Carson and Lundin

Carson & Lundin, later known as Carson, Lundin & Shaw and Carson, Lundin & Thorson, was an American architectural firm based in New York City and active from 1941 until 1996. It was formed initially by the 1941 partnership between architects Robert Carson with Earl H. Lundin.

Carson & Lundin
Carson, Lundin & Shaw
Carson, Lundin & Thorson
Practice information
PartnersRobert Carson FAIA; Earl H. Lundin AIA; Arvin B. Shaw III AIA; Robert L. Thorson AIA
FoundersRobert Carson FAIA; Earl H. Lundin AIA
Founded1941
Dissolved1996
LocationNew York City
55 Public Square in Cleveland, designed by Carson & Lundin and completed in 1958.
The former 4 New York Plaza in New York City, designed by Carson, Lundin & Shaw and completed in 1969.

History and principals

The partnership of Carson & Lundin was formed in 1941 by Robert Carson and Earl H. Lundin, Resident Architects of Rockefeller Center Inc., the developers of Rockefeller Center.

Robert Carson FAIA was born July 19, 1906 in Macon, Illinois. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul P. Cret, graduating in 1928 with a BArch. He worked for Raymond Hood and Harrison & Fouilhoux, the architects of Rockefeller Center, until the completion of the center in 1939.[1] That year he and Earl H. Lundin, another Harrison employee, were named Resident Architects for the center's developers, in which role they would serve until 1957.[2]

Earl H. Lundin AIA was born January 11, 1902 in Detroit he was educated at the University of Michigan, graduating in 1923. In 1930 he moved to New York City to join the Rockefeller architects, and along with Carson was appointed Resident Architect in 1939.[3]

Building on their experience with Rockefeller Center, Carson & Lundin developed a specialty in the design of large office buildings. The first of these was 75 Rockefeller Plaza (1947), which was followed by major buildings in New York City and in other cities as far away as Tulsa and Cleveland.[2] In 1957 the partnership was reorganized to include Arvin B. Shaw III, though the name of the firm was not changed.[4]

Arvin B. Shaw III AIA was born March 7, 1916 in Los Angeles. He was educated at Yale University, graduating in 1939 with a BFA in architecture.[5] He worked for Harrison & Fouilhoux in New York City until 1941, when he joined the navy for the duration of World War II. In 1945 he returned to California and joined the office of Lutah Maria Riggs in Santa Barbara, for whom he had worked in the summers of 1937 and 1938.[6] In 1951 he returned east, joining Carson & Lundin in 1955.[5]

Carson died March 1, 1960 at the age of 53.[2] Lundin and Shaw continued the firm under the name Carson, Lundin & Shaw. Major projects completed during the 1960s include the quarter-mile long Swan Street Building (1968) in Albany, part of Empire State Plaza.[4] In 1970 they were joined by a third partner, Robert L. Thorson.[7]

Robert L. Thorson AIA was born April 9, 1930 in St. Ansgar, Iowa. He was educated at the University of Minnesota and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, graduating from the latter in 1957. He worked for I. M. Pei & Associates and Ulrich Franzen & Associates before joining Carson, Lundin & Shaw as a senior associate in 1969.[8][9]

Shaw retired in 1972 and died May 29, 1973 at the age of 57.[4] Lundin and Thorson continued under the name of Carson, Lundin & Thorson. Lundin died March 1, 1976 at the age of 74.[3] Thorson, as the sole surviving partner, incorporated the firm in May as Carson Lundin & Thorson PC.[10] Thorson died November 13, 1992 at the age of 62.[11] The firm was dissolved in 1996.[10]

Notable buildings

References
  1. "Carson, Robert" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 85.
  2. "Robert Carson, Architect, Dies," New York Times, March 4, 1960, 25.
  3. "Earl H. Lundin, 74, Architect, Dead," New York Times, March 4, 1976, 34.
  4. "Arvin Shaw 3d, 57, Architect, Dead," New York Times, May 30, 1973, 42.
  5. "Shaw, Arvin Benjamin, III" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1970): 828.
  6. Volker M. Welter, Tremaine Houses: One Family's Patronage of Domestic Architecture in Midcentury America (Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2019): 101.
  7. "News of the Realty Trade," New York Times, February 15, 1970, R6.
  8. "Architects Name Senior Associates," New York Times, May 16, 1969, 77.
  9. "Thorson, Robert Leon" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1970): 917.
  10. New York corporation records
  11. Robert Leon Thorson (1930-1992), AIA Historical Directory of American Architects. Accessed October 24, 2023.
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