This lecture will delve into the career and projects of Olof Dahlstrand, a sought-after architect and renderer, operating in San Francisco first and later in the Monterey Bay Peninsula from the mid-1940s till the early 1990s. A native of Wisconsin, he landed in the Bay Area at a pivotal moment of developmental change in post-war California. His professional associations with Frank and Lois Langhorst, as well as with Skidmore, Owing & Merrill, were critical in his ascent as a critical figure in the conception and execution of canonical works of the golden age of California Modernism.

Together with his architectural achievements, Dahlstrand acquired national distinction for his super rendering skills. His renderings were among the most persuasive tools to have highly regarded commissions built. Among the most noteworthy are the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, designed by John Carl Warnecke & Associates, and the Oakland Museum of California by Roche & Dinkeloo.

In covering the professional trajectory of Olof Dahstrand, biographical anecdotes and key encounters will be intermingled with the analysis of built and unbuilt projects with a particular focus on his contribution to the architectural legacy of the Monterey Bay Peninsula.

To learn more about future AIA Monterey Bay events, visit artsandarchitecturemonterey.org

Practicing Architect and Design Agitator, Pierluigi Serraino's projects and writings have been published in journals such as Architectural Record, A+U (Japan), and The Architectural Review (UK). Among his book Modernism Rediscovered (Taschen, 2000), The Creative Architect: Inside the Great Personality Study (Monacelli Press, 2016), and most recently Ezra Stoller: A Photographic History of Modern American Architecture (Phaidon, 2019).