Elizabeth Close

Elizabeth "Lisl" Close, (née Scheu; 4 June 1912, in Vienna – 29 November 2011, in Minneapolis) was an influential female architect practicing in Minnesota. During her long partnership with her husband, Winston "Win" Close (1906-1997), she designed many notable public buildings and private homes while managing the family firm for extended periods.

Early life Born in 1912 in Vienna, Austria, to and Helene Scheu née Riesz, Elizabeth Scheu grew up in a house designed by Adolf Loos in 1913, an early practitioner of modern architecture. Artists were frequent guests in the home, including Ezra Pound and John Gunther. She became interested in architecture, in which she graduated at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna. Perhaps because she had a Jewish mother, she left Austria in August 1932—before the arrival of the Nazis—sailing aboard the SS American Merchant from London, and arrived in New York on 29 August 1932. She completed her education in Boston with an M.A. in architecture at MIT in 1935.

Career and marriage

While she was studying in Boston, Close met her future husband, Winston Close, who was also a graduate student. It was not easy for women to enter the architecture profession at the time; after being rejected by two firms, she accepted an appointment by the third and started work in Philadelphia, working under architect Oscar Stonorov.

Winston and Elizabeth Close married in 1938, at which time her professional status was so unusual that the local paper ran an article titled "Architect Weds Architect." Elizabeth ran the family firm while her husband was away during World War II and from 1950 to 1971 when he was head architect to the University of Minnesota. They designed fourteen houses in the University Grove neighborhood owned by the University of Minnesota for its professors and staff, including their own home.

Death and legacy Elizabeth Close died on 29 November 2011 at Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was a role model for a generation of women wishing to practice architecture in a male-dominated profession. An accompanying exhibit was on display at the University of Minnesota until the campus was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Selected works

1938 – Ray Faulkner House ("The Art Today House"), plus 1940 addition – Minneapolis 1942 – Starke R. Hathaway House – University Grove 1953 – Close Associates offices (add'n 1970) – Cook County 1958 – Duff House (demolished) alt1=Ray Faulkner House (1938) Close Associates office (1953), Minneapolis, is a crisp expression of their approach to modernism. alt2=Close Associates office (1953) Dr. Gove & Elsie Hambidge Residence (1960), Roseville alt3=Dr. Gove & Elsie Hambidge Residence (1960) Hendrik and Marri Oskam House (1964) (NRHP), Edina alt4=Oskam House (1964) Ferguson Hall (1985), on the University of Minnesota's West Bank campus alt5=Ferguson Hall (1985)