Peter Kamnitzer

Peter Kamnitzer (1921–1998) was a German-born American architect. Born in Germany, he emigrated first to Israel and secondly to the United States, where he settled in Los Angeles, California. He was a professor of architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). With NASA and General Electric, he invented a graphic design tool used to predict what impact buildings would have on environments. He was a proponent of adding greenery and leisurely facilities to apartment complexes. He designed many residential buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, including public housing.

Early life Hans Peter Kamnitzer was born on May 13, 1921, in Berlin, Germany. He emigrated to Israel.

Career Kamnitzer started his career at the National Planning Department for the Government of Israel. He also designed the Keck Theater on the campus of Occidental College(1989).

Additionally, Kamnitzer was a professor of architecture at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, then the Perloff Hall School of Architecture and Urban Planning, from 1965 to his death. By 1970, with NASA and General Electric, he had developed a graphic design tool to anticipate the effects of planned buildings. This resulted in the experimental film "Intuval" (1970).

In 1987, a garage in a project under construction in La Jolla, collapsed, which resulted in a lawsuit against Kamnitzer's firm, which lost a huge sum of money in the process, resulting in Kamnitzer closing down his firm. He struggled, working for different architectural firms without much success.

Personal life and death

Kamnitzer's brother Heinz,(1917-2001), was a marxist politician living in Berlin.

Kamnitzer had a wife, Marietta, whom he was married from 1951 till his passing. They had two sons, David and Jordan. He died on June 25, 1998, resulting from a massive heart attack. His ashes are interred at the urn garden of Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, next to the Heather Condominiums project (1970), and the Meadows Apartments, which were both designed by Kamnitzer, Marks, and Partners.