Benjamin Polk

Benjamin Kauffman Polk (18 May 1916 – 23 April 2001) was a notable American designer and architect, best known for his work in India and Nepal. Polk was raised by his parents, Harry Herndon Polk (30 November 1875-28 August 1949) and Alice Kauffman (12 August 1878-30 July 1973) in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa. He practiced architecture in San Francisco from 1948-1952, where he met his future wife and companion, Emily de Spain (née Isaacs ). The couple moved to India in 1952, where they would remain until September 1963. Polk designed both in the public and private sector. In 1955 he formed an association with another expatriate American architect, Joseph Allen Stein, later adding civil engineer Binoy K. Chatterjee, to form the firm of...