.
Victor Frederick Christ-Janer (3/1915-3/2008) was an architect, inventor and humanitarian with varied training in liberal arts, painting, and sculpture. Born in Elysian, Minnesota; raised in Waterville, Minnesota, Christ-Janer studied at St. Olaf College (1933-1935) in Northfield, Minnesota, and later received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with a focus in sculpture from Yale in 1940. He served as the Chief Graphic Designer for the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs under Nelson Rockefeller (1941-1942). He was drafted into the Army in November 1941 but, as a pacifist, found a non-combatant role as a camouflage artist before an honorable discharge as a Corporal in 1946, after which he returned to Yale for a Bachelor of Architecture Degree in 1947. His professional path would also lead him to an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Lake Erie College, where he designed several campus structures.
Christ-Janer worked in the offices of G. Nemeny & A.W. Geller (1946-1948), I.B.E.C. Housing, New York (1948-1949), and as a Principal in Fairfield Architects Associated before establishing his eponymous firm, Victor Christ-Janer and Associates, in New Canaan, Connecticut in 1951. Christ-Janer lectured widely on religious architecture, taught at Columbia University (NY), Stephens College (MO), and Yale University (CT), and served for seven years as the Danforth lecturer, bringing him to at least twenty campuses a year.
The firm’s architecture varied from residential to commercial, educational, institutional, and religious projects. He was known for his experimental work with concrete, some of which informed his patent filings that were focused on preventing natural disasters by designing shore protection systems. He specialized in campus plans and re-imagining religious spaces and their meanings for modern times.
Selected Project List
1952 Christ-Janer House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1953 Roles House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1953 Gratwick House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1954 Irwin House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1954 Lake Erie College Planning
Painesville, Ohio
1954 Daine House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1955 Stewart’s Market
New Canaan, Connecticut
1955 Lake Erie College Dormitory
Painesville, Ohio
1956 Center School
New Canaan, Connecticut
1956 Vista Shopping Center Planning
Vista, New York
1957 West Norwalk Congregational Church
West Norwalk, Connecticut
1958 Rotterdam Consulate
Netherlands
1958 Trench House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1959 Lake Erie College Commons
Painesville, Ohio
1959 Lake Erie College Library
Painesville, Ohio
1959 St. Vincent College and Archabbey
Latrobe, Pennsylvania
1959 Christ-Janer Speculative House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1961 St. Mary’s Abbey
Morristown, New Jersey
1961 Westport Medical Center
Westport, Connecticut
1962 Unitarian-Universalist Church
Stamford, Connecticut
1962 Birkenstock House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1963 Tenth Church of Christ-Scientist
New York, New York
1964 Prentice-Hall
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
1964 Trade Union Plaza
New Haven, Connecticut
1964 Downstate Medical Center
Student Activities Building
Brooklyn, New York
1964 H. Robert Samstag Residence
Pound Ridge, New York
1964 Church of the Master
New York, New York
1964 Fair Haven School
New Haven, Connecticut
1964 Young Women’s Christian Association
Greenwich, Connecticut
1965 Unitarian Universalist Church
Rochester, Minnesota
1965 Arnold House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1965 St. Meinrad Archabbey
St. Meinrad, Indiana
1965 Carthusian Foundation
Arlington, Vermont
1966 Church of St. Matthew and St. Timothy
New York, New York
1967 Delbarton School
Morristown, New Jersey
1967 College of St. Rose
Albany, New York
1967 Lake Erie College Theatre Arts Building
Painesville, Ohio
1967 St. Meinrad Church
St. Meinrad, Indiana
1967 Westwood Apartments
Rye, New York
1967 Unitarian Fellowship of Northern Westchester
Mt. Kisco, New York
1968 McGaw Chapel, College of Wooster
Wooster, Ohio
1968 Cedar Crest College
Allentown, Pennsylvania
1969 Central New York Psychiatric Center
Syracuse, New York
1969 State University Construction Fund
Complex “A” and “B”
State University of New York
1969 Carnegie-Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1969 R. Franco – Forest Street Development
New Canaan, Connecticut
1969 Victor Christ-Janer Office
New Canaan, Connecticut
1969 Atlantic Richfield Company
New York, New York
1970 Brien McMahon High School
Norwalk, Connecticut
1970 Bridgeport Housing
Bridgeport, Connecticut
1970 Norwalk Housing
Norwalk, Connecticut
1970 Drew University
Madison, New Jersey
1970 Dormitory Housing Study
1971 Holt Building
1975 Ackerman House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1977 Brandon House
New Canaan, Connecticut
1979 Branch House
New Canaan, Connecticut
References
Building Conservation Associates Inc.. “New Canaan Mid-Century Modern Houses.” 2008.
Liebenson, Bess. “When New Canaan Was Home To Six Prominent Architects.” The New York Times. 21 June, 1992. CN21
Pogrebin, Robin. “Victor Christ-Janer, Modernist Architect, Dies at 92.” The New York Times. 8 May, 2008.
Victor Christ-Janer Papers (MS 2010). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
