Cornelia Brierly

Cornelia Brierly (1913–2012) was an American architect and one of the first five women to study architecture at Carnegie Tech. She was the first female fellow of Frank Lloyd Wright in Taliesin, 1934.

Cornelia Brierly
Born	April 12, 1913 Pennsylvania, United States
Died	August 24, 2012 (aged 99)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Carnegie Tech
Occupation	Architect

Life

Cornelia Brierly was born April 12, 1913, in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. She studied briefly at Cornell University and the University of Pittsburgh, before enrolling in Carnegie Tech becoming one of the first five women to study architecture in the program. In 1934 she joined the Taliesin Fellowship under Frank Lloyd Wright. She worked on Wright’s Broadacre City plan, building models in Arizona and traveling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. to explain the ideas to a wider audience.[1][2]

She studied with Wright for 10 years before starting a private practice with her husband Peter Berndtson. In 1956 she returned to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation working as an architectural designer, interior decorator and landscape architect. She served as Honorary Chairman and Trustee of the Foundation.[1]

Brierly died August 24, 2012 at age 99.[1]

Major buildings and projects

• Models for Broadacre City project[2]
• Taliesin West (contributor)[2]
• Hulda and Louise Notz House, 1940, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania[2]
• Arthur Jeffrey House (with Peter Berndtson), 1947, Allison Park, Pennsylvania[2]
• Edward Weinberger House (with Peter Berndtson), 1948, Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania[2]
• Joseph Katz/McComb House (with Peter Berndtson), 1950, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania[2]
• Abraam Steinberg House (with Peter Berndtson), 1951, Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania[2]
• F. Esther Fineman House (with Peter Berndtson), 1952, Stanton Heights, Pennsylvania[2]
• George Brayman House (with Peter Berndtson), 1953, Ben Avon Heights, Pennsylvania[2]
• Saul Lipkind House (with Peter Berndtson),1954, Swisshelm Park, Pennsylvania[2]

Further reading

• Brierly, Cornelia. Tales of Taliesin: A Memoir of Fellowship. Petaluma, CA: Pomegranate, 2000.

References

1. Cornelia, Briefly. "Cornelia Brierly, In Memoriam". bwaf.org/cornelia-brierly/. Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
2. Brierly, Cornelia. "Cornelia". www.bwaf.org/dna/archive/entry/cornelia-brierly. Beverly Willis Architectural Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.