Celebrating the life and impact of Professor Emeritus Stephen H. Grabow

LAWRENCE – Professor Emeritus of Architecture Stephen H. Grabow passed away on January 19 at age 81. With a career at the University of Kansas that spanned four decades, Dr. Grabow will be remembered as a mentor to two generations of students and a key figure in the history of the architecture department. A memorial celebration will take place on April 12, 3-5 p.m., at Milton's Cafe in Lawrence – RSVP.  

Dr. Grabow joined the KU faculty in 1973 after professional experiences in New York, Tehran, and Tunisia where he served in the United States Peace Corps as an architect and planner. Until his retirement in 2017, he taught courses on the history of urban design, principles of modern architecture, architectural design studios, and a variety of courses in the areas of history, theory and criticism. He also served as director of graduate studies, department chair, and other administrative positions.

His life as a young professional overseas led him to understand the transformational power of immersive experiences abroad. He was instrumental in developing the KU Department of Architecture into a national leader for architectural study abroad education. He founded a German university exchange program and served as advisor for the Danish and German study abroad programs for over two decades. As a teacher, he led programs in Berlin, London, Siena and Tunisia.

A noted scholar, Grabow authored of over twenty journal articles and several book chapters on urban design and the relationships between architecture, art and science. His article, “Foundations for a Radical Concept of Planning” (1973, with Allan Heskin), in the Journal of the American Institute of Planners is considered the seminal work on the subject. He published five books: Christopher Alexander: The Search for a New Paradigm in Architecture (1983); Architecture and the Future (1985, with Paul Heyer, eds.); Architectural Education: Where We Are (1992, with Michael Dennis and William Porter, eds.); Vitruvius on The Plains: Architectural Thought at Kansas, 1912-2012 (2012, ed.); and The Architecture of Use: Aesthetics and Function in Architectural Design (2015, with Kent Spreckelmeyer).

Beyond his work at school and departmental levels, Grabow served the university as Faculty Ombudsman, Chief Marshal of the University, and on numerous committees that included the Executive Council of Graduate Faculty, the Student Housing Advisory Board, the Committee on Distinguished Professorships, the Center for Dispute and Conflict Resolution, the European Studies Program Committee, Chair of the University Commencement Committee, and the Provost’s Faculty Advisory Group. He also served on boards of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, the Architectural Research Council, and the Journal of Architectural Education.

He received numerous grants and fellowships that included the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Program, the National Endowment for the Arts, the KU Hall Center for the Humanities, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He received awards from the American Institute of Architects, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kousaku-Sha Foundation (Tokyo), the Danish International Studies Program (Copenhagen) and was the recipient of the Bradley Award for Excellence in Teaching Architecture at KU.

Dr. Grabow worked as an independent architectural and urban design consultant in Lawrence and Kansas City during his time on the KU faculty. His most significant local work was the Southwestern Bell Telecommunications Tower in downtown Lawrence in 1981, with Tom Williams and Design-Build Architects.

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Stephen Grabow studied architecture at the University of Michigan urban design at Pratt Institute, landscape architecture at the University of California at Berkeley, and urban planning at the University of Washington.

Learn more about Professor Grabow in this tribute written by his friend Bill Steele of Lawrence Modern: In Memoriam: Stephen H. Grabow.