Obituary for R. Allan Christianson

R. Allan Christianson, 77, died peacefully at home on May 23, 2022, 12 years after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. 
Allan knew he was an artist from an early age and dedicated himself to manifesting his vision through architecture, drawing, and painting. He brought his commitment to architecture as an expression and source of human connection and beauty to all of his designs. In later years, he devoted himself to painting. 
Allan is survived by his best friend and former wife, Linda, and their son Jess, as well as a brother, Milton, and sister, Mary. His son Will preceded him in death. 
Born on September 18, 1944 in Dayton, Ohio, Allan was the oldest son of Rudy A. Christianson and Virginia Garrett Christianson. The family moved first to Cleveland and then to Minneapolis in 1953. He graduated from Southwest High School in 1962, where he was instrumental in starting the wrestling team and won the Twin Cities Championship in his weight class. 
He attended the University of Minnesota, where he studied under Ralph Rapson, and graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. Allan was a longtime member of the AIA (American Institute of Architects). He worked for firms in Minneapolis and then New York City, where he met his wife, Linda Kiel. They were married in 1981. After the birth of their first son, they moved to New Jersey, where Allan practiced until his death. 
Among Allan’s notable design projects are: 329 Park Avenue, East Orange, NJ, which was awarded New Jersey Housing Project of the Year; Legion Athletic Fields and Community Center, Palmyra, NJ; Pittsburgh Korean War Veterans Memorial, winner of a national design competition; and Rutgers University Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also the winner of a national design competition. 

.  The description of the one at Rutgers makes me want to see it in person.  His use of light was so creative.

"The memorial, located near Scott Hall at the corner of College Avenue and Hamilton Street, was designed by architect R. Allen Christianson. The result of his design is a polished black granite wall with seventeen slotted, triangular projections and a sand blasted map of Vietnam. There are sixteen names of Rutgers alumni, along with their date of graduation, engraved into each slab of granite. Each triangular wedge is lit up by the rising sun each morning, until they are all illuminated together at noon."

SOURCE:  http://www2.scc.rutgers.edu/ead/uarchives/VietnamMemorialb.ht

.  The description of the one at Rutgers makes me want to see it in person.  His use of light was so creative.

"The memorial, located near Scott Hall at the corner of College Avenue and Hamilton Street, was designed by architect R. Allen Christianson. The result of his design is a polished black granite wall with seventeen slotted, triangular projections and a sand blasted map of Vietnam. There are sixteen names of Rutgers alumni, along with their date of graduation, engraved into each slab of granite. Each triangular wedge is lit up by the rising sun each morning, until they are all illuminated together at noon."

SOURCE:  http://www2.scc.rutgers.edu/ead/uarchives/VietnamMemorialb.html

The one in Pittsburgh is also dramatic.