This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
This collection contains architectural records, student work, correspondence and professional writings related to the academic and architectural practice of Walter Sobotka. The largest portion of the collection, Series 1, relates to his architectural practice and contains drawings, files, and a scrapbook of photographs and articles pertaining to his work in Europe and America. The majority of his projects consisted of residential buildings and interiors in Austria along with furniture designs. However, there is also a selection of theater interiors that Sobotka designed for RKO across the United States. Series 2 contains a limited selection of Sobotka's lectures and writings, as well as correspondence. This series also contains material relating to two of his unpublished writings, The Prefabricated House and Principles of Design, including copies of the manuscripts, correspondence with publishers, and research materials. A bound version of Principles of Design is catalogued separately and contains an appendix in which Sobotka translated into English excerpts of his correspondence with the Viennese architect Josef Frank. Series 3 contains some artwork and student drawings, as well as a few personal letters.
This material is arranged in three series: Project Records; Professional Papers; and Personal Papers. Series are further described by subseries; the arrangement of materials within each subseries is described at the beginning of each subseries inventory.
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Columbia University is providing access to the materials in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.
Walter Sobotka architectural records and papers. Located in the Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
Walter Sobotka collaborated with Felix Augenfeld, another Viennese architect, on a few residential projects. A diazo print floor plan and photographs relating to the F. Schnabel apartment in Vienna, as well as photographs of Sobotka's interiors for the F. W. apartment and an apartment for Dr. Stein, can be found in the Felix Augenfeld architectural records and papers held by Avery Library's Department of Drawings & Archives. A full descriptive overview for the Augenfeld collection can be found in Columbia's online library catalog, CLIO.
Walter Sobotka donated a book about his daughter Ruth to Columbia's Rare Book and Manuscript Library after her untimely death in 1967. This book was compiled and published privately by Walter Sobotka. A full catalog description may be found in Columbia's online library catalog, CLIO.
The University of Pittsburgh also maintains some materials related to Sobotka's tenure on the faculty in their university archive.
Source of acquisition--The exact donor of this collection is unknown. It was likely a gift from Walter Sobotka to Avery Library in 1971. Accession number--1971.007.
Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Drawings Processed Teresa Harris 06/2008.
2009-03-03 File created.
2009-07-23 File revised
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Walter S. Sobotka was born on July 1, 1888 in Vienna. He was the son of Dr. Ignaz and Hedwig Sobotka. Sobotka attended the Franz-Josef-Gymnasium in Vienna, graduating in 1907. He then enrolled at the Technischen Hochschule Wien, studying under Karl König. He completed his degree in 1912 with the title of Engineer-Architect. Sobotka served as an officer in the Austrian army during World War I. After the war, from 1919 to 1923, he worked for the Viennese firm of Karl Korn while also producing grave monuments and furniture for his family in Vienna and Czechoslovakia. In 1919, he married Gisela Schoenau. Their daughter Ruth was born in 1925 and later became a dancer with the New York City Ballet under Balanchine, as well as a costume designer and actress.
After leaving Korn's firm, Sobotka began to make a name for himself with some larger residential projects, eventually designing the interiors for Peter Behrens's house at the Weisenhoff Siedlung built for the Deutscher Werkbund Seidlung in Stuttgart [1927]. He also designed two large housing projects for the city of Vienna and two houses for the 1932 Österreichischer Wekbund Seidlung. Sobotka was very involved with the Austrian Werkbund and served as vice-chairman of the board of directors for two years. Exhibitions, mostly of furniture, constituted another important part of Sobotka's practice, and in 1937 he designed the Austrian Pavilion for the World Exposition in Paris.
When the political situation in Austria became too tenuous for those of Jewish descent, Sobotka emigrated to the United States. He made the trans-Atlantic crossing aboard the Saturnia, arriving in New York on July 7th, 1938. In 1941, he began to teach at the University of Pittsburgh in the Research Bureau for Retail Training, becoming an Assistant Professor of Textiles and Applied Arts five years later. He also taught architecture at the Carnegie Institute of Technology from 1941 to 1948. He was appointed Assistant Professor for Interior Decoration in 1946.
