Oral history interview with Robert J. Frasca

Collection

Identifier: SR 9308

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Robert J. Frasca was conducted by Charles Digregorio in Portland, Oregon, on July 18, 1978, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library's oral history program.

In this interview, Frasca discusses how he became interested in architecture. He talks about studying architecture at the University of Cincinnati, the University of Michigan, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also discusses working with architect Woodie Garber in Cincinnati. He shares his reasons for moving to Portland, Oregon, in 1959, and talks about buildings in the Portland area that he designed while working at the Wolff and Zimmer architecture firm. He also briefly discusses the period he spent in Europe studying architecture in 1961. He speaks about his designs for the Oregon Historical Society building, and for the World Trade Center in downtown Portland. He closes the interview by sharing his thoughts on the future of Portland.

Dates

1978 July 18

Creator

Frasca, Robert J. (Interviewee, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Robert Joseph Frasca was born in Niagara Falls, New York, in 1933. He studied architecture at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, and finished his bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He also earned a master's degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1959, he moved to Portland, Oregon, where he worked at the Wolff and Zimmer architecture firm and served on the Portland Planning Commission before temporarily leaving Portland for an architecture fellowship in Europe. After returning, he co-founded ZGF Architects in 1966. He designed multiple buildings in Portland, including the Doernbecher Children's Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University, the Oregon Convention Center, the Portland International Airport, and buildings for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Oregon Historical Society. He also designed Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Frasca married Marilyn Margaret Buys in 1966, and they had two children. After her death in 2000, he later remarried, to Jeanne Giordano. Frasca died in 2018.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Frasca in his interview; “Bob Frasca, architect who helped define Portland's skyline, dies at 84,” Oregonian, January 9, 2018.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 audiocassette (58 min., 34 sec.) + transcript (25 pages))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Robert J. Frasca conducted by Charles Digregorio on July 18, 1978. Frasca discusses his career as an architect in Oregon, particularly his designs for the Oregon Historical Society building, and for the World Trade Center Portland.