Samuel G. and
​William B. Wiener
2022 Posthumous Inductees

Shreveport-born half-brothers Samuel G. and William B. Wiener set the  architectural world on its ear in the 1930s, following a trip to Europe. There, they learned about a style of architecture known as “modernism” – a style they brought back to the United States and began implementing around Shreveport. For a time, this made Shreveport the showcase of Modernist architecture for the entire country.

More than a dozen examples of the Wiener Brothers’ design work still stand today around the Shreveport/Bossier area. Among them are houses in the South Highland neighborhood and Woodlawn High School. Although they were widely known in the architectural community for their ground-breaking achievements, their work was little-known by the general public until the Louisiana Architecture Foundation commissioned a documentary film about them. Shreveport-based Rational Middle Media Group and its owner, Gregory Kallenberg, wrote, directed, and produced the film – Unexpected Modernism: The Wiener Brothers’ Story -- which made its debut in 2019. That documentary was based on a book by Karen Kinglsey and Guy Carwile called The Modernist Architecture of Samuel G. and William B. Wiener.  Samuel Wiener passed away in 1977. William Wiener died 4 years later in 1981.

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