Robert J. Mittelstadt

Bob Mittelstadt, born in 1935 in Racine, Wisconsin, died in his longtime hometown of San Francisco on June 29, 2021 at the age of 85.

Bob’s life was defined by an indomitable spirit, which made him rise to every challenge, be it personal, physical, or professional. True to his precise, exacting character, he always carried a small tape measure in his pocket to size up a room, remodel project, picture, or martini glass dimensions.

Bob had a fierce and indisputable aesthetic sensibility that permeated not only his architecture, but every aspect of his life, including a penchant for clean-line design, an impeccable and dignified fashion sense, and secret talents for jazz piano and trumpet. His architectural aesthetic had its origins in brutalism, becoming playfully “retro-futurist”, and then humanly modern, creating distinctive, spare, warmly inhabitable buildings, always paying homage to the materials themselves.

Bob’s life-long career as an architect began at the University of Minnesota where he earned his BA in Architecture. After earning his Masters of Architecture at Yale University, he was selected for both a Rome Prize Fellowship and Fulbright Scholarship. Allowed only to accept one of the prizes, he chose the Rome Prize Fellowship at the American

Academy in Rome, and lived in Rome with his young family for two years.

Winning his first design competition for the Fremont City Hall in 1966 launched a full and diverse career in commercial, residential and institutional architecture including the CantorRodin Sculpture Garden at Stanford University and the Hawthorne Plaza building in San Francisco. His work has appeared at the San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego Museums of Art and his work was published in “GA Houses” and “Pedagogy and Place: 100 Years of Architecture Education at Yale,” by Robert A. M. Stern and Jimmy Stamp. Bob was a passionate educator who loved sharing his vocation as Director of the Program in Architecture at Stanford University, and in design studios and professorships at Cal Poly Pomona, UC Berkeley, Catholic University of America and Columbia University.

Bob dearly valued the many personal and community relationships he cultivated throughout his life in the Bay Area, Cape Cod and Rome. His diverse social circles included a daily morning coffee group in North Beach, happy hour jazz at Castagnola’s, and evenings with his buddies at the Occidental Cigar Club, along with frequent family holiday gatherings and vacations.

He was an adventuresome foodie who required a perfect martini (five second shake!), and was generous with his cigars. Bob was a North Beach fixture and advocate. He successfully lobbied the adjacent businesses to fund lighting in Washington Square, and was a member of the small renegade group Renew SF. He was also a founding supporter of SF Jazz, and supporting spouse for Legal Momentum, North Beach Citizens, and his late wife Lynda’s cherished Nurturing Minds, supporting the SEGA Girls School in Tanzania.

Despite the polio that Bob contracted at age 16, he maintained an active athletic life and became a Life Member of the Dolphin Club. With his wife Lynda, Bob traveled to all seven continents. It was no surprise when they wed in 2004 in Rome, his secondfavorite city. Undeterred by his declining health in recent years, Bob maintained an incredibly vigorous schedule, zipping tirelessly around town in his electric Smart car, impressing everyone with his contagiously positive outlook.

His wife, Lynda Spence, preceded him in death in 2019. He leaves behind his brother, David (Cynthia Sarver); son, Paul (Alison) and daughter, Sarah Mittelstadt Bean (River Bean), whom he shared with former spouse, Patricia Zimmerman; stepdaughter, Stefanie Egan; (Kevin); grandchildren Logan Bean, Fabian Bean, Sophie Mittelstadt, Owen Egan, and Paige Egan; nephew Matthew Mittelstadt and his family; and niece, Ann Spence. Donations in memory of Robert Mittelstadt may be sent to the American Academy in Rome, 7 East 60th St, New York, NY 10022, or support.aarome.org.