Norma Evenson

American historian (1928-2021) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Norma Doris Evenson (September 3, 1928 – June 7, 2021) was an American historian of architecture and urban planning. A 1975 Guggenheim Fellow, she won the 1979 Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award for her book Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978 (1979), and she wrote Chandigarh (1966), Le Corbusier: The Machine and the Grand Design (1969), Two Brazilian Capitals (1973), and The Indian Metropolis: A View Toward the West (1989). She was also a professor at University of California, Berkeley for thirty years.

BornSeptember 3, 1928

Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.

DiedJune 7, 2021 (aged 92)

OccupationHistorian

Awards

- Guggenheim Fellowship (1975)
- Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award (1979)

Quick facts Born, Died ...

Norma Evenson
Born	(1928-09-03)September 3, 1928 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	June 7, 2021(2021-06-07) (aged 92)
Occupation	Historian
Awards	Guggenheim Fellowship (1975) Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award (1979)

Academic background
Alma mater	George Washington University Catholic University of America American University Yale University
Thesis	Chandigarh: A Study of the City and its Monuments (1963)
Academic work
Discipline	Architectural history urban history
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley

Biography

Norma Doris Evenson was born on September 3, 1928, in Minneapolis.^[1] She obtained her BA from George Washington University in 1950 and her MFA from the Catholic University of America on 1951.^[2] After a few years as an art teacher and consultant in Montgomery County, Maryland, as well as a year of study at the American University (1957-1958), she went to Yale University, where she got her MA in 1960 and her PhD in 1963.^[2] She also worked as a research assistant at the Yale University Art Gallery while doing graduate studies at Yale.^[1]

In 1963, Evenson became an assistant professor of architectural history at the University of California, Berkeley,^[2] where she was part of the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design.^[3] Kathleen James-Chakraborty said that Evenson was hired in part due to student demand for diversity at UC Berkeley.^[4] She was promoted to associate professor in 1969 and full professor in 1972.^[2] She retired from UC Berkeley in 1993.^[5]

Evenson wrote on urban history, including urban planning in India and Brazil.^[3] In 1975,^[6] she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to study the era following Haussmann's renovation of Paris.^[2] She won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award for her 1979 book Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978.^[7] She was appointed Fellow of the Society of Architectural Historians in 2009.^[8] Other books she wrote include Chandigarh (1966), Le Corbusier: The Machine and the Grand Design (1969), Two Brazilian Capitals (1973), and The Indian Metropolis: A View Toward the West (1989).^[3] She also received grants from the American Philosophical Society and Social Science Research Council.^[1]

Evenson's personal library of architectural history materials was destroyed in the Oakland firestorm of 1991.^[9]

Evenson died on June 7, 2021, in the Washington metropolitan area; she was 92.^[3]

Bibliography

Chandigarh (1966)^[10]^[11]
Le Corbusier: The Machine and the Grand Design (1969)^[12]^[13]
Two Brazilian Capitals (1973)^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]
Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978 (1979)^[22]^[23]^[24]^[25]^[26]^[27]^[28]
The Indian Metropolis: A View Toward the West (1989)^[29]^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33]^[34]

