Henry Klumb

Henry Klumb FAIA
Henry Klumb Architect. Photo AACUPR Universidad de Puerto Rico
Born	1905 Cologne, Germany
Died	1984 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nationality	German
Occupation	Architect
Awards	Fellow of the American Institute of Architects
Practice	The Office of Henry Klumb
Buildings	UPR Centro de Estudiantes Biblioteca José M. Lázaro, Hotel La Rada, Rafael A. Mangual Coliseum
Projects	University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus Master Plan

Heinrich Klumb (1905 in Cologne, Germany – 1984 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) was a German architect who worked in Puerto Rico. He was one of Puerto Rico's most prominent architects in the mid 20th Century.

Klumb was born in Cologne, Germany in 1905. An honors graduate of the Staatliche Bauschule School of Architecture in Cologne in 1926, his design education in Germany was influenced by the Deutsche Werkbund school, a plastic arts program developed by German architect Herman Muthesius. Klumb emigrated to the United States in 1927, at the age of 22. He served as one of Frank Lloyd Wright's first apprentices (1929–1933) at Taliesin North (Spring Green, Wisconsin). While under Wright's apprentiship, Klumb worked in the design of the construction camp at Ocatillo, Arizona and led the exhibition of Wright's work in Europe in 1931. In August, 1931, while coordinating Frank Lloyd Wright travelling exhibit, Klumb married Else Schmidt, returning to the United States in November of that year. They had two children, Peter (born 1936), and Richard (born 1940). Klumb became a US citizen in 1937.

After leaving Taliesen in 1933, Klumb contributed in the design the New Deal town of Greenbelt, New Jersey. In 1937 he established along with Louis I. Kahn and Louis Metzinger, the Cooperative Planners firm in Philadelphia concentrating in the design of low-cost pre-fabricated houses. He also designed a major exhibition of Native American Art for the Golden Gate Exhibition of 1939 in San Francisco, where he lived before relocating to Los Angeles in 1941. In Los Angeles, he helped develop the city's master plan. He's responsible for the design of the Battaglia, Coty and Meador houses in Burbank, CA, as well as the Plumb house in Los Angeles during that period.

Having met New Deal brain trust planner Rexford Tugwell in the late 1930s, he was invited to move to Puerto Rico in 1944 and collaborate in the design of post-war modern Puerto Rico. A nomad for the first four decades of his life, he left Los Angeles on February 24, 1944, his 39th birthday and finally found a "home" in San Juan, Puerto Rico and devoted most of the rest of his life to building up Puerto Rico. Shortly after his arrival in Puerto Rico, Klumb worked in the Public Works Design Committee. As a member of the Design Committee, he was responsible for the design of multiple government structures throughout Puerto Rico.