing in the United States. Records and drawings relating to Pierre Koenig's architectural projects form Series I, the core of the archive. With over 2,000 original and reproduction drawings, the archive is very complete. More than eighty executed and unexecuted building projects, including all of Koenig's major houses, such as Case Study Houses #21 and #22, the Johnson House in Carmel Valley, CA (1962), the Iwata House in Monterey Park, CA (1963), the Gantert House in Los Angeles (1983), and the Schwartz House in Santa Monica (1996), are represented in the archive. A particularly interesting project is the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation Planning Program, sponsored by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Koenig and his USC students designed pre-fabricated steel homes for the reservation located near Havasu Lake in San Bernardino County, California, but the project was never built. The two subsequent series record other aspects of Koenig's professional life. Series II is comprised of Koenig's teaching materials and documentation of his administrative role at the University of Southern California, School of Architecture. Koenig took his teaching very seriously. He was very conscious of the fact that he was training the next generation of architects and proud of the fact that he had supervised over 100 student research projects investigating the interaction of structures and the natural environment. Series III is comprised of all the other materials, aside from the individual project files, relating to Koenig's role as an architect, such as his office files and reference files. Also included here is a dossier of Koenig's work. Koenig was very active in interpreting and publicizing his work and he also maintained documentation of others citing his work in a variety of media from clippings to exhibitions to videos. Series IV is comprised of Pierre Koenig's personal papers. His college class projects trace Koenig's emerging development as an architect, and the extensive documentation of his early military service helps place his personal development. The final series of the archive, compiled after Koenig's death in 2004, documents the continuing legacy of his life and work.