Sobotka's practice in the United States focused mostly upon residential interiors and furniture design, for Thonet Brothers (1938-1939) and Russel Wright, among others. He also designed numerous theater interiors for RKO. His architecture can be classified as modernist but he never fully embraced functionalism. His interiors reveal the decorative and ornamental influences of his training in early twentieth century Vienna. Sobotka maintained lifelong friendships with other Viennese architects, most notably Josef Frank.
Two unpublished manuscripts are important for understanding Sobotka's approach to design. His proposal for a Prefabricated House consists of some thirty pages of drawings, delineating a basic unit of construction and providing examples of combinations of that unit for use as single family homes, dormitories and summer resorts. He also wrote a theoretical treatise, entitled Principles of Design, in which he broke the complex process of design into its various components including color and proportion. This treatise was an attempt to create a general methodology of design that could be utilized by the reader. Despite repeated attempts, Sobotka was unable to find a publisher for these manuscripts.
In 1957 he traveled to Japan on a consulting mission for the United States government, specifically for the State Department's International Cooperative Administration. The purpose of the trip was to explore ways of increasing the export of Japanese applied arts to the United States. Sobotka retired from the University of Pittsburgh in 1958, receiving the title of Professor Emeritus of Textiles and Applied Arts (Retailing). He died of a heart attack at his home in New York on May 8th, 1972.
Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by country or state, then by city and project name, followed by unidentified projects arranged in alphabetical order by title.
A complete inventory of these drawings may be found in thisdownloadable Excel spreadsheet.
Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by country and city.
Box 3 Folder 1
Project description. Includes letter from the mayor of Guntramsdorf explaining why the municipality cannot build the housing project
Box 3 Folder 4
Project description.
Box 3 Folder 2
Correspondence with Engineer and [Owner].
Box 3 Folder 3
Project description.
Box 3 Folder 5
Project description.
Box 3 Folder 6
Project description.
Box 3 Folder 7
Project description.
Materials listed in order of appearance in the scrapbook.
Four Flap Scrapbook
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume; City of Vienna, client.
Bound volume; now Jihlava, Czech Republic.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume. City of Vienna, client
Also includes bound volume. Houses destroyed during World War II, 1944
Also includes bound volume.
Article excerpt on Sobotka, with image of Fritz Weiss Apartment.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Presse Photo Makart [photographer].
Article includes images of George Sobotka Apartment.
Article includes images of Granichstädten Residence, Heinsheimer Office and Warehouse, Heinsheimer Apartment and W. Sobotka Apartment.
Article includes images of Granichstädten Residence
Article includes images of Granichstädten Residence
Article includes images of Walther Sobotka Apartment
Article includes images of Walther Sobotka Apartment
Article includes images of Sobotka's Furniture.
Article includes images of Villa on Adriatic and Small House from "Kunstschau" Exhibition,.
Article includes images of Mautner Apartment
Article includes images of furniture designs.
Article includes images of E.E. Apartment
Article includes images of P. Beck Apartment and M. Heinsheimer Apartment.
Article includes images of M. Heinsheimer Apartment
Article includes images of Helena Rubenstein Salon
Article includes images of Dr. V. Pollak. Apartment and J. Federer Apartment
Article includes images of Frank Apartment and Small House from "Kunstschau" Exhibition.
Article includes images of the Hieffer Apartment, Kahler House, and Strauss Apartment
Article includes images of Adam House and Hieffer Apartment.
Article includes images of the Wakler Apartment, Seidner Apartment, Pfundmayr Apartment, and Lorenz Apartment.
Article includes images of House 29 and 30 of the Austrian Werkbundsiedlung
Article includes images of House 29 and 30 of the Austrian Werkbundsiedlung
Article includes images of the Schwoner Apartment, Seidner Apartment, and Werkbundsiedlung.
