Early Life
Raymond was born on 10 May 1888, in Kladno, Central Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) to Alois Reimann and his wife Růžena. Following the death of his mother and the bankruptcy of his father's shop the family moved to Prague in 1905. Raymond started at the Reálné gymnasium (secondary school aimed at more technical/practical sciences) in Kladno, then continued on the same kind of school in Prague.
In 1906 he entered the Czech Polytechnic Institute, studying under Josef Schultz and Jan Koula. He completed his studies in Trieste in 1910 before leaving for New York City. There, he began a three-year employment with Cass Gilbert, working on a number of projects including the Woolworth Building and the Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse in Brooklyn. His experience on the latter of these gave him an insight into the structural and textural properties of concrete.
He began studying painting at the Independent School of Art in the Lincoln Square Arcade Building in 1912, but was forced to curtail a painting trip to Italy and North Africa with the onset of World War I. On his trip back to New York, he met his future wife and business partner, Noémi Pernessin, and they were wed on 15 December 1914.
Through the influence of a mutual friend, Frank Lloyd Wright agreed to employ Raymond from May 1916.
Read more about this topic: Antonin Raymond
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