Arthur Yuenger, Architect

Member of NCARB
(National Council of Architectural Registration Boards)

Maharishi Sthapatya
Veda® architect

About Me

Education:
Bachelor of Architecture, University of Illinois, 1962.

Architectural Registration:
Iowa 2003 (current); Colorado, 1970 (current);
New York, 1968 (original); California, (1979)

Professional History Synopsis:
A major influence on my career was my introduction to building construction as a carpenter's helper at my father’s architectural woodworking company located in College Point, Long Island, New York. It was there that I learned the techniques of fine architectural woodworking from skilled European craftsmen. The company produced custom woodworking items such as office and residential wall paneling, cabinets, bank teller counters, ornate wood doors, and executive conference tables. Much of the work was installed in high-rise office buildings in Manhattan.

After graduation from college, I worked full-time for the company. My duties included estimating, and drawing full-size shop drawings indicating the manner in which the woodworking items were fabricated and installed at various job sites. This experience required coordination with other building trades resulting in my gaining knowledge and understanding, at a very early age, of the construction aspect of architecture. My interest in the assembly of building components has remained to this day. I have come to intimately understand what the late great architect Mies Van Der Roe was quoted as saying: "God is in the details."

Realizing the need to obtain registration as an architect, I left the woodworking business to serve my apprenticeship with distinguished architectural firms in New York, NY. I interned with Paul Rudolph (who served as dean of Yale’s architecture school), Ulrich Franzen and Victor Lundy. In 1968, I qualified for, and received, my New York State architectural license.

During the decade of the sixties, I developed an interest in skiing, and joined a group in Manhattan who skied in Vermont on weekends. It became apparent to me that I had to master the sport, so I moved to Aspen, Colorado. At that time, Aspen was just beginning to develop, and architects were in demand. I decide to stay and obtained my Colorado architecture license.

A major portion of my architectural career was practiced in the Aspen area working for various architectural firms as a project architect. Whenever I had the opportunity, I would design houses for my own clients, most of whom (if not all) requested low- budget structures which could not sustain an income for me. However, I was fortunate to have many architect friends who landed lucrative commissions, and who appreciated my talent for producing fine architectural detailing. There was always an invitation to work on high-end houses and commercial buildings.

An important part of my career has been (and still is) my participation in World Peace Assemblies: gatherings of people who enliven the infinite value of consciousness by means of the group practice of the Transcendental Meditation® technique. In 1989, I moved to Washington, DC to participate in a special project at the request of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the technique. He had asked for volunteers to move to the District to demonstrate the positive influence of a large group (of approximately 400 participants) enlivening pure consciousness twice a day.

When the successful demonstration ended in 1991, I returned to Colorado at the request of Bill Lipsey, principal of River Studio Architects, to assist with the production drawings and design of two houses and a condominium project. After those projects were completed, I returned to Washington for several weeks to participate in yet another demonstration of the effects of a large group experiencing and enlivening transcendental consciousness. Returning again to Aspen, I worked as a project architect for two other distinguished Aspen architects: Michael Ernemann of the Ernemann Group; and Scott Lindenau, principal of Studio B.

In February of 1999 I moved to Fairfield, Iowa at the request of architect Jon Lipman, to work on Sthapatya Veda buildings. I produced the construction drawings for three residences and two apartment buildings. During the winter of 1999/2000 I attended the Maharishi Sthaptya Veda® Consultants Training Course in Holland to learn more about this ancient discipline.

Upon completion of the course, I received an invitation to return to Colorado to design three houses for two different clients; an offer I could not refuse. After the architectural drawings for those projects were completed, I worked once again as a contract architect for Studio B, producing the construction drawings for two small but highly sophisticated (and structurally complex) accessory dwelling units located in Aspen. One was budgeted at $350,000 (but not built). The other was constructed for approximately $500,000 (see portfolio: Dwelling Unit Addition). I also was awarded a commission as principal architect to design an extremely complex bedroom addition of approximately 1000 square feet with a budget of $450,000 (see portfolio: Bedroom Addition).

When the 911 tragedy occurred in 2001, I returned to Fairfield, Iowa, and participated in another peace assembly to create coherence for the United States (which unfortunately could not prevent the Iraq war because of an insufficient number of participants). However, fortunately for me, Jon Lipman needed help with several Sthapatya Veda projects—two large houses (one in Fairfield, the other in Virginia), a very complex office building renovation, and a student dormitory, both located in Fairfield.

I currently reside in Fairfield, Iowa.