October 28, 2002

UCSC publishes book on work of Monterey Bay architect

By Ann M. Gibb

The first book on the life and work of Monterey Bay architect Marcel Sedletzky has been published by UCSC. Marcel Sedletzky: Architect and Teacher (Wild Coast Press, UC Santa Cruz Library, 2002) presents a personal view of a designer whose achievements went relatively unrecognized during his lifetime.

"Sedletzky rarely talked about himself; in fact I learned that even his friends and colleagues didn't know much about his life. But I found a consistent appreciation for his professional rigor, his insistence that things be done 'right'," said author Bill Staggs, who spent three years researching and writing Marcel Sedletzky.

One of Marcel Sedletzky's designs was the Jackson House in Carmel, built in 1962. Photo: Courtesy Sedletzky Archives, Special Collections, UCSC Library

Sedletzky's architecture is recognized for combining modernity with a sensitivity to the views and terrain of the California landscape. His style is a "blend of Le Corbusier's forceful modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright's organic fusion of housing form with place," writes John King, the San Francisco Chronicle's urban design critic, in his introduction to Marcel Sedletzky.

Sedletzky, who was born in Russia in 1923 and immigrated to the United States after WWII, spent the early years of his architecture career with the Los Angeles firm Victor Gruen Associates. He moved to Carmel in 1958 and began his own practice two years later.

Seventeen of Sedletzky's many designs were realized in distinctive and dramatic residences along the Central California Coast. He also taught in the architecture program at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, for 18 years. Sedletzky died in Mexico in 1995.

An unusual feature of Marcel Sedletzky is the extensive documentation of the architect's relationship with clients during the process of creating a home. In addition to interviewing clients and others who lived in Sedletzky houses, Staggs was one of the first to go through Sedletzky's archives, which are now housed in Special Collections at the UCSC library. The archive includes hundreds of drawings and working sketches by Sedletzky, many of which were used to illustrate the book, along with photographs of Sedletzky's life and work.

For more information on Marcel Sedletzky: Architect and Teacher call (831) 459-4211. To order a copy, please contact Hennessey and Ingalls, Art and Architecture Books, (310) 458-9074.

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