Soltan, Jerzy

Jerzy Soltan, a Polish architect (1913-2005) studied at the Warsaw Technical Institute. Whilst a prisoner of war of the Germans he corresponded with Le Corbusier, who, when the war ended offered him employment. He worked with Corbu until 1949 when he decided to return to Warsaw to a job teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts, however, according to his obituary modernism was frowned upon by the communists and found himself banned teaching architecture, he was allowed to teach other classes.

A decade later he moved to the US ultimately becoming the Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies at Harvard. His relationship with Le Corbusier was cited as a key reason why Corbusier accepted the brief to design the Carpenter Center at Harvard, his only building in the US.

Awarded the AIA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education.