Earl R. Flansburgh

EARL R. FLANSBURGH
FORMERLY OF ITHACA - Earl R. Flansburgh died peacefully on February 3, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 77. The son of a college professor, Mr. Flansburgh grew up in Ithaca, NY. He received his Bachelors of Architecture in 1953 from Cornell University. Upon graduation, he served for two years in the United States Air Force, supervising construction for the Tactical Air Command at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. In 1957, after receiving his Masters Degree in Architecture at MIT, Flansburgh spent a year in the UK where he studied modular prefabrication at the Building Research Station and taught at the Architectural Association in London on a Fulbright scholarship.
Returning to Cambridge, MA he worked for several years at The Architects Collaborative (TAC), before founding Earl R. Flansburgh + Associates (ERF +A) in 1963. His more than 40 years of practice encompassed projects ranging from a hi-tech teaching facility for software engineering to a U.S. Consulate in Turkey. While specializing in the planning and design of educational facilities, Flansburgh completed over two hundred K-12 public, private, and charter schools, colleges, and university projects throughout New England, the U.S., and the Middle East. Under his direction the firm gained a reputation for design excellence resulting in over 80 national and regional design awards. According to former Lawrence Superintendent of Schools James Scully, "Earl had the unique ability to listen and to interpret and to bring the dreams of the client to fruition. He saw classrooms through the eyes of a child, while always remembering the challenges of the teacher."
In the 1960's Flansburgh taught courses in architectural history and modern design at Wellesley College. He took great pleasure in mentoring countless students and young architects, many of whom have gone on to found successful firms of their own. In the 1970's at Harvard, he completed the OPM program in the Graduate School of Business Administration. Since 1972, he was a member of the Cornell Board of Trustees and served for 27 years as the Chairman of the Building and Properties Committee. He was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the recipient of the 1999 Boston Society of Architects Award of Honor.
In addition to his devoted wife, Polly Flansburgh, founder of Boston By Foot, Inc., he is survived by two sons, environmentalist E. Schuyler Flansburgh and musician John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants; their wives Hawina Falcon and Robin Goldwasser; and one grandson, Willow Flansburgh.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, February 20, at 2:00 p.m. at the Harvard Memorial Church, Cambridge, MA. Memorial contributions may be sent to Cornell University, College of Architecture, Art and Planning, 129 Sibley Dome, Ithaca, NY 14853.