Article includes images of the Fridezko Apartment, Ettinger Apartment, Baudisch Apartment and the giftshop of the Viennese Werkbund
Article includes images of the Silberstein Apartment, Gibian Apartment, Baudisch Apartment, Schwoner Apartment, Fridezko Apartment and Oser Apartment.
Article includes images of chairs designed for Thonet Brothers, NY., 1939.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Also includes bound volume.
Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by title.
Drawer 179o
Printed materials
Box 4 Folder 26
Printed materials
Box 4 Folder 13
Printed materials; autograph letter, signed
Box 4 Folder 14
Printed materials
Originally filed with student drawings.
Box 4 Folder 24
Typed letter, signed
Regarding Sobotka's induction into the University of Pittsburgh's Faculty Hall of Fame.
Box 4 Folder 22
Typed letter, signed;typescript carbon
Regarding an article by Sobotka entitled "Putting Fashion In Its Place."
Box 4 Folder 20
Typed letter, signed; autograph letter; typescript carbon
Regarding the exhibition "Tomorrow's Small House"; handwritten draft of Sobotka's response on verso.
Box 4 Folder 16
Typed letter, signed
Regarding an article by Sobotka to be published on Nov. 15 1946.
Box 4 Folder 15
Autograph letter, signed
Regarding an article by Sobotka for Charette [perhaps regarding The Prefabricated House].
Box 4 Folder 19
Telegram;typed letter, signed;typescript carbon;typescript papers, with annotations
Regarding Tenth Anniversary number of Interiors.
Box 4 Folder 21
Typed letter, signed
Box 4 Folder 18
Typed letter, signed
Box 4 Folder 23
Typescript carbon;Typed letter, signed;printed materials
Includes a newspaper article by Harry Martin and a bulletin from Wittenborn and Company, Books on the Fine Arts.
Four Flap no #
Typescript paper, signed
Enclosed in plastic protective cover
Box 1 Folder 22
Printed materials
Box 4 Folder 17
Autograph letter, signed
Box 4 Folder 27
Holograph papers
Box 4 Folder 25
Typescript paper
Materials are arranged in chronological order, followed by undated papers arranged in alphabetical order by title.
Box 3 Folder 8
Typescript papers, with annotations;holograph papers;typed letter, signed
Two copies and notes; also includes correspondence.
Box 3 Folder 9
Typescript papers, with annotations
Box 3 Folder 11
Typescript papers, with annotations;typescript paper;autograph letter, signed;typed letter, signed
Two copies of lecture; includes program and correspondence.
Box 3 Folder 10
Typescript papers, with annotations;typescript paper
Lecture to seniors of the architectural class 1942-1943 at Carnegie Institute of Technology; includes schedule of lectures.
Box 3 Folder 12
Typescript carbon
Box 3 Folder 13
Typescript carbon, with annotations;typed letter, signed;typescript papers
Includes announcement and correspondence.
Box 3 Folder 14
Typescript papers, with annotations;typed letter, signed;typescript carbon
Includes correspondence.
Box 3 Folder 15
Printed materials
Box 3 Folder 16
Typescript carbon
Lecture given before the Pittsburgh Chapter of the AIA on May 21, 1946.
Box 3 Folder 17
Typescript papers, with annotations;typescript carbon;holograph papers;autograph letter, signed
Includes, announcements and correspondence.
Box 3 Folder 18
Holograph papers
Box 3 Folder 19
Typed letter, signed
Regarding reimbursement for slides used in lecture at Swedish Forum.
Box 3 Folder 20
Typescript papers, with annotations;typescript carbon, with annotations;autograph letter, signed
Two copies of lecture; includes newspaper announcements and correspondence.
Box 3 Folder 21
Typescript papers, with annotations;autograph letter, signed;typescript papers
Includes announcements, correspondence and abbreviated resume.
Box 3 Folder 22
Typescript papers with annotations;typescript carbon
Two copies of lecture; includes announcements.
Box 3 Folder 23
Holograph papers
Includes list of names, perhaps of attendees.
Box 3 Folder 24
Typescript papers, with annotations;typescript carbon;typed letter, signed;typescript papers
Includes announcements and correspondence.
Box 3 Folder 25
Typescript papers with annotations;typed letter, signed;holograph paper
Includes correspondence and list of reservations for retirement dinner.
Box 3 Folder 26
Holograph papers
Box 3 Folder 27
Holograph papers
Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by title.
Box 3 Fol. 40
Printed materials
Box 3 Folder 36
Typed letter, signed;typescript carbon;typed letter;holograph papers
Includes correspondence with Lewis Mumford and various publishers.
Box 3 Folder 37
Printed materials
Box 3 Folder 38
Printed materials
Box 3 Folder 39
Printed materials
Box 4 Folder 1
Typescript papers, with annotations
Box 4 Folder 2
Holograph papers
Box 4 Folder 3
Holograph paper
Box 4 Folder 4
Typescript papers, signed
Includes signed statement by notary public and original envelope.
Box 4 Folder 5
Printed materials
Bound volume includes articles written by Sobotka for Charette on the Prefabricated House, January-July 1947.
Box 4 Folder 6
Typed letter, signed;typescript papers;diazo print;printed materials
Bound volume includes drawings and articles written by Sobotka for Charette on the Prefabricated House, January-July 1947; also includes correspondence with publisher of Charette and a quotation from Alberti.
Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by title.
Box 4 Folder 7
Typescript carbon;typescript papers;typescript carbon;typescript carbon, signed
Part V. of Principles of Design;includes letter to publisher.
Box 4 Folder 8
Typescript carbon;typed letter, signed
Part V. of Principles of Design; includes letter from publisher returning manuscript.
Box 4 Folder 9
Typescript carbon, with annotations;Typescript carbon;typed letter, signed;autograph letter, signed
Includes resume, biography and list of publications.
Box 4 Folder 10
Typescript carbon, with annotations;Typescript carbon;typed letter, signed;autograph letter, signed
Box 4 Folder 11
Box 4 Folder 12
Typescript papers
Contains part of the text in the three bound volumes.
Materials are arranged in chronological order, followed by undated papers arranged in alphabetical order by title.
Box 3 Folder 28
Printed materiautograph letter, signed
Sonderabdruck aus dem IX. Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Exlibris-Gesellschaft with insert stapled in; includes two loose drawings by Walter Sobotka for bookplates and the article "Sechs Neue Blätter von Walther Sobotka" which someone had inserted into the pages.
Box 3 Folder 29
Typescript carbon
Box 3 Folder 30
Typescript carbon
Box 3 Folder 31
Typescript carbon, with annotations
April 28, 1945, mailed to Mrs. Esther Kelly for Mr. W. Kaufmann.
Box 3 Folder 32
Typescript papers
Proposals for Research Bureau for Retail Training.
Box 3 Folder 28
Printed materials
Originally found inserted into "Sechs Exlibris von Walther Sobotka (Wien.)"
Box 3 Folder 33
Typescript papers, with annotations
Two copies.
Materials are arranged in chronological order, followed by undated items arranged in alphabetical order by title.
Box 1 Folder 23
Box 1 Folder 24
Box 1 Folder 25
Box 1 Folder 25
Dr 179o
Dr 179o
Dr 179o
Box 1 Folder 26
Box 1 Folder 27
Box 1 Folder 28
Box 1 Folder 29
Dr 179o
Roll A55.06
Dr 179o
Dr 179o
Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by title.
Dr 179o
Box 4 Folder 29
Autograph letter, signed.
Box 4 Folder 28
Typed letter, signed.
Box 4 Folder 30
Autograph letter, signed
Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by title.
Dr 179o
4 items : Watercolor, ink and graphite on paper and ink on paper.
Dr 179o
1 item : Ink and watercolor on paper, mounted.
Dr 179o
[Accession 2017.006]
1 item : pencil, color pencil and collage on trace paper.