Richard K.A. Kletting Utah Architect and Renaissance Man: His Life and Works

Written by Allen Roberts and Nan Weber, this biography explores the life and work of architect Richard K.A Kletting.

Born in Germany in 1858, Richard Karl August Kletting was educated and trained in the classics, engineering and architecture in his homeland before moving to Paris where, at age twenty-one, he was employed as a draftsman on three of the City of Light's most impressive Second Empire, Beaux Arts monuments.  Kletting immigrated to the US in 1883. The day after he arrived in Salt Lake City, Richard was hired by architect, John Haven Burton, and together they provided architectural designs for two of the Territory's largest projects — the Insane Asylum in Provo and University of Deseret in the Capitol City. A gifted prodigy of boundless ambition, Kletting soon created his own firm, started a night school and reorganized the Territorial Library. Within a few years he became Utah's dominant architect. Over the ensuing thirty-five years, Kletting would masterfully design more than fifty types of buildings in thirty different architectural styles, earning him the sobriquet, "Dean of Utah Architects" from his peers. His Salt Palace, Saltair Resort and Utah State Capitol were unparalleled successes for the key figure in Utah's late 19th and early 20th century architectural milieu.

Mining a decade of deep research, coauthors Allen Dale Roberts, FAIA and Nan Weber provide herein a definitive treatment of Richard Kletting's life and career achievements. Blending biography with architectural history, this catalogue raisonne documents in detail each of the architect's more than 450 buildings, 125 of which remain extant. Their descriptive narrative, supported by hundreds of photos, maps and drawings, reveals the untold background stories of his relationships with client, contractors and competitions with other architects. One chapter contains biographies of his more than thirty employees, many of whom became the next generation's leading architectural lights. Another is devoted to Kletting's design philosophy, his marketing strategy and his willingness to forsake designing Victorian buildings in favor of embracing modern design and technology. His pioneering of reinforced concrete, "fireproof" and mechanically sophisticated, contemporary structures is highlighted. As his career evolved, far-sighted Kletting involved himself in a variety of public service organizations and projects aimed at improving Salt Lake City's built environment in creative and progressive ways. Finally, the authors illuminate the many reasons why Richard Kletting should be considered a true Utah Renaissance Man.

 Brad Westwood, Retired, Public Historian says this:

"Allen and Nan’s book is a near catalogue raisonné — or complete description — of Kletting’s prolific impact on Utah’s built-in environment 1880s to 1930. He was truly the dean of Utah architecture! "