Collection ID: MS.0048

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Polivka, Jaroslav Joseph, 1886-1960 and University Archives
Abstract:
Papers of J.J. Polivka, internationally renowned Czechoslovakian structural engineer. Collection documents his collaboration with Frank Lloyd Wright on many of Wright's later projects including the Guggenheim Museum, and the proposed Butterfly Bridge. Collection consists of correspondence, clippings, drawings, publications, photographs and photograph negatives.
Extent:
6.26 Linear Feet and 11 manuscript boxes, 2 half manuscript boxes, and 3 negative storage boxes
Language:
Collection material in English.
Preferred citation:

[Description and dates], Box/Folder number, MS 48, J.J. Polivka papers, 1918-1983, University Archives, The State University of New York at Buffalo.

See the Archives' preferred citations instructions for additional information.

Background

Scope and Content:

The bulk of the collection spans the years 1939-1959 and contains correspondence, notes, drawings, clippings, and publications—many of which document the collaboration of J.J. Polivka and Frank Lloyd Wright. Notable projects documented are the San Francisco Butterfly Bridge, the Johnson Research Tower, the Guggenheim Museum, the Morris House, the Rogers Lacy Hotel and the Belmont Pavilion. Correspondence between Polivka and Wright primarily concern financial and travel arrangements. There is also a considerable amount of research material, which consists of correspondence between Polivka and other professionals of the time. Additionally, the collection includes drafts of letters and articles by Polivka including "What's It Like to Work with Wright," "The Aesthetics of Bridges," and "Are Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesins Educational Institutions." Photograph subjects within Series IV include Polivka, Wright, family, friends, and students at Taliesin West, as well as project planning.

Biographical / Historical:
Architects + Engineers = Structures
In 1946 Wright (1867-1959) wrote an article in Architectural Forum about the difficulties he had with the steel company engineers who condemned his Fallingwater house (1934-1937) structural design. Wright wrote to Edgar Kaufmann, his client, saying: 'I should like this Box [with this letter] put under the corner stone of your house when the cornerstone is laid. I want this done so that when the house is torn down, 2,000 years from now, people will learn what complete damn fools these engineers are!' Prague-born structural engineer Jaroslav Josef Polivka (1886-1960) responded to the article by sending Wright an enthusiastic letter: 'I am admiring you as an engineer, although, according to a quotation in the last Forum issue, these engineers are complete damn fools. You may be right since the engineers in their structural conceptions are very seldom guided by eternal laws of the Nature ... The average engineer knows only beams, girders, columns and any deviation from his every day tools is considered as unusual, crazy, or dangerous.' The letter brought in return Wright's invitation to Taliesin and opened a professional relationship that lasted until Wright's death. (41)*

*Margolius, Ivan. <em>Architects + Engineers = Structures.</em> Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Academy, 2002.

Date Event
1886
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia
1909
Pursues Undergraduate Studies in engineering at the College of Technology, Prague, Czechoslovakia
1911
Pursues Graduate Studies in engineering at the Federal Polytechnic Institute, Zurich, Switzerland
1909-1911
Supervises construction of the Ohre Arch River Bridge, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia
1911-1916
Serves as Chief Engineer for the Societa Italiana Cemento Armato in Florence, Italy and Zurich, Switzerland
1917
Earns Doctorate of Technology of Science Degree from the Prague Institute of Technology
1917-1918
Serves in WWI as a conscript in the Austro-Hungarian Army
1919
Returns to Prague to open an office of architecture and engineering. Works for the Czechoslovakian Ministry of Public Works
1927-1928
Designs Chicago and Habich Buildings in Prague
1937
Designs and builds the Czechoslovakian Pavilion, in collaboration with Czech functionalistic architect, JaromĂ­r Krejcar, for the Paris Exposition of 1937
1938
Designs the Rotterdam Corn Exchange, Holland
1939
Designs and builds the Czechoslovakian Pavilion, in collaboration with Kamil Roscot, for the New York World's Fair
Immigrates to America, avoiding World War II, and becomes a Research Associate and Lecturer at University of California, Berkeley. Founds a photo-elastic lab where he continues his work on stress analysis
1941
Collaborates with Victor Di Suvero on an invention of structural technique, applies for and receives a patent for improvements in structures
1945
Leaves University of California, Berkeley to continue independent design and research
1946
Writes a letter to Frank Lloyd Wright in response to an Architectural Forum interview, which begins a business partnership that lasts until Wright's death in 1959
1946-1959
Collaborates with Wright on Modern Gallery (Guggenheim Museum), New York, New York
1946-1951
Collaborates with Wright on Johnson Wax Tower, Racine, Wisconsin
Investigates engineering of "tap-root" foundation
1946
Collaborates with Wright on Rogers Lacy Hotel, Dallas, Texas
Investigates Thermolux Glass for hotel exterior
1949
Collaborates with Wright on V.C. Morris House (Seacliff), San Francisco, California
1949-1952
Collaborates with Wright on Butterfly Bridge, San Francisco, California
1950
Takes a part-times position as Research Associate and Lecturer at Stanford University
1956
Collaborates with Wright on Belmont Racetrack Pavilion, Long Island, New York
Collaborates with Wright on the Illinois (a mile-high skyscraper), Chicago, Illinois
1960
Dies at age 74 in Berkeley, California
Acquisition information:

Donated by Elizabeth Houdek, Jan Polivka and Milos Polivka, children of Jaroslav J. Polivka, on November 7, 1982, through the good offices of Katka Houdek Hammond, of Buffalo, New York. Additional materials were donated by Katka Houdek Hammond, October 9, 1997.

Additional materials were donated by Ronald M. Polivka, grandson of Jaroslav J. Polivka, January, 2022. Materials were received by mail in the University Archives, January 14, 2022.

Processing information:

Collection processed by Archives staff, circa 1984, 1997. Additional description added and finding aid revised by Grace Timper, February 2018. Additional description added and finding aid revised by Jessica Hollister, March 2022.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged by format into seven series: I. Correspondence, II. Books, III. Notes, IV. Drawings, V. Clippings, VI. Photographs. and VII. Research materials. Series VII. is further arranged into two sub-series, A and B.

Accruals:

No further accruals are expected to this collection.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

The J.J. Polivka papers, 1918-1983 are open for research.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Copyright of papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the University Archives before publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Description and dates], Box/Folder number, MS 48, J.J. Polivka papers, 1918-1983, University Archives, The State University of New York at Buffalo.

See the Archives' preferred citations instructions for additional information.

LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
420 Capen Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260, United States
CONTACT:
716-645-2916
lib-archives@buffalo.edu