[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 57 (Thursday, April 10, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO RALPH RAPSON

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                           HON. KEITH ELLISON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 2008

  Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life 
of Ralph Rapson, one of the country's most influential architects. His 
Modernist designs were not only significant in the State of Minnesota 
but can been seen around the world. While I regret to report the recent 
passing of Ralph Rapson at the age of 93, I am grateful for his talent, 
his dedication and his passion; all of which we were lucky to have him 
share with the state of Minnesota.
  Born in Alma, Michigan in 1914, Ralph earned his degree in 
architecture at the University of Michigan. In 1939 he designed a 
streamlined rocking chair that went on to bear his name, the Rapson 
Rapid Rocker. From 1942-1946 he taught at the Illinois Institute of 
Technology and then at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 
1946-1954.
  Mr. Rapson's relationship with Minnesota began over 50 years ago when 
he came to the University of Minnesota to serve as the Dean of the 
Architecture School. From 1954-1984 as the Dean he went on to influence 
the lives and careers of many architecture and design students. Ralph 
Rapson's defining work was the innovative and asymmetrical themed 
former Guthrie Theater building across from the Minneapolis Sculpture 
Garden.
  Mr. Rapson's resume also includes the Rarig Center for Performing 
Arts on the University of Minnesota campus, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic 
Church in St. Paul Park, the Riverside Plaza housing complex in 
Minneapolis and the former Pillsbury House in Wayzata and Prince of 
Peace Lutheran Church for the Deaf in St. Paul. He also designed the 
United States Embassies in Stockholm, Sweden and Copenhagen. Most 
recently Mr. Rapson's Minneapolis-based company had developed a line of 
prefabricated modern houses called the Rapson Greenbelt.
  In closing, Madam Speaker, I wish to express my condolences to those 
surviving Ralph Rapson: his son Rip of Birmingham, Mich., who is 
president of the Kresge Foundation and Toby, of Minneapolis, who is 
also an architect and six grandchildren. Mr. Rapson today we thank you.

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