By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

Hans Kullerkupp is a storyteller.

An architect by trade and a partner in Cannon Design, he has a lifetime of stories, from his post-World War II birth in Germany to his immigration to the United States as a young boy. From growing up on Buffalo's gritty West Side in the '50s and '60s to attaining his lifelong dream of becoming an architect, Kullerkupp's life has been checkered with enough stories to keep dinner-party guests spellbound.

When a friend suggested he write a book, he decided to go for it.

"He kept saying to me, 'Hans, your life is so amazing, you really need to tell it to people. For two years he was bugging me to do it, and last fall he called me to tell me about this author who had just written a book about the Bike Path Rapist and he had told him about my life."

The author was Jeff Schober, a high school teacher from Orchard Park who has written several books, most recently the true account of the Bike Path Rapist, co-authored with former Buffalo Police Detective Dennis Delano. Kullerkupp's friend set up a meeting between the two men, and he decided to put a lifetime of experiences down on paper.

"Growing up on the West Side and being a tough kid, I was kind of embarrassed about the whole idea," he said. "But when my friend kept saying to me to think about what a great leave-behind it would be for my kids and my grandkids to be able to see where the Kullerkupp family came from, I decided to do it."

The recently completed memoir, "What a Country, This America," takes readers from post-war Germany along an immigrant's trip to America in search of a better life. As readers discover, his life was filled with colorful experiences such as befriending mob families on the West Side, surviving with his fists and becoming somewhat of a local teen celebrity, thanks to a talent for dancing. Along the way, Kullerkupp never lost sight of his childhood dream to have an architectural career.

"I really started to appreciate architecture when I was growing up in Germany," he says. "We were living in the refugee villages right after the war and I got to know an architect during the rebuilding. I was just mesmerized by the work."

Unable to speak a word of English upon arriving in the United States, Kullerkupp quickly immersed himself in the culture, picked up the language and feverishly pursued his dream.

That dream became a reality when he landed his first job at an architecture firm during his senior year of high school. He worked at Pfohl Roberts and Biggie until he graduated high school and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He would return to the firm after his enlistment ended and spent a decade there before joining Cannon Design in 1979. Thirty-two years later, Kullerkupp says he feels the same passion for architecture that he did as an 8-year-old boy.

"I've always said with the young generation that is behind me, I don't see that passion that I still have," he says. "I'm 65 years old, and to this day I still enjoy going to work. The passion is still there."

With such a long and impressive career, are there any projects that are particularly memorable for Kullerkupp?

Yes, there are many, he says. But when pressed to narrow down the list, he focused on one that is dear to the hearts of Buffalonians, followed by one that is dear to his own heart.

"One of the earlier projects I worked on was the raising of the roof of the Memorial Auditorium for the Sabres to put in the orange bleachers," he says. "But the most memorable project I recall was being hired to design a children's hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel."

The client that hired his firm was looking for an "American-quality hospital." According to Kullerkupp, the chance to bring such a facility to Israel was a highlight of his professional career.

"I went there once a month to work, and to see this building come together in a place where they didn't have anything like it was just so special," he says.

As he shares in "What a Country, This America," architecture wasn't his only passion growing up in Buffalo. He was a fighter, a dancer, a paperboy and a magician. Whatever he embarked on, he gave it his all. Kullerkupp says that is one of the central themes of his memoir: With hard work, anything is possible.

After years of sharing his tales with family and friends, initially it felt awkward to sit down with a writer to help document his life, he says.

In the end, it was a wonderful experience that took approximately seven months to complete.

"There were so many stories that I had not told most people," he says. "But the more I kept talking, the more I enjoyed it. And for me, it was a chance to relive my life."