Vera Jansone Architectural Collection

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.

Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Vera Jansone Architectural Collection, Ms2001-026, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
9.5 Cubic Feet 9 oversize boxes; 4 oversize folders
Creator:
Jansone, Vera E., 1915-2004
Abstract:
The Vera Jansone Architectural Collection primarily consists of drawings documenting Jansone (1915-2004)'s career as a student at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris and as a professional architect in California.
Language:
The materials in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Vera Jansone Architectural Collection, Ms2001-026, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The Vera Jansone Architectural Collection consists of 89 drawings documenting her career as a student at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris and as a professional architect in California. Her student work is comprised of drawings of the Atelier Labro, Atelier Perret, and Atelier Auguste Perret. Her later work includes drawings from the Mount Shasta Mall in Redding, CA, Commercial Development in Vancouver, WA, and Pearl Ridge Shopping Mall in Honolulu, HI. Also included are drawings from the Del Norte Medical Center, BART Civic Center, Crescent Beach, CA renderings, Fox Plaza Rapid Transit, and various stations and parks in San Francisco. Additionally, the collection contains an article in the "OWA Tour of Residences Designed by Women Architects in Marin County and Napa Valley" about the Greenbrae Residence which Jansone designed in 1975, as well as two resumes.

Biographical / historical:

Born in Latvia, Vera Jansone (1915-2004) studied architecture, engineering, and art history at the University of Latvia. Following World War II, Jansone left her homeland to accept a scholarship to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts from 1945-1949, after which she worked full time in the Atelier Le Corbusier on the reconstruction of Paris. Upon receiving her French license, Jansone started practicing with J.L. Humbaire working mostly on schools, housing, hospitals and commercial buildings. In 1950 Jansone was awarded full tuition and travel expenses under an American Association of University Women (AAUW) scholarship to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, where she studied under Mies van der Rohe. Jansone received her MS in Architecture from IIT in 1952.

After returning briefly to Paris, Jansone moved to the United States, first living in New York for a short duration and later moving with her husband to California in the early 1960s, where job opportunities were much more abundant for women architects. Some of her projects include The Fox Plaza while working with Victor Gruen Associates; underground stations for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system while working with Ernest Born; the Mt. Shasta Mall in Redding CA while working at Robert B. Liles, Inc.; and the Sycamore Medical Building, while working with T. Liles & Assoc.

External source: Inge S. Horton, "In Memoriam: Vera E. Jansone", OWA+DP Newsletter, Vol. 35:4, Jul/Aug 2007, https://owa-usa.org/newsletter.php?v=354, accessed Feb. 10, 2023.

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated to Special Collections and University Archives in 2000 and 2003.
Processing information:

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Vera Jansone Architectural Collection was completed in August 2001. Additional material was integrated in May 2003.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged chronologically according to project.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard