Peter Hostmark

SEAW Seattle President 1957
d. 1969

Peter Hostmark, a Norwegian native and a graduate of Norway's Institute of Technology, moved to Seattle in 1927. He established his own firm, Peter H. Hostmark & Associates, in 1932. He served in the US Army Air Corps 1943-46.

His projects included the Coliseum (shown at right, later known as Key Arena and Climate Pledge Arena) and the Nalley's Fine Food Pavilion (a potato-shaped temporary structure, see details below) for the Seattle World's Fair, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church (Seattle), and the Washington State Library (Olympia) among other notable structures.

He presented "Prestressing the Coliseum Ring Girder" at the American Concrete Institute's 15th Fall Meeting, held in Seattle September 27-29, 1962, on the topic of Concrete Construction for the Century 21 Exposition.

The Consulting Engineers Council of Washington honored him as Engineer of the Year in 1962. In 1965, the American Iron and Steel Institute presented him with the Design in Steel Award.

At left: Nalley Pavilion, drawing by Paul Thiry: a plastic form shell pneumatically applied on a frame of reinforcing rods and metal lathe, its exterior constructed without a straight line or sharp angle. The unique oval contained a theater which showed movies of the Pacific Northwest, with the building's lobby offering displays of food products from Nalley's Tacoma-based company.

Posted April 2012, updated September 2012, July 2021