Monberg, Lawrence 1900 - 1983 | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Monberg, Lawrence 1900 - 1983

Monberg, Lawrence 1900 - 1983 | Wisconsin Historical Society
Dictionary of Wisconsin History.

architect; born in Copenhagen, Denmark, June 3, 1900, into a family of architects, Monberg studied in Paris and at the Institute of Technology in Chicago before beginning practice there. Shortly before World War II he and his wife bought a farm near Kenosha, Wis., and until  his move to Florida in 1970 his company was based there. Monberg and his staff were versatile, designing commercial and public buildings, theaters, apartments and shopping centers. The firm's Wisconsin work was particularly noted for its school buildings, totaling at least 30 in Wisconsin by 1970, including the Jefferson High School, an elementary school in Cobb designed without hallways,  and the campus of Carthage College in Kenosha.  In the latter case, Monberg planned and supervised the move of the school from its original home in Illinois.  Other notable works in Wisconsin include the Madison Quisling clinic and apartments and the first part of the Edgewater Hotel, all built in the Art Moderne style. Monberg was a colorful and forceful personality, once declaring that "Architecture is one of the performing arts, requiring that you convince your clients what is best for them by gentle persuasion, by diplomacy, by performance."  He died November 3, 1983, in Boca Raton, Florida. 

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[Source: Subject file, Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation.]