# Edward Lowenstein > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edward_Lowenstein > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edward_Lowenstein.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lowenstein > Source revision: 1340857533 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Edward Lowenstein** (1913-1970) was an American architect, widely known for his work across [North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina), and especially his [modernist](/source/Modernist) home designs in the [Greensboro](/source/Greensboro,_North_Carolina) area — as well as his ardent support of civil rights: teaching architecture at the State's women's college, now [University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG)](/source/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Greensboro) and routinely hiring and promoting black colleagues[2] — long before either were freely admitted to the profession. Lowenstein's architectural work was featured in the *[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)*, *[Architectural Record](/source/Architectural_Record)*, and *[Good Housekeeping](/source/Good_Housekeeping)*.[3] In 2005, the [Weatherspoon Art Museum](/source/Weatherspoon_Art_Museum) at UNCG featured a retrospective of his work, titled *The Lowenstein Legacy.*[4] In 2007, UNCG featured another retrospective, *Close to Home: Edward Lowenstein and Modernism in Greensboro.*[5] ## Background and career Lowenstein was born in Chicago, the son of James B. and Aline G. Lowenstein (nee Goldsmith).[6] He attended [Deerfield-Shields High School](/source/Deerfield-Shields_High_School)[7] and graduated from [MIT](/source/MIT)[2] in 1935[8] with a BA in Architecture, later working as a [draftsman](/source/Draftsman) for local firms before opening his own office in [Highland Park, Illinois](/source/Highland_Park,_Illinois) in 1938.[7] Lowenstein subsequently served in the US Army Artillery Corp and the Army Corps of Engineers from 1941-1946,[6] later moving to Greensboro with wife Francis Loewenstein (nee Stern, 1913-1993),[7][9] stepdaughter of textile giant [Julius Cone](/source/Cone_sisters), who assisted Lowenstein with his large social network.[7] In 1953, he joined with Robert A. Atkinson Jr. to form the firm Loewenstein-Atkinson, becoming *Lowenstein, Atkinson and Wilson* in 1967. Of the firms more than 1,600 commissions between 1946 and 1970, more than 500 were residential, and of those about 50 were Modernist designs.[9] Loewenstein was the first white architect in North Carolina to hire african-american architects,[7] including William Streat in 1950, W. Edward (Blue) Jenkins, Major Sanders, Williex Merritt, and Clinton Gravely.[7] Loewenstein was an active member of Governor [Terry Sanford](/source/Terry_Sanford)'s North Carolina Commission on Civil Rights,[7] and he taught architecture at the *North Carolina College for Women* (now *[UNC-Greensboro](/source/UNC-Greensboro)*)[8] — in 1958, initiating a program where the female students designed a home, which was subsequently constructed, won a Duke Power Gold Medallion award for energy efficiency and was featured in [McCall’s](/source/McCall%E2%80%99s) magazine.[9] With the design of his own home in Greensboro, the carport incorporated steel beams to accommodate a boat hoist, and the living room fireplace avoided a view-blocking vertical chimney by ventilating the fireplace via an underground duct to a chimney in the yard.[9] Pursuing life-long self-directed education, Lowenstein carried around large tape recorders to learn Spanish and Italian — twice traveling to Italy to study [Andrea Palladio](/source/Andrea_Palladio).[4] He served with the Cerebral Palsy Association, the Evergreens Retirement Home, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA, on the board of the Greensboro Preservation Society. Lowenstein suffered a minor heart attack in 1968, and suffered a fatal heart attack in 1970, while cleaning his home's gutters.[4] He and his wife, Francis, had two daughters, Jane Lowenstein Levy and Laura Lowenstein Freedlander.[10] In 1982, Lowenstein's wife, Francis, gave a $100,000 gift to the [Weatherspoon Art Museum](/source/Weatherspoon_Art_Museum) in Greensboro.[11] ## Work - Greensboro Public Library (1964) - Dudley High School Gym[8] - Lowenstein-Levy residence, Granville Road, Greensboro - 910 Sunset Drive, Greensboro - 1903 Colonial Avenue, Greensboro ## Further reading - *Modernism at Home: Edward Loewenstein’s Mid-Century Architectural Innovation in the Civil Rights Era* by Patrick Lee Lewis ## References 1. ["Edward Loewenstein"](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/177148697/edward-loewenstein). Findagrave. 1. ["Edward Loewenstein: Making way for minority architects"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170818201353/https://www.curbed.com/2017/8/18/16162208/edward-loewenstein-midcentury-modern-architect-greensboro). *www.curbed.com*. 18 August 2017. Archived from [the original](https://www.curbed.com/2017/8/18/16162208/edward-loewenstein-midcentury-modern-architect-greensboro) on August 18, 2017. 1. ["Loewenstein, Edward (1913-1970)"](https://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000339). NC State University. 1. ["Ahead of his Timebec"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/959550069/?match=1&terms=edward%20lowenstein) 1. Jim Schlosser (November 8, 2007). ["UNCG Plans Tribute to Revered Architect"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/959517168/?terms=edward%20lowenstein). *News and Record* 1. ["Architect Loewenstein Dies of Heart Attack at 57"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/940688711/?match=1&terms=%22edward%20lowenstein%22). *News and Record*. July 13, 1970. 1. ["NCMH Ed Loewenstein"](https://www.ncmodernist.org/loewenstein.htm). NC Modernist. 1. ["Heart and Soul Behind Edward Loewenstein's Home"](https://www.ourstate.com/loewenstein/). *Our State Magazine*. October 23, 2014. 1. Laurie Weaver (23 October 2014). ["Heart and Soul Behind Edward Loewenstein's Home"](https://www.ourstate.com/loewenstein/). Our State. 1. ["Lowenstein Funeral is Scheduled for Tomorrow"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/940587360/?article=0e64e49c-433d-47d8-9b94-e0534319c8bb&terms=%22edward%20lowenstein%22). *Greensboro Record*. July 13, 1970. 1. ["Gallery Gets $100,000 Gift"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/942561925/?match=1&terms=edward%20lowenstein). *News and Record*. November 28, 1982. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Edward Lowenstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lowenstein) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lowenstein?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.