The internationally renowned Czechoslovakian structural engineer and architect Dr. Jaroslav Joseph Polivka was born to humble beginnings in Prague in 1886. He worked his way through school and earned his undergraduate degree in engineering from the College of Technology in Prague in 1909. He then pursued graduate study at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland and the Prague Institute of Technology, where he earned a doctoral degree in 1917. After serving in World War I, he opened his own architectural and engineering company and began to develop his skills in stress analysis. He became an expert in photo-elastic stress analysis, a technique that examines small-scale transparent models in polarized light.

Polivka won international praise for his design of the Czech Pavilion at the Paris Exposition of 1937, a collaboration with Czech architect, Jaromír Krejcar. Two years later, he worked with Kamil Roscot to design another Czech Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Later that year, Polivka immigrated to the United States and took a position as research associate and lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1941, he and colleague Victor di Suvero co-invented a structural design technique that received a patent for improvements in structures.

It was not until 1946 that Polivka began to work with Frank Lloyd Wright, but once they established a business partnership, the two men worked together until Wright's death in 1959. Architect Ivan Margolius gives an account of the first interaction between Wright and Polivka in his book, Architects + Engineers = Structures:

In 1946 Wright (1867-1959) wrote an article in Architectural Forum about the difficulties he had with the steel company engineers who condemned his Fallingwater house (1934-1937) structural design. Wright wrote to Edgar Kaufmann, his client, saying: 'I should like this Box [with this letter] put under the corner stone of your house when the cornerstone is laid. I want this done so that when the house is torn down, 2,000 years from now, people will learn what complete damn fools these engineers are!' Prague-born structural engineer Jaroslav Josef Polivka (1886-1960) responded to the article by sending Wright an enthusiastic letter: 'I am admiring you as an engineer, although, according to a quotation in the last Forum issue, these engineers are complete damn fools. You may be right since the engineers in their structural conceptions are very seldom guided by eternal laws of the Nature ... The average engineer knows only beams, girders, columns and any deviation from his every day tools is considered as unusual, crazy, or dangerous.' The letter brought in return Wright's invitation to Taliesin and opened a professional relationship that lasted until Wright's death. (41)*

1886

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia

1909

Pursues Undergraduate Studies in engineering at the College of Technology, Prague, Czechoslovakia

1911

Pursues Graduate Studies in engineering at the Federal Polytechnic Institute, Zurich, Switzerland

1909-1911

Supervises construction of the Ohre Arch River Bridge, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia

1911-1916

Serves as Chief Engineer for the Societa Italiana Cemento Armato in Florence, Italy and Zurich, Switzerland

1917

Earns Doctorate of Technology of Science Degree from the Prague Institute of Technology

1917-1918

Serves in WWI as a conscript in the Austro-Hungarian Army

1919

Returns to Prague to open an office of architecture and engineering. Works for the Czechoslovakian Ministry of Public Works

1927-1928

Designs Chicago and Habich Buildings in Prague

1937

Designs and builds the Czechoslovakian Pavilion, in collaboration with Czech functionalistic architect, Jaromír Krejcar, for the Paris Exposition of 1937

1938

Designs the Rotterdam Corn Exchange, Holland

1939

Designs and builds the Czechoslovakian Pavilion, in collaboration with Kamil Roscot, for the New York World's Fair

Immigrates to America, avoiding World War II, and becomes a Research Associate and Lecturer at University of California, Berkeley. Founds a photo-elastic lab where he continues his work on stress analysis

1941

Collaborates with Victor Di Suvero on an invention of structural technique, applies for and receives a patent for improvements in structures

1945

Leaves University of California, Berkeley to continue independent design and research

1946

Writes a letter to Frank Lloyd Wright in response to an Architectural Forum interview, which begins a business partnership that lasts until Wright's death in 1959

1946-1959

Collaborates with Wright on Modern Gallery (Guggenheim Museum), New York, New York

1946-1951

Collaborates with Wright on Johnson Wax Tower, Racine, Wisconsin

Investigates engineering of "tap-root" foundation

1946

Collaborates with Wright on Rogers Lacy Hotel, Dallas, Texas

Investigates Thermolux Glass for hotel exterior

1949

Collaborates with Wright on V.C. Morris House (Seacliff), San Francisco, California

1949-1952

Collaborates with Wright on Butterfly Bridge, San Francisco, California

1950

Takes a part-times position as Research Associate and Lecturer at Stanford University

1956

Collaborates with Wright on Belmont Racetrack Pavilion, Long Island, New York

Collaborates with Wright on the Illinois (a mile-high skyscraper), Chicago, Illinois

1960

Dies at age 74 in Berkeley, California