References

[1]
National Directory of Latin Americanists: Biographies of 2,688 Specialists in the Social Sciences & Humanities. Library of Congress Hispanic Foundation. 1972. p. 184.
[2]
Reports of the President and of the Treasurer. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 1975. p. 37.
[3]
"CED Professor Emerita Norma Evenson Has Died". UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design. Archived from the original on April 26, 2025. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
[4]
James-Chakraborty, Kathleen (2021). "Accreditation Requirements and the Global History of Architecture". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 80 (2): 136–139. doi:10.1525/jsah.2021.80.2.136. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 48766426.
[5]
"SAYING GOODBYE" (PDF). ced.berkeley.edu. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
[6]
"Norma Evenson". Guggenheim Fellows.
[7]
"[Awards]". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 39 (3). 1980. doi:10.2307/989565. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 989565.
[8]
"Obituary: SAH Fellow Norma Evenson (1929-2021)". Society of Architectural Historians. Archived from the original on January 2, 2025. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
[9]
Paddock, Richard C. "Oakland's Elite Lose Irreplaceable History". The Los Angeles Times. p. A30.
[10]
Ascher, Charles S. (1967). "Review of Chandigarh". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 370: 231–232. ISSN 0002-7162. JSTOR 1038123.
[11]
Besset, Maurice (1968). "Review of Chandigarh". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 27 (2): 148–150. doi:10.2307/988474. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 988474.
[12]
Burchard, John E. (1971). "Review of The Modern City: Planning in the 19th Century; Tony Garnier: The Cité Industrielle; Le Corbusier: The Machine and the Grand Design". The Art Bulletin. 53 (1): 133–134. doi:10.2307/3048822. ISSN 0004-3079. JSTOR 3048822.
[13]
Serenyi, Peter (1971). "Review of Who Was Le Corbusier?; Le Corbusier, Elemente einer Synthese; Pessac de Le Corbusier; Le Corbusier: The Machine and the Grand Design". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 30 (3): 255–259. doi:10.2307/988757. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 988757.
[14]
Ascher, Charles S. (1974). "Review of Two Brazilian Capitals: Architecture and Urbanism in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia; Brasilia, Plan and Reality: A Study of Planned and Spontaneous Urban Development". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 411: 234–235. doi:10.1177/000271627441100177. ISSN 0002-7162. JSTOR 1041072.
[15]
Blair, Thomas (1973). "Review of Two Brazilian Capitals: Architecture and Urbanism in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia". Built Environment (1972-1975). 2 (12): 695. ISSN 0045-3463. JSTOR 43677423.
[16]
Burchard, John Ely (1974). "The Brazilian Model". The Virginia Quarterly Review. 50 (1): 138–143. ISSN 0042-675X. JSTOR 26435414.
[17]
Fogle, David P. (1977). "Review of Two Brazilian Capitals: Architecture and Urbanism in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 36 (3): 212–213. doi:10.2307/989082. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 989082.
[18]
Jellicoe, Geoffrey (1975). "Review of Two Brazilian Capitals". Journal of Latin American Studies. 7 (1): 190. doi:10.1017/S0022216X00017053. ISSN 0022-216X. JSTOR 156298.
[19]
Serenyi, Peter (1975). "Review of Two Brazilian Capitals: Architecture and Urbanism in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília". The Art Bulletin. 57 (3): 461–463. doi:10.2307/3049421. ISSN 0004-3079. JSTOR 3049421.
[20]
Smith, C. T. (1976). "Review of Two Brazilian Capitals: Architecture and Urbanism in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília". Urban History Yearbook. [3]: 92–94. ISSN 0306-0845. JSTOR 44608968.
[21]
"Review of Two Brazilian Capitals: Architecture and Urbanism in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília". The Town Planning Review. 46 (3): 348. 1975. ISSN 0041-0020. JSTOR 40103138.
[22]
Collins, Peter (1980). "Review of Paris: A Century of Change 1878-1978". JAE. 33 (4). doi:10.2307/1424696. ISSN 0149-2993. JSTOR 1424696.
[23]
Hydak, Michael G. (1982). "Review of Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978". The French Review. 55 (6): 931–932. ISSN 0016-111X. JSTOR 390696.
[24]
Kain, Roger (1981). "Review of Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978". Geographical Review. 71 (3): 340–341. doi:10.2307/214705. ISSN 0016-7428. JSTOR 214705.
[25]
Maitland, Barry S. (1981). "Review of Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978". Leonardo. 14 (4): 345. doi:10.2307/1574658. ISSN 0024-094X. JSTOR 1574658.
[26]
Olsen, Donald J. (1981). "Review of Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978". Urban History Yearbook. [8]: 229–230. ISSN 0306-0845. JSTOR 44609338.
[27]
Sutcliffe, Anthony (1980). "Review of Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 39 (2): 159–160. doi:10.2307/989589. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 989589.
[28]
"Review of Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978". The Wilson Quarterly. 4 (2): 164–165. 1980. ISSN 0363-3276. JSTOR 40255825.
[29]
Archer, John (1992). "Review of An Imperial Vision: Indian Architecture and Britain's Raj; The Indian Metropolis: A View toward the West". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 51 (1): 85–87. doi:10.2307/990642. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 990642.
[30]
King, Anthony D. (1995). "Writing Colonial Space. A Review Article". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 37 (3): 541–554. doi:10.1017/S0010417500019800. ISSN 0010-4175. JSTOR 179219.
[31]
King, Anthony (1990). "Review of The Indian Metropolis, A View Toward the West.; An Imperial Vision: Indian Architecture and Britain's Raj.; The Tradition of Indian Architecture, Continuity, Controversy and Change Since 1850". The Journal of Asian Studies. 49 (4): 964–967. doi:10.2307/2058307. ISSN 0021-9118. JSTOR 2058307.
[32]
Melvin, Jeremy (1990). "Review of An Imperial Vision. Indian Architecture and Britain's Raj; The Indian Metropolis. A View toward the West; Continuity, Controversy and Change since 1850: The Tradition of Indian Architecture". The Burlington Magazine. 132 (1049): 585–586. ISSN 0007-6287. JSTOR 884377.
[33]
Michell, George (1991). "Review of An Imperial Vision: Indian Architecture and Britain's Raj; The Indian Metropolis: A View towards the West; The Tradition of Indian Architecture: Continuity, Controversy and Change Since 1850". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 54 (3): 602–603. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0000118X. ISSN 0041-977X. JSTOR 619089.
[34]
Olsen, Donald J. (1991). "Review of The Indian Metropolis: A View toward the West". The American Historical Review. 96 (3): 936–937. doi:10.2307/2162585. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 2162585.

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