Eduard Dreier

Eduard (Ed) Dreier attended architectural school in Zurich, Switzerland. He worked at top firms in Zurich as an Apprentice. By the late 1940s, he had immigrated to the United States seeking work. In the early 1950’s, he was selected to work with Oscar Niemeyer in Brazil to build the new capital of Brasilia, a very prestigious appointment. His plan was to bring his parents from Switzerland to Salt Lake City because they were new converts to the LDS Church, then he would move to Brazil once they were settled. Once in Salt Lake City, however, Ed believed that his parents would not be able to survive in this culture due to the language and their age. Immigrating to the United States when he was well into his 70’s, his father fortunately lived to by 94 years old. With his family situation

settled in the early 1950’s, he began an architectural career in Salt Lake City. With his Bauhaus roots and training, Ed made the important early decision to design very contemporary, perfectly detailed architecture in an ultra-conservative community. Many of his steel and glass residences started to emerge in these conservative, but very upper-end, communities due to a select few initial clients that believed in him and his philosophy. Given the time and the place, Dreier was setting a new course for design with amazing work. In addition to his training, Ed was highly influenced by prominent modern architects that were published in journals of era such as Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and Konrad Waxman. Details similar to these architects began to appear in Dreier’s work: large continuous windows, flat rooflines, basic exterior structural expression, a mix of structural materials (such as steel, concrete, and wood), and nuances to bring light into every corner of a building. Due to his high-end client list, each site that Dreier built on seems to have a prominent

location or a prominent view, providing him a spectacular base to work from. Eduard had a very simple philosophy about architecture—“perfection” or nothing at all. Nothing would leave his office unless it had been studied, sketched and re-studied and no apologies for voicing his displeasure very vocally at any time to anyone. As so many of his apprentices over the years can attest to, his reputation of the “school of hard knocks” was very well founded. There was never a time where he did not have at least one student (and most of the time, more than one) in the office under his tutelage. So many of his students went on to achieve success in their careers, and some did not, but he kept track of

every one, and they forgot their experience with him or moreover what he stood for – perfection. There was never a front elevation of a structure. Every one was as critical as the other. This philosophy carried through his designs, right down to each doorjamb, cabinet detail, doorstop, etc.

If he did not like an item in your completed residence, it would somehow disappear out of the house over time. They were his houses, that his clients got the opportunity to live in, and he really believed it. In his 50 years of practice, he interviewed against all of the greats on the residential level: Frank Lloyd Wright (whom he despised), Craig Ellwood, etc. But in the literally hundreds of houses he completed, his report with his clients remained an amazing bond of friendship and respect. He really became a part of his clients’ families, always a part of any special event or holiday that each client had. Building this relationship started before the house was even built, sometimes over Diet Coke or milk and cookies.

His report with the contractors and their subcontractors took a similar direction. He greatly respected craftsmanship and despised poor workmanship. As with all other issues, he had no problem voicing his displeasure and on the spot throwing a contractor off the job, with no regard for protocol. As has been said so many times before, they “broke the mold” with Eduard Dreier. The combination of an uncompromising design philosophy, an engaging yet volatile

personality, and an honest deep loving personality that all channeled itself though his architecture, was totally unique. After flying gliders in Europe for so many years, his love of flying was also an excuse for expanding his professional boundaries. In an era of architects not traveling anywhere other than their own communities to practice, he was able to work in other geographic areas. This portion of his life took him to Northern Nevada, specifically Lake Tahoe, where he felt very close to his home country of Switzerland. He practiced for the rest of his career in Nevada, as well as Utah, and created some of the largest and most expensive estates in the country in Lake Tahoe. He would fly back and forth for any slight issue, as his second love other than architecture was flying. Dreier passed away far too early in a car accident in the mid-1990s.