Herbert W. Tullgren

[2] In 1894, Martin Tullgren caught the gold rush fever, and left Chicago with his family to become a prospector in Black Hills, South Dakota.

By the end of the Tullgren's time in Arizona, Martin worked at Homestake Mining Company building and assisting in timbering and supporting of galleries.

The pair received contracts from people/companies such as United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Melville Fuller, Montgomery Ward & Co., and other leading firms in Chicago.

Tullgren took only a short break from 1917 to 1919, when he joined the Wisconsin State Guard as a Captain-Adjutant during World War I.

[2]Under Martin, the firm designed buildings such as the Downer Theater, Astor on the Lake, and Hotel Retlaw.

However, by 1922 Martin, who had been ill for several months, died at the age of 64, leaving Tullgren to take charge of the office.

[3] By the 1930s, Tullgren was a well established architect having designed multiple office buildings, apartments, hotels, theaters, and even schools.

In the early 1930s, Tullgren shifted his sights to building affordable middle to working class urban housing.

By cutting down corridor space that would have needed to be furnished, equipped, heated, lit, and cleaned it would save 20% in maintenance cost.

Tullgren saw the possibilities to do the project in a plot of 206,965 square feet, offering maximum housing at a minimum cost.

Tullgren's ideal was with careful planning and some government assistance would amount to a great deal of affordable housing at a reasonable profit.

[8] This mindset helped Tullgren become an associated architect on the Parklawn Public Housing Project during the mid-1930s.

He left behind a son, Herbert A. Tullgren, two daughters, Mary and Allison, and his wife Eloise A., who would take over the last of his business concerns.

[3] Tullgren designed apartments with the ideal to help relieve the growing housing crisis during the 1930s.

Another duplex apartment structure, it takes advantage of the interior stacking function, which creates view-orienting spaces.

[14] The use of the duplex plan allowed Tullgren to eliminate long public corridors, private halls, and passageways.

[15] The apartment has a reinforced concrete structure, the elevators are flanked by fire towers, and there is sound insulation provided by the double walls between each unit and public spaces.

He even held other positions such as secretary for the Prospect Park Co.[16] A number of